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31 DIY Fire Pit Ideas and Plans for Your Backyard

Get inspired with these budget-friendly, creative DIY fire pit ideas.

Nothing says cozy and comfortable like flames crackling in your own DIY fire pit. You can make a DIY fire pit using inexpensive or repurposed materials such as stone, bricks, pavers, concrete, and retaining wall blocks. Most the DIY fire pit ideas below cost between $50 and $150 (and a little elbow grease) to make. Read on to get inspiration on different ways to DIY a fire pit—from using metal planters and flower pots to steel receptacles and glass.

DIY concrete fire pit

The Spruce / Christopher Lee Foto 

Fire Pit Fuel Sources

Gel canisters designed for fireplaces or low-combustion pressed wood logs can supply the fire's fuel in most smaller fire pits. You can use real wood logs or charcoal in the larger pits. Be sure to check with local air quality and fire restrictions on burning wood outdoors.

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    How to Build a DIY Firepit

    diy fire pit ideas

    The Spruce / Margot Cavin

    If you're wondering How to Build a DIY Firepit without a contractor's help, check out this handy Spruce guide to making it work.

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    DIY Easy Fire Pit With Pavers

    Simple DIY Fire Pit

    Keeping It Simple

    Kaysi from the home and craft blog called Keeping It Simple, and her husband wanted a backyard fire pit for the weekend and decided to build it with retaining wall blocks, sand and pavers. The easy project cost $50 in materials and did not require grout, mortar, or concrete, making it a perfect starter masonry project.

  • 03 of 31

    DIY Adirondack Style Fire Pit

    Adirondack DIY Fire Pit

    Interior Frugalista

    Marie from The Interior Frugalista built this hexagon-shaped fire pit table to blend in with her Adirondack chairs, using lumber for the frame and fence boards for the slatted table. Flames are supplied either by gel fireplace fuel canisters or Eco Logs that tend to eliminate sparks.

  • 04 of 31

    DIY Curved Fire Pit Bench

    diy fire pit bench

    A Beautiful Mess

    A Beautiful Mess complemented a DIY fire pit with a DIY fire pit bench. The curved bench mimics the round shape of the fire pit and is decorated with outdoor throw pillows in colorful fabrics.

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  • 05 of 31

    Concrete Pavers DIY Fire Pit

    diy fire pit ideas

    House Mix

    Stacked pavers with a whitewashed brick effect add a modern rustic look to this DIY fire pit from House Mix.

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    Repurposed DIY Fire Pit

    diy fire pit ideas

    Most Lovely Things

    Most Lovely Things made a simple DIY fire pit using a repurposed dye vat found at a secondhand store in San Juan Capistrano, CA. Tree stump side tables around the fire pit seating area add a nice touch.

  • 07 of 31

    DIY Koi Pond Fire Pit

    Pond Turned Into a Fire Pit

    Lucy's Lampshade

    Lucy, who blogs at Lucy's Lampshades, turned her old koi pond into a DIY fire pit for outdoor gatherings. As long as the size is correct, old garden ponds work perfectly as fire pits since they are usually lined with non-combustible rocks. Ensure that the pond has stone or concrete lining, not PVC, EPDM (a synthetic rubber), or other flammable pond liners.

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    Modern-Style DIY Metal and Glass Fire Pit

    Glass and metal DIY fire pit

    The Art of Doing Stuff

    For less than $25, Karen at The Art of Doing Stuff blog crafted this contemporary fire pit out of glass frame coverings, a metal planter, and a metal grate. Karen notes that if you cannot find a metal planter like hers, a terracotta planter will work just as well.

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  • 09 of 31

    Salvaged Brick DIY Fire Pit

    diy fire pit ideas

    B Vintage Style

    Blogger Deborah from B Vintage Style used salvaged bricks from France bought on sale to create an in-ground fire pit in her large back yard. The minimalist design is easy to mow around, making maintenance a breeze.

