Page 26 - Outdoor Living October 2025

Tips for Creating Your Own
Fireside Tradition
A fire space only becomes
meaningful when it turns into
ritual. Here’s how to design and
live in yours:
• Pick your fire: Decide what
fits your lifestyle. A traditional
braai for cooking feasts,
a recessed pit for long
conversations, or a chiminea
for compact courtyards.
• Shape the circle: Prioritise
seating. Arrange benches or
chairs to invite eye contact
and inclusivity. Add layers
— cushions, throws, or even
floor seating — so every age
feels comfortable.
• Blend function with ritual:
Fire isn’t just for food. Use it
for story nights, unplugged
music sessions, or even a
quiet weekly reflection with a Why Fire Works for Families
glass of wine. Around a fire, roles fall away. It doesn’t matter who is cooking, who is studying, who is
• Extend the season: Add working — everyone shares the same glow.
pergolas, wind screens, or • For children, roasting marshmallows or telling ghost stories turns ordinary nights
portable covers so your magical.
fire space isn’t limited • For teenagers, it becomes a safe hangout, close to home but free enough to feel
to summer evenings. like their own space.
Thoughtful lighting keeps • For adults, it’s a rare pause: the crackle of logs replacing the hum of emails, stories
the mood warm even after unfolding more easily in the half-light.
the flames die down.
• Personalise it: Create family The sensory depth matters too: sparks, warmth, and the smell of wood smoke tie
rituals. Friday-night pizza on moments to memory. Neuroscientists confirm that rituals linked to the senses are
the coals, marshmallows on remembered longest — which is why adults often recall the sound of coals or the
the last Saturday of every taste of braai bread more vividly than the details of childhood classrooms.
month, or a rule that phones
are left inside. These rituals Beyond the Backyard
transform the fire from décor Developers have recognised the enduring draw of fire. Many estates are now building
into heartbeat. communal fire pits, braai lawns, and lodge-style outdoor kitchens. These spaces
• Invite nature in: Position your replicate the intimacy of a private hearth at a community scale, giving neighbours a
fire under trees, near water reason to move beyond front doors and form friendships.
features, or within view of the
stars. Nature magnifies the It is also about identity. A shared fire area signals that an estate values community
sense of occasion. as much as architecture — that luxury can be warm, inclusive, and human.
• Think long-term: Build
with durable materials and The Oldest Luxury
flexible layouts so the space Luxury estates often boast sleek designs and modern amenities. Yet fire reminds us
grows with your family. A that the simplest luxuries endure. A well-placed fire pit or braai is not an accessory
pit that holds toddlers with — it is a return. A return to the oldest tradition: gathering together, looking into flame,
marshmallows today should and remembering that community is built not only on walls and roofs, but on circles
still host teenagers with of warmth beneath the open sky.
guitars tomorrow.
Back to the fire is more than design — it is belonging.

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