Outdoor Kitchen

Creating extra work space for all your needs for the home

You have worked hard to create a beautiful yard, where you love to spend time with friends and family. Dinner time makes you reluctant to leave your paradise and go inside to make a meal. But with an outdoor kitchen, you don’t have to choose between a great meal and spending time in your beautiful outdoors. You can have both, cooking while still enjoying company and fun. One of the easiest ways to increase the amount of fun in your backyard is to make is a fully functioning work space for preparing meals. You can do this by installing a kitchen island.

Kitchen islands are standalone countertops usually placed in the backyard somewhere to create more room for preparing and storing food while you are enjoying your backyard. Kitchen islands can contain additional drawers, cabinets and wine racks, increasing the overall storage capacity while helping you not miss a moment of entertaining guests or sharing moments that occur. Most have an area for grilling and can also have a sink. Some models even have warming ovens and other features. All of this combined makes for a great area for you, for family and your friends to enjoy. The extra workspace equals more fun for everyone.

There are three basic designs in an outdoor kitchen. You can choose between a basic island, an L-shaped Island and a U-shaped center. What you’ll want will depend on how often you’ll use your outdoor kitchen and how many people you’ll invite to enjoy the outdoors with you. All three basic designs come in a range of styles to fit any landscaping or outside decor. The basic island is great for light, outdoor cooking with a sink, grill, small fridge and prep space. This is what you’ll choose if you cook outdoors for small groups and generally keep your menu to basic grilling and other traditional outdoor cooking. There is no seating space, so make sure if you choose a basic island that you have adequate seating for your friends and family outdoors. The L-shaped island is generally larger. It also includes the basic grill, sink, and fridge, but has more prep space as well as eating space. If you’re feeding mid-sized groups, and find that you need the extra seating, this is a perfect choice. They can sit at the bar and chat while you cook. And after all, isn’t togetherness the fun of an outdoor kitchen? The U-shaped island has the advantage of much greater eating space. If you find you’re serving up hot food while you’re chatting with your guests and family, this is the outdoor kitchen for you. Its prep space is about the same as the L-shaped island, so you’d want to choose this if you’re looking into an outdoor kitchen because you consistently entertain larger groups.

Kitchen islands also help you be an excellent host or hostess, as they allow you to cook and clean without turning your back on guests who step into the kitchen. Many like to talk to you while you are preparing and some even like to pitch in. There are varieties of pre built or build it yourself types of kitchen islands that you can buy. These are typically less expensive than getting one custom built. They come in different sizes and designs. A custom built island also looks very nice. It is created especially for your kitchen to fit all of your needs making it look like it was there the entire time the house was. If you do not want an island all of the time, but still want it available when you need it, consider getting a portable island. These types of islands offer the convenience of an extended workspace when you need it most but they have wheels on them so you can wheel them out of the way and store them. They are also called kitchen carts by some. When you plan out your kitchen island you should be mostly concerned about efficiency. It should not hinder your ability to move around in the kitchen. They are typically four feet by two feet and if you want to put stools around it there should still be room to walk around the stools as well. There are many other things you can do to add to your outdoor experience. Look into outdoor paint, patio furniture and much more. The outdoor accessories you choose will also make a statement on the look of you outdoor area for everyone to enjoy.