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    DIY Mini Fire Pit

    Urn Fire Pit DIY

    Evansville Living

    This mini fire pit from Deb McDaniel at Evansville Living was cast in concrete from a flower pot that dictated its size and shape (you can also use an urn).

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    DIY Square Fire Pit

    Square Fire Pit DIY

    Deals, Steals, and Heels

    Costing well under $100, this square DIY fire pit from the Deals, Steals, and Heels blog is a stylish and simple backyard design element constructed from cement wall blocks laid in a bed of sand.

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    Shortcut DIY Fire Pit

    DIY + Kit Fire Pit

    The Inspired Room

    Not all fire pits need to be created entirely from scratch. Melissa at The Inspired Room combined a do-it-yourself ring of 44 Allen + Roth retaining wall blocks from Lowe's Home Improvement store with a factory-made, ready-to-go metal fire pit kit. The result is a fire pit with a cozy, natural-stone look.

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  • 13 of 31

    Easy Four-Step DIY Fire Pit

    diy fire pit ideas

    A Beautiful Mess

    This easy four-step DIY fire pit from A Beautiful Mess has a clean modern look. The backyard fire pit is made from concrete landscaping stones and a metal fire pit ring.

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    DIY S'Mores Bar Cart

    diy fire pit smores bar cart

    A Blissful Nest

    If you've already got a fire pit, there are plenty of simple DIY projects that can make your fire pit space feel cozier and more user-friendly. This DIY s'mores bar cart from A Blissful Nest has everything needed to roast marshmallows and melt chocolate, and can be wheeled out when needed.

  • 15 of 31

    Repurposed Washing Machine Drum

    DIY washing machine drum fire pit

    HGTV

    If you're going for the look of a stylish, pricey fire pit for practically nothing, it helps to get inventive. A sleek receptacle that can double as a fire pit is a stainless steel washing machine drum. Stainless steel holds up to heat, and the holes throughout the drum allow for the oxygen flow a fire needs.

  • 16 of 31

    Suspend a Cauldron

    Suspended cauldron fire pit

    Elena Shevchuk / Getty Images

    Nothing is more old-school and referential to camping than erecting a tripod and hanging a giant cast iron cooking pot or stylish deep cauldron in your backyard. But in this case, instead of lighting the fire underneath the kettle, put the firewood inside the kettle and enjoy the warm glow.

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  • 17 of 31

    DIY Backyard Fire Pit

    diy fire pit

    Yellow Brick Home

    Yellow Brick Home made a DIY backyard fire pit that cost $450 and came together in a single day. A set of matching armchairs and mismatched blankets add coziness that encourages lingering around the fire on chilly nights.

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    Tire Rim Tower

    DIY tire rim fire pit

    DIY Joy

    As long as you have access to an angle grinder and can get your hands on two old truck or car tire rims that are the same size, you can make an industrial-looking fire pit like this one from DIY Joy.

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    DIY Leftover Brick Fire Pit

    diy fire pit ideas

    Mimzy & Company

    Mimzy & Company used leftover bricks from a fireplace project to build this large round DIY brick fire pit in a Florida backyard.

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    Upcycle a Beer Keg

    DIY Beer Keg fire pit

    Tony Whiston

    It probably doesn't sound pretty retooling a beer keg into a fire pit, but it can be. As long as you know how to use a welder, an angle grinder, circular saw, drill, or Dremel, you can cut down these steel receptacles (either vertically or horizontally) and add vent holes. Also, stainless steel beer kegs can be sanded and polished to a mirror finish: you only need time and a little bit of elbow grease to class up these simple containers.

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    DIY L-Shaped Fire Pit Bench

    diy fire pit bench

    Thistlewood Farms

    This DIY fire pit bench was built like an outdoor sectional, painted black, and accented with colorful throw pillows to anchor this backyard gravel and painted concrete paver patio from Thistlewood Farms.

