Matching Verticals For a Cohesive Landscape Design: Matching an Outdoor Fireplace and Retaining Wall in Carson City NV

If building an outdoor fireplace and retaining wall is on the list for your Carson City, NV, landscape, ensuring that the stone and styles are complementary can create a dazzling combination.  Matching the vertical outdoor features in your backyard can create a unified and pleasing look. 

Related: How a Retaining Wall Can Serve as Additional Seating Near an Outdoor Fireplace in Carson City, NV

Why Combining a Retaining Wall and Outdoor Fireplace Makes Sense

When your landscape plan includes both a retaining wall and an outdoor fireplace, it can make sense to connect the two features for a cohesive appearance. If the terrain permits, joining these two outdoor elements can lead the eye from the retaining wall toward the central focus, the outdoor fireplace. 

This plan can work especially well when the retaining wall is not necessarily planned for erosion or structural reasons since there can be more applications. Surrounding the perimeter of an outdoor fireplace with a low retaining wall can bring many benefits. 

Your landscaper can help you select the right stone for a floor that can also become part of the retaining wall, stone that complements the architectural appearance and colors of your home. When the stone from the fireplace floor is echoed in the retaining wall surface and parts of the fireplace design, the entire space can feel complete and united. The flat capstone that forms the top of a retaining wall can also form the top of the fireplace chimney and form the surface of wide, deep steps for any transitions in elevation. 

When planned as a low wall, this retaining wall can serve double duty as additional seating near the fire for when you entertain larger groups. If wide enough, the wall can function as a drink station or a handy place to serve hors d’oeuvres in several locations. 

Unifying the Wall and Fireplace When Combining Doesn’t Work

When an outdoor fireplace and retaining wall cannot be combined visually and physically, choosing the same stone for each project can still create a connected whole. Whether modern, traditional, or rustic, a fireplace often serves as the central focus of a landscape, and there are several ways to tie this feature to the retaining wall appearance. 

The main stone of the fireplace can also be the primary stone of the retaining wall. By choosing a contrasting stone as a border within the fireplace front to echo in the wall, the two spaces can feel connected even if they are far apart. Your landscaper can also add decorative tile to both features for more interest, while landscape lights that shine a soft glow onto the wall after dark can illuminate that space when the fireplace is in use. Having the ability to see both features after the sun sets can create a gorgeous display within the landscape. 

Another excellent way to combine the retaining wall and outdoor fireplace can be to echo the stone colors when using different stone. Earthy tones of tan and gray can look amazing in a slate floor, along with a rougher textured rock in the same colors used for the fireplace and the wall surface. Your landscaper is skilled at combining various stone in similar tones for a beautiful, one-of-a-kind outdoor fireplace and retaining wall masterpiece. Helping you narrow the stone choices to bring out the best in your landscape is what they are best at.

Related: Ask a Landscape Designer About Installing a Fire Feature On Your Spanish Springs, NV Patio