Nothing beats a perfectly done steak on a nice summer evening served with grilled vegetables for a healthy side dish. With a well-designed outdoor kitchen, you can have a nice place to grill outside all-year-round. In warm months, it will be the center of your outdoor living with family and friends. The rest of the year, it will be a functional part of your home, (albeit outside). If you decide to design an outdoor kitchen it can seem really confusing at the beginning especially if you don’t know from where to start. Having an outdoor kitchen checklist at hand can save you lots of time and make the whole building process less stressful.
Simple or Luxe?
You can make the kitchen as simple or luxurious as you want. From a simple built-in grill with a nice granite counter, to something more elaborate such as a smoker, fridge, beer tap, warming drawer, sink etc., you can include many options to suit your tastes.
The Hostess with the Mostess
Do you entertain a lot? Do you wish you had a place where you could? If so, consider the kitchen island as the heart of your outdoor room. As you can imagine, “if you build it they will come.”
It’s a sure thing that a group will form next to the guy doing the grilling as beer gets sipped and conversation flows. Why not create a nice space where people can sit at a counter on stools while they advise the master griller.
Why not have a fridge handy to reach into to get another beer or chardonnay? And rather than balancing all the food to be grilled and cooked food on a flimsy grill stand, why not make an ample granite counter part of your new outdoor room?
Location, Location, Location!
If you locate your outdoor kitchen close to your eating area, it will offer very convenient year-round use.
Build your grill island adjacent to an outdoor dining table. This will allow easy passing of hot-off-the-grill items to the table. It also allows the cook to be part of the dinner table conversation.
If you have fire pit or fireplace near your outdoor kitchen, people can sit at the island bar seating and have a view of the fire. It is kind of like stadium seating.
And when it’s cold outside, wouldn’t it be nice to dart out to the grill to whip up some marinated chicken and grilled asparagus?
Add Lighting
Lighting really gives a special warm evening ambiance of your outdoor room. We usually put lighting under the counter and around the patio sitting walls. Landscape lighting or “nightscaping” is very soft and will add just the right glow to your evening activities. People fall in love with the lighting and its effect similar to full moon light.
Add a Pergola
Consider putting a pergola over your kitchen grill island, this can provide shade via plants growing on the wood or movable fabric shades. You can also hang lighting or mount speakers in the pergola to add to the ambiance.
At Land Design Associates, we have more than 25 years experience to help you design and install the perfect outdoor kitchen. Contact us or call 781-769-3286 and we can get together and create a perfect space for your family.
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