You can easily transform your backyard cookout into an outdoor celebration center by building an outdoor kitchen. Outdoor kitchens increase the value of the home and enrich the BBQ experience, making your back yard into a livable space for you, your family and your friends to enjoy the warm summer months.
You want to make sure that you do some elaborate outdoor kitchen consultations before any work starts or any money is spent. You will be spending a lot of time in your outdoor living area, probably for years to come, so envision a space that you and your loved ones will get the most out of. Keep in mind that outdoor kitchens add at least as much value to homes as homeowners spend building them. Some of the key ideas to keep in mind so that your outdoor kitchen will be built to perfection include:
Plan ahead for the rain, wind and sun: Too much of any of these things can make you and your guests what to go back inside. Canopies and umbrellas will block the sun and rain, but can blow around or topple in a heavy headwind. Be aware of where the rain runoff will fall, so that you don’t flood a major walkway.
Appliance installations: Map out a spot for each of the major appliances you will install the, the outdoor Bar-B-Que grill or grill island, the stovetop, the oven, the sink, the refrigerator, etc. Keep them all within a few footsteps of one another, and don’t block any areas where there will be a lot of human traffic.
Plumbing and power: The next thing to map out for your outdoor kitchen is the plumbing and energy lines to each of these from the main hubs built into the house. A wall on the side of the house is a great place to think about assembling your new outdoor kitchen, because of the protection is affords and its proximity to the rest of your home.
Extra accessories: Think about the extra accessories you will want to add to the outdoor kitchen such as a media center, a fireplace, space heaters, fountains, lounging furniture, etc.
Outdoor kitchens bring the back yard cookout into the twenty first century. They are places where the cook can work with all the effectiveness of an indoor kitchen, but where friends and family can join in to help, watch or just hang out. Special occasions will no longer feature you running to and fro to prepare and serve food, refill drinks and keep the guests happy. Guests may sit on stools at the counter, right there where the cook is cooking, or they may be chilling out on lawn chairs adjacent to a grill island.
