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There’s something special about eating outdoors. The fresh air, the beautiful sky backdrop, the greenery and nature itself — there’s nothing quite like it! Regardless of whether looking to have your friends for a Sunday football game or host your family for an evening dinner, an outdoor kitchen is the best way to take your entertaining to the next level.
If you’ve always dreamt of building an outdoor kitchen (or of redesigning an existing space), chances are you haven’t considered a variety of crucial design tips. The designs and construction of your outdoor kitchen can be the make-or-break between absolutely loving your kitchen and simply wasting hundreds of dollars on something you hate.
From your choice of building materials to the measurements of appliances, there are a number of design ideas and considerations to factor in to make sure you turn your outdoor kitchen dreams into a reality! To help make sure you’re well prepared and aware of what you need to know before building (or rebuilding) your outdoor kitchen, here are 5 genius design ideas and tips that every homeowner should know.
Location, Location, Location!
As intuitive as it might seem, it’s easy to forget about how the location of your outdoor kitchen can affect the overall design and layout of your outdoor living space as a whole. Yes, we understand how obvious that might sound, but allow us to explain.
While you most likely already have a strong idea of where, in your backyard, you hope to place your outdoor kitchen space, it’s important to factor in its location relative to the rest of your outdoor kitchen space. When planning the layout of your outdoor kitchen space, consider the following:
- Will you be able to conveniently transfer food to your patio or dining area? Or are you too far away?
- Is there enough space for you to safely ventilate any smoke — away from any seating areas?
- Will you be able to seamlessly hop between entertaining your guests and attending to the food?
The outdoor kitchen space is often described as the heart of every backyard living space, and the last thing you want to do is isolate the cook or grill master from the rest of the party! With this in mind, it may be helpful to think of your outdoor kitchen as the center of your outdoor living space and to design the layout of other backyard amenities around your outdoor kitchen!
Prepare To Weather Any Storm!
As a safeguard for any unexpected summer showers, the addition of an umbrella, awning, or another overhead cover is ideal to protect and maintain the lifespan of your outdoor kitchen appliances and amenities. Depending on your geographical location, certain options may be better than others. For instance, cedar pergolas provide perfect protection from the sun, whereas a full aluminum cover might offer more shelter from the rain.
How Will You Be Using Your Outdoor Kitchen?
With an outdoor kitchen, entertaining your friends and family becomes so much more than just another barbeque! With the endless customization options available, many people often opt to add additional cooking and dining amenities such as wet bars, side burners, smokers, pizza ovens, and more! However, just because you can do something, doesn’t always mean you should.
When planning out the design of your outdoor kitchen, it’s important to consider how you intend to use it. The functionality of your kitchen and grill space should work seamlessly with your cooking aspirations. And yes, while it would be beyond awesome to have a wine chiller, or even roasting spits, be mindful of the value each amenity brings to your outdoor kitchen.
Try starting your design with all your cooking essentials, then consider how other features would work with both your vision and cooking needs!
For more outdoor design tips and advice from The Gas Guys, be sure to check out our other articles.
