Growing up in New Zealand, the festive season is an exciting time of year for family and friends. Whether you celebrate at the beach, bach or in the backyard on Christmas Day a BBQ is a good old New Zealand Christmas tradition by firing up the barbecue and staying out of the kitchen as much as possible.

Choosing the right outdoor fireplace 'body' is the start of your choices for your dream outdoor fireplace. This creates the main shape for your fireplace and can help dictate which finishing touches can be added. But the thing most people care about is the finishes.

Some fireplace finishes are available directly from Trendz Outdoors, meaning your fireplace arrives almost ready to go. Others require a specialist to help get that perfect look. In this article, we'll look at which options are available from our factory, and which you'll need to sort once the fireplace is in position.

There are many reasons why adding an outdoor fireplace to your backyard can be a great idea.

Not only can it bring that “wow” factor, but it can also help increase your home's value, not to mention it is also a current trend with many new outdoor entertaining areas. Whether you prefer gas burning or a wood burning fire, adding this focal point can you give you some unexpected benefits. Aside from making your home more valuable, both financially and in terms of your social enjoyment, having an outdoor fireplace can have a whole bunch of other benefits that you may not have realised.

Winter is on the way out, and as spring approaches thoughts tend to turn to the annual spring clean and bringing the outdoor area up to standard.

It might be the middle of winter and thoughts of sitting outside with friends enjoying a glass of wine may be buried deep behind warmer thoughts but there's good news on the horizon.

An outdoor fireplace is the the perfect way to add warmth during the cooler nights, not to mention they create a pretty impressive focal point in your backyard.  However for some people the idea of building their own is too much effort.  This is where  fireplace kits can come in handy.

Grilling food is an ancient tradition. The flavour added by flame can only be improved by a classic marinade, a little herbal seasoning and of course the sound of dinner sizzling and cracking as it heats,  making your mouth water long before the smell fills the air.

Image: Three Peaks Queenstown Luxury Accommodation

Running a successful business is about people. The people you hire, the people you serve, even if you are selling to other businesses you still sell to people. When it's not about people, it's about numbers.