DIY Fire Pit Cover/Table/Gameboard!

I love our fire pit. We made it a focal point when we designed out outdoor space, but when we aren't using it I really dislike the gaping charred hole that takes center stage. We put our heads together and came up with a great cover that is serves as a table and a game board! If you have a second, I'll show you the abridged version of how we made it!
The cover for the fire pit serves so many purposes! It's a cover-a table for outdoor entertaining.
And a game board when you're sitting with your peeps enjoying an afternoon or evening outdoors. Who wouldn't want to compete in a little game of checkers!?
And here, my friends, is the gaping charred hole I so wanted to cover up!
Much better, don't 'cha think? :)
We used cypress wood (which is good for outdoor use), and joined pieces to make a square big enough to cut out a circle for the cover. (more about joining the wood on the blog post)
We drew the circle and cut it out.
After sanding the edges and the top, I mixed a gray and a white semi-transparent stain and stained the top. I wanted a driftwood color, but you can stain yours in any color you like!
Using chalk, I marked off the grid for the game board. Then using painters tape I taped off every other square and painted them with black paint.
I left the alternating squares the stained color and when the black paint was dry, I sanded those squares to give them a washed look...(again-this was the look I wanted, you could make your game board bold with saturated colors!)


***After the top was dry we put 2 coats of water based satin exterior urethane to protect the table top.***
On the back, where there were the seams, I put Tough Duct Tape over the seams to make them (a little more ) water resistant. I'm trying to keep most if not all water out of the fire pit!
My checkers are Ball jar lids painted black and red.
This is holding up beautifully after 5 weeks! I'll let you know how it goes after a few months! (I won't leave it out over winter because of the drastic temperature changes )


There is a detailed tutorial on my blog that will hopefully answer any questions I haven't covered here in the abridged version! :)


Thanks for having a look at my project friends xo
All Things Heart and Home
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Sarah Sarah on Mar 29, 2016
    This is really clever, love your idea
  • Arline Walker Arline Walker on Mar 25, 2018

    You could also cover the table when not in use with one of those elasticized plastic table covers. It would not blow away and keep everything underneath water proof.

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