  • 22 of 31

    Leftover Brick DIY Fire Pit

    diy fire pit ideas

    Hammers N Hugs

    Leftover bricks from another project were used to make this DIY fire pit from Hammers N Hugs that is the centerpiece of an outdoor gathering space outfitted with seating and decorated with plants and string lights.

  • 23 of 31

    Rustic Wheelbarrow Charm

    Fire pit made from a wheelbarrow

    Lucy Lambriex / Getty Images

    If your home has rustic styling, a French country aesthetic, or a farmhouse look, then an old metal wheelbarrow will fit right in. A well-worn steel wheelbarrow may be past its prime for yard work, but give it a second life as a rustic fire pit. Make sure it doesn't have any cracks or significant rust. Remove any plastic, rubber, or wooden parts. To protect your lawn and keep your fire pit safe, center the wheelbarrow on a foundation of stone or brick.

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    Concrete Tree Rings

    Tree Ring Fire Pit

    Instructables

    For less than $50, you can stack concrete tree rings into a circle shape, going as high as you like for a unique-looking fire pit. Concrete rings come in different shades of white, beige, orange, and pink hues, giving you many options, and some have scallops to them. Not all concrete is fire-safe, so line the inside of any concrete fire pits with fire brick and fire clay mortar to keep your fire pit intact or use a protective fire ring as an inner liner.

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  • 25 of 31

    Fire Rings

    Fire ring fire pit

    Sarah Lynch / Getty Images

    The ridges of a galvanized steel fire ring can give your DIY fire pit a modern, industrial look. Made for containing a fire pit, these rings come in many styles at most big-box home improvement stores, including galvanized steel, lattice patterns, other cutout designs, and even square shapes. Clear a space, put down some sand or a thin layer of pebbles, and put a ring down. Get some firewood, and you're all set. It's your simplest and quickest fire pit solution.

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    Repurposed Birdbath

    Bird bath repurposed into a fire pit

    Jeremy Poland / Getty Images

    You can turn your birdbath into a fire pit if it's made of a fire-safe material like marble or terracotta (concrete is not safe). Just disconnect the water hookups, remove plastic and flammable materials, and fill it with firewood. Or hire a professional to switch out the water hoses for gas lines.

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    Use Cinder Block Caps

    DIY Cinder Block fire pit

    Delia's Photos

    Fire-resistant cinder block caps can be artfully designed into a square, contemporary-styled fire pit with clean lines and a minimalist aesthetic. Although cinder blocks are fire-resistant, they are not fireproof and, over prolonged use, will eventually crumble. To protect and extend the viability of your fire pit, consider using a fire ring as a liner or fire bricks.

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    Stonehenge of Bricks

    Stonehenge style fire pit

    On the Fly DIY

    Invoking the majestic look of Stonehenge, purchase bricks and stack them like dominoes with space in between each brick, then lay a top layer on top, lining them all up and locking them in place. The result: A fire pit with an elegant design has the practical benefit of slotted openings for free-flowing air to stoke the flames.

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    Embrace Asymmetry

    Teardrop fire pit DIY

    Fresh Patio

    Experiment with how you stack your bricks or rocks around the fire pit. You can raise up one side or one half or create a teardrop shape around a circular pit with all bricks tapering up to a point on one side. Playing with design can leave you with something that is pleasing to the eye while also acting effectively as a windbreaker, keeping the fire alive.

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    DIY Fire Pit Area Makeover

    rustic diy fire pit

    Inspired By Charm

    Inspired By Charm gave this backyard fire pit a DIY makeover, surrounding the rustic metal DIY fire pit with painted purple Adirondack chairs that add contrast and give it a modern feel.

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    DIY Fire Pit Patio

    diy fire pit patio

    Lovely Indeed

    Lovely Indeed built a DIY brick patio to create a cozy fire pit area in the corner of the yard. The patio has a rock border, bright blue Adirondack chairs, an affordable fire pit sourced online, and an outdoor firewood holder.