Now you see it, now you don't...

When we bought our house we made a priority of turning the wasteland that was our tiny front courtyard into a space we could enjoy in nice weather. We hired a landscaper to grade the space and install the patio but we did the rest ourselves - stone path, landscaping, drip irrigation and low voltage lighting. And when I say "ourselves", I mean "my husband" (while I supervised and drank ice tea).

At last, I had the courtyard I had always wanted! I already had the all weather wicker chairs but we lacked a table. But wait, wouldn't it be so cool to have a firepit there for those cooler nights? Sure, but our postage stamp sized courtyard didn't have enough space for both.

The answer came in doubling up. The gas firepit was a purchase from Target.com and resting on top of it is a table top courtesy of Craigslist.  My husband found a round metal cocktail table and just unscrewed the top from its base. Then he turned around and posted the unneeded base on CL - and sold it for the same price that he paid for the entire table! We just lift the table top off when we want to fire up the pit.






                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               What I learned from this project:
1. You don't need an elaborate stone built-in firepit. This inexpensive one delivers a lot of heat!
2. I was concerned that an 8' x 8' patio would be too small - I was wrong. It's become the cozy "cocktail hour" locale.
3. There isn't much that beats that toasted marshmallow smell on a cool evening.