Scott Cohen's Outdoor Fireplaces & Fire Pits

Book excerpt: Backyard fire features are among today's hottest outdoor living trends. In his latest book, Scott Cohen's Outdoor Fireplaces and Fire-Pits, the acclaimed garden designer shares his secrets for using fire to turn any patio into a warm, inviting outdoor room. From romantic stone fireplaces to crowd-pleasing fire circles to dramatic fire bowls, torches and troughs, you'll find what you need to create dazzling nighttime displays in this essential volume for homeowners, outdoor designers and builders. The latest in his outdoor design series, Cohen's book includes hundreds of colorful, inspiring photos along with specific guidelines, plans, blueprints, and tips you can use to build your own outdoor fireplace or fire pit. From massive to modest, there are fire features here to suit nearly any yard. Cohen offers advice on choosing the appropriate feature for your space, lifestyle and entertaining needs. He covers aesthetics, safety, fuel options, cost considerations, sizing, layout, permitting and construction how-to's-all with the depth of detail that comes only from experience. He even shares his special techniques for combining fire and water to create stunning visual effects. A warming fire dramatically extends the time you're able to use your outdoor living space. Fire adds ambiance, light, romance and most of all relaxing comfort. When designed and crafted with the kind of care Cohen recommends, a backyard fire feature will give you and your guests years of enjoyment.