Backyard Fire Pit Reveal and DIY Wood Holder

A few weeks ago, I mentioned my plans to redo my fire pit area. And, well, the time has come! The day is now! Please sing that if you’re a Les Mis fan ;). This is something I’ve wanted to do since last year so it’s pretty exciting to finally have this space finished since we do so many fires. Anyway, I wanted to show you my backyard fire pit reveal and how to make a DIY wood folder!

before

Here’s how my fire pit is looking right now-

This view isn’t bad, we worked hard on the patio last year. Here’s the same angle from two years ago when we first moved it-

 

The pavers are cute, but the wood benches are uncomfortable and leave much to be desired looks wise. It’s functional but not quite living up to its potential. 

DIY wood Holder

For the first part of this makeover, I wanted to build a wood holder. Something that would keep the wood off the ground, look a bit like furniture, and add table top space. All while beautifully holding the fire wood. 

SUPPLIES

• Pressure Treated Wood 2″x4″x12‘- 2 pieces
• Caulk 
• Screws
• Paint (Ultra Pure White in exterior satin)
• Siding

cut list

Cut the pressure treated wood into the following lengths-

• 3 pieces cut to 45″
• 2 pieces cut to 15″
• 4 pieces cut to 36″
• 1 piece cut to 11 7/8″
• 2 pieces cut to 48″

Cut the siding or table top to 54″ x 24″

step 1

After the wood is cut in the lengths above, use screws to connect the pieces of pressure treated wood.

The great thing about this project is that it’s super straight forward- it’d be easy for even a beginner to do! Straight cuts and then screwing everything together.

This part of the build was probably less than 45 minutes! It was exciting to see it take shape. 

step 2

Next, we cut a piece of siding with a 3″ overhang and screwed it onto the top of the wood base. The siding was already a scrap we had at home from Don’s playhouse. I’d suggest looking around the house to find something. on hand to use.

Since we only had to buy the pressure treated wood for this project, it cost us $30 to make! Such a good price for something that’ll become a piece of furniture in the backyard!

step 3

And now, it’s time to paint! But after a quick coat of paint, I was hesitant to continue because how those little slits didn’t look great painted.

FYI- I like to use pressure treated wood for outdoor projects because the wood resists termites, rot, and fungal decay. This means it’ll stay looking nice outside for longer. It’s gone through a process that uses high pressure to force a solution of water and preservatives deep into the the wood.

This extends wood’s lifespan especially when it’s outside. The slits in the wood are how the solution is forced deep into the wood. But once it’s in there, it’s ok to fill and paint or stain.

Because of that, I filled in the slits with caulk and then painted over the caulk once it was dry. It was a little annoying to fill all those little incisions, but it sure make it look better! And I used less paint because the surface was now much more flat.

Painting and caulking took a few hours. Building the base for the DIY wood holder probably took one hour. So you can see, this is a 3-4 hour project. Which is pretty quick for a new piece of outdoor furniture!

after

Ta da! Here is how the diy wood holder turned out! It’s plenty big for all of our wood. Most of which is from old wood that was used to build our house and we’ve slowly had to replace here and there. I LOVE that we now have a buffet for when we do s’mores outside! We placed it close to the table so that when we host parties, it can hold food or drinks!

Usually our s’more setup isn’t this fancy, but I had fun putting together a little spread so we could show how great the new wood holder works. To be honest, we set this up this morning and then had s’mores for breakfast. It was a great way to start the day! We have fires here at least once a week so this’ll be nice to have.

fire pit reveal

Luciana Bench / Palmer Navy Chair / Fire Pit / Personalized Outdoor Pillow / Chatham Floral Pillow

Besides the diy wood holder, we replaced all the old wood benches for actual furniture! I’ve been dreaming of this day for years! Even when we don’t have a fire going, this’ll be a great spot to hang out and chat!

All the furniture is from Grandin Road. I LOVE their outdoor stuff because it’s unique and affordable. You may remember that Luciana Bench from my first Florida house porch. We brought it to Utah with us and it’s been on our porch for the past 2 years. Our street has so much traffic, we never used it to sit out there. It’ll get much more use in the backyard!

I love that I was able to get a second bench to match the first one. And they look great with the swing too! Side note, see that basket. It has throw blankets in it. So if it gets chilly at night, we can cuddle up! The basket will stay inside most of the time, but it’s all ready to go!

The Palmer Navy Chairs are super comfy! I need to order a cushion for them (there’s one specifically made for this chair). Which will make it match with my color scheme a bit better.

You can see that with the Fire Pit, benches, and swing stand, that there’s a repeating pattern of lattice. This is a great way to pull a space together. The eye sees the same pattern and it makes everything feel cohesive.

Having this area feels like we really extended our outdoor living area. Which I guess we did! It feels cozy too! We already really enjoyed the space this morning. I turned on the blue tooth speaker (that cute lantern to the left of the diy fire wood holder) and Don and I had a dance party to celebrate that we finished this up!

before and after

I thought we could end this post with one more before and after! We moved the old wood benches into our “woods” area for more seating there. But now this space is comfy, SO pretty, and really just a great spot to sit and chat. Long into the fall I can see this spot getting used as the days get colder. And I can’t think of a better space to be!

What do you think of the makeover? Would you want to come over for a bon fire? Since everything is closed and cancelled, it really feels GREAT to be making our outdoor area a little bit better. 

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