Any respectable backyard has fire IMO. A favorite addition to our backyard was a simple, low fire pit. Even when it’s not fired up, it serves as a gathering spot, as places where fire happens often do.I purchased ours after a pretty exhaustive search and I’m here to share some of my favorite fire pit finds, just in time for backyard season. I was looking for modern, simple, woodburning, and a few hundred dollars or less. If you are instead searching for sweet vintage fireplaces for your outdoor fire needs, I’ve got some info on buying those right here. But if we are talking fire pits, here’s the goods:

I’ll start with the Low Fire Pot by Esschert Design, the fire pit we own and pictured above. I landed on this one because it was very similar in design to my first choices but considerably more affordable. There is a 24 inch or an XL 31 inch. I cheaped out and bought the smaller one and wish I’d gone with the XL to be better scaled to our space. Otherwise, we have been very happy with it. It is cast iron and very heavy. (I did give it a coat of high heat paint last summer, and need to do again after this year’s rain, because some rust follows wet weather. I used this paint with initial doubts, but it totally holds up to fire and makes the pot look brand new!)

CB2 has a very formidable contender, the Ember Fire Pit. The design is so sleek and the bowl is a whopping 36 inches, all at a very good price:Next up is the fire pit I badly wanted, Design Within Reach’s Cast Iron Fire Bowl. But at only 23 inches and many more dollars, it wasn’t the sensible purchase. Those angles are calling out my name, though:While we’re in the $400 range, umm check out this gorgeous 47 inch steel monster:

A smaller 31 inch cousin to the above bowl in an iron oxide finish on steel. So pretty:

Same as mine BUT OVAL:

An interesting one from Esschert Design:

So I know I said cheap and this is absolutely not that, but I can’t talk about modern fire pits without including the masterful metalworks of Modfire. Prices are 1K+, but designs are impressive and worth a look.

Time to fire up the backyard friends! xoxo