Fire pits make excellent focal points, both visually and socially. But to achieve a design that is truly cohesive, upgrade your Westford, MA, landscape with the class and elegance provided by a fire pit that suits the architecture of your home and landscape style.
Selecting the shape of your fire pit is a small but vital step in ensuring a fire pit area that is in line with your tastes and the flow of your property. Whether you aim for a soft design that blends with the organic, curvilinear forms of the surrounding landscape or seek structure and tidy modernity, shape is a crucial component of the overall effect your fire pit will have. Here we’ll take a look at the two options to help you decide which is best for your yard.
The Square Fire Pit
Square fire pits have strong right angles and straight lines that can be used to create a formal, modern or structured look - from grand statements to comforting regularity. A square fire pit is ideal for fitting neatly into a small, square enclosure or reflecting the strong geometry of a modern home’s architecture. A square fire pit also provides the perfect complement to a long seating wall or retaining wall and makes for the easy arrangement of long, outdoor sofas for seating. They also pair beautifully with privacy walls and rectangular or square swimming pools, and provide an attractive dividing fixture between two spaces.
In keeping with the square fire pit’s classy, high-end feel, consider incorporating a blend of visually bold materials into its design, for example granite, brick, or a stacked flagstone look.
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For gatherings of large groups, square fire pits may not be as open as their round counterparts, and although they can still accommodate a fair number of people, the structure is better suited to an intimate lounge-like setting.
The Round Fire Pit
A round fire pit encourages engagement between guests with its open structure. Mimicking the feel of a traditional campfire, a round fire pit is well suited to conversation and can comfortably accommodate a greater number of people. Furthermore, each guest will benefit from the circular fire pit’s even distribution of heat. A round fire pit partners well with built-in circular seating directly adjacent to the fire pit and can easily be placed in a nook created by a retaining wall or the flowing edge of a patio. If you favor rustic or cottage style landscape design, a round fire pit design is definitely one that you should consider. This feature can be used to echo the curves created by your meandering walkways, plant beds and retaining walls, but it also provides a welcome interruption to hard lines and can soften the appearance of rectilinear architecture and landscape features.
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To complement a round fire pit’s already natural appearance, consider a feature that incorporates rich texture and earthy character such as that provided by natural stone or concrete units with an authentic appearance.
