Relight YOUR FIRE

CREATE AN OUTDOOR ROOM WITH A FIREPIT AT ITS HEART AND BRING A COSY FOCAL POINT TO ALFRESCO LIVING

- SARA BIRD

Black metal bucket garden firepit, £34.99, Lights4Fun

ALL DECKED OUT

A fire basket is one of the easiest ways to bring a flame to your garden. Protection, such as stone slabs, is needed underneath, especially on a wooden deck. 'Create a flexible entertaining space by styling your seating around it,' suggests Lucy Kirk, creative manager, Lights4Fun. 'Hang festoon lights from trees or a pergola and dress the ground with lanterns and candles at varying heights.

Find a designer to create a feature like this at the Association of Professional Landscapers. For a similar colour, try Royal Navy intelligent masonry paint, £75 for 5ltr, Little Greene

SHELF LIFE

Introducing a chimney wall will create a real sense of an outdoor living room and this one, with inset shelves, adds colour and a place for display. Fairly easy to construct with rendered blockwork, it offers a permanent and sheltered fireside experience, and can be repainted when you want an update. It also provides extra warmth as the surface is heated by the fire, radiating outwards to create a cosy corner.

The Land's End: A Rural Muse garden, designed by Adam Frost for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, incorporates sunken firepit

SUNKEN TREASURE