diy fire pit & backyard renovation
if you’re looking for something cheap-ish to do for your backyard that will step up the game, would definitely do a pebble patio like we did!! this project seriously changed the game for our backyard — we went from it being a blank (and boring) slate to it now being a fun hangout space & relaxation haven for us to enjoy at night. anddd it only took us one weekend to get the job done (without breaking the bank)! so i’m going to quickly go through the step by step on how we did it, what supplies we got, and links to products we got!
to keep it simple, let me start off by laying out a simple list of what we bought for supplies before breaking it down in deeper steps of how to do it.
here’s the breakdown of each part of it of the project…
supplies you need for the pebble walkway:
☼ $9 for 7 concrete pavers (got these in person at home depot, can’t find them online!)
☼ $140 for 30 bags of pea gravel for the fire pit area
☼ $46 for 10 bags of the marble chips for the walkway section
= $225 total for us.
we already had a few yard supplies and got everything else at home depot. it’s important to note that this all depends on how big your area to cover is going to be. ours ended up being right around 15 x 12 for the big section. the home depot website has the perfect calculator to see how many pebble bags you’ll need depending on size!
supplies you need for the fire pit:
☼ $180 for the propane fire pit we used (I see now that the one we got went way up in price compared to when we got it. i bet there are other highly rated options!)
☼ $65 for 30 bricks to surround the pit
bonus items we got:
☼ chairs to surround the fire pit ($21 each, SUCH a deal!)
our original budget for this was $400, and we ended up going a few hundred over that to complete the whole thing with the pillows, extra chairs, and rug. those we’re definitely not needed, but were definitely worth it! and it’s worth mentioning that the rest of the things you see in our pictures (planters, plants, hooks, etc) we also already owned. so make it your own and try to use some things you already have sitting around!
after you get everything you need, the project itself only took us 2 days to complete. we probably worked for 4-5 hours each of those days! again, it depends on how big your space is, but the general step-by-step will stay the same.
1. establish your location and measure it.
☼ we used our garden hoe to establish the line we wanted to create. i know some people use spray paint or string, but it’s totally up to you! we just went ahead and edged it to begin with so we could start using the garden hoe to get to work.
2. dig out the grass areas then level all the dirt
☼ this part is what took us the longest. it was a lot of manual labor to get all the grass up, but once it’s done, you will feel amazingggg because it’s the longest part of the process! we also sprayed the grass with weed killer once the grass was gone so no weeds grow through the cracks. after that, we used the garden hoe to level it out so it was even ground.
pro tip: put your dirt/pulled up grass in bags as you go. we didn’t go this and regretted it SO much at the end when we pretty much had to re-pick everything up, put in bags, then drag into our garage for eventual trash day pick up. if we could re-do the project, we never would have put the piles of dirt on the ground to begin with.
3. use the landscape edging to put around the edges, and hammer them in place!
☼ you can also use stones or bricks for this step, but we just wanted ours to be a simple edging. if that’s you, the plastic edging will be perfect for you. use the edging stakes to hammer the edging in place and you’ll be all set!
4. cover all of the open area with landscape fabric & use the stakes to nail it down
☼ this is an important step to make sure the pebbles don’t get stuck in all in the mud on the ground! this fabric will keep things in place, so make sure there’s enough stakes to keep the fabric in place without any gaps.
5. start pouring your pebbles!
☼ don’t be like us and underestimate the amount of pebble bags you need — trust the calculator on the home depot site (if those are the pebbles you decide to use) and just get it in one trip. trust me. we ended up making 5 home depot trips that weekend haha! and just start pouring those in your space. this is one of the last steps so you’ll start getting excited when you start pouring and see it come together!
6. if you’re doing a fire pit, start making the brick circle for the pit to fit in
☼ i actually left a space out for one less brick when i layed these (in the second layer) so i could just reach in and turn the nob on for the fire pit. this made it so easy and just involved me strategically laying the bricks so there was a big enough gap for my hand but also the top layer of bricks was still established.
7. add your finishing touches!
☼ for us this was hanging plants, adding planters and herbs, hanging the hammock, adding the rug, etc! we were going to originally wait on these steps for budget purposes, but i’m glad we went ahead and did it because it really completed the whole project.
and that’s it! it’s not extremely time consuming or expensive, and it really created a great space for us to host friends on warm nights. we love it! i also have a whole highlight on this on my instagram, so if you have any questions i didn’t answer, feel free to dm me and ask! always happy to help ☺
