One of the best ways to make your patio more accomodating is to put in a fire pit. When the weather starts to get nippy at night, you can still get some use out of your patio if you have a nice relaxing fire going. Even in the summer, a patio fire pit provides extra light and just enough warmth when the sun goes down.
If you were going to build a fire pit in your yard, you might be able to make it yourself by digging a hole and surrounding it with bricks. However, that isn't possible on a patio and you will most likely need to invest in one of the commercial patio fire pits that you can find in stores or online.
Some of the ones I found online are listed below and you can probably find more at a store in your town that specializes in outdoor heating or a home and garden store.
Sojoe Fire Pit
Cobraco Hand Hammered Copper Fire Tub
Uniflame WAD820SP Firepit Table
Copper Fire Pits
Putting in a fire pit is one of those patio ideas that you will wonder why you didn't do sooner. In our neighborhood, there is only one house that has one and guess who's house is the most frequent gathering spot? With a fire pit on your patio, you can roast marshmallows and tell stories way past the time when everyone would have had to move inside after it gets dark.
