Garden Kitchens have certainly become one of the hottest items in home building in the last few years. You don't need a lot of space for an outdoor kitchen -- you just need your space to be functional.
Browse pictures of outdoor kitchen designs, outdoor kitchen plans, and outdoor kitchen essentials for ideas to create a beautiful, functional alfresco dining space. Cooking outside is a welcome change from the usual routine, and it's just as easy as to cook in an outdoor kitchen as it is in an indoor one. Place an outdoor kitchen near your indoor one so it's easy to carry food items back and forth. Outdoor grills, icemakers, and mini refrigerators are popular appliances for outdoor kitchens. Some require built-in installation; others are freestanding and can be moved if needed. And of course, stainless steel has been a perennial choice of materials because of its longevity outdoors. Above all, you will want space to actually dine. The following outdoor kitchens feature creative cooking and dining spaces that will help you focus on what will work best for your family.
The most basic item for your outdoor kitchen is a barbecue grill — don't forget that what makes it a kitchen is that you have a place to cook. You have a few options when it comes to an outdoor grill, you can get something that is prefab, something semi-custom or something that is customized.
You can get something as extravagant as a drop-in stove that's got six burners and a gas kit. You might hire a kitchen designer for your indoor kitchen, but for a more casual outdoor kitchen you might want to do it yourself.
A BBQ grill is the most popular choice for outdoor cooking, but there are other outdoor cooking options:
A fireplace is a good option. A fireplace outside can easily be transformed into a place outside where you can cook. The idea of being able to congregate around this outdoor fireplace and cook really adds to this outdoor room feeling. More casual than a fireplace, a firepit can also be used to cook — with a rotisserie, skewers or a grill over the open flame.
Another way of cooking outside is to include an outdoor oven in your kitchen. The outdoor oven that you "may" want to consider is more of a traditional oven—a brick or stone pizza oven, for example.
Some additional considerations for your outdoor kitchen include:
Like an indoor kitchen, your outdoor version might include countertops and storage cabinets. For the countertop in your outdoor kitchen two options are brick or stone.
The counter space can also be used to eat on. Usually when you are planning for an eat-on counter, you want to make sure that it's at least 15" deep and approximately 24" wide per person.
Storage cabinets need to be waterproofed on an outdoor kitchen, and there are many woods that are resistant to rot — such as redwood. Stainless steel that matches a grill, for instance, is another good option for cabinets.
No kitchen would be complete without a sink. Outdoor sinks are either fed with a hose or connected to the home's water supply. Good choices for your outdoor sink would be either stainless steel or ceramic.
You might want to consider keeping your kitchen sheltered from the elements. You can definitely have a shelter over your kitchen area, but experts wouldn't recommend having a ceiling or shelter over the grill area because of all the smoke.
Finally, it's important to consider the proper flooring. You must try to avoid using flooring that is slick, which eliminates tile or marble right off the bat.
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