Enjoy Cooking Outside with A Bespoke Outdoor Kitchen
More and more people love spending time outdoors. This is why outdoor kitchens are becoming so popular. Imagine cooking delicious food in your garden! It’s a great way to boost your wellbeing and enjoy time with friends and family.
Why Build an Outdoor Kitchen?
Besides the enticing aromas, there are many good reasons to build an outdoor kitchen.
- Boost Your Home’s Value: A nice garden with fun features can make your home worth more. An outdoor kitchen can attract buyers and help sell your home faster.
- More Living Space: It adds extra space to your home.
- Increase Holiday Home Income: If you rent out a holiday home, an outdoor kitchen can bring in more money.
- No More Cooking Smells Inside Nobody enjoys waking up in the morning to the smell of last night’s dinner. Cook outside to keep cooking smells out of your house
- Cooking Becomes Fun for Everyone: No more cooking alone! Everyone loves a barbecue. With an outdoor kitchen, you can cook and talk with your guests at the same time. And if you’re lucky, somebody else will take over the tongs and give you the chance to relax.
- Great Entertainment Space: Entertainment is all about ambience, and a well designed outdoor kitchen has plenty of that. Think summer flowers, gentle breezes, the distant hum of a lawnmower and that wonderful holiday vibe. Or for autumn, why not cosy up with blankets and a fire pit and maybe do some stargazing or watch a movie outdoors.
For me, being able to cook and eat al-fresco whilst surrounded by family and friends feels like a basic need and an absolute luxury both at the same time. Careful design ensures that the outdoor kitchen is practical and comfortable and therefore will get maximum usage. So what are the essential ingredients for an outdoor cooking space?
A well equipped outdoor kitchen makes cooking and entertaining into a truly joyful experience
What You Need in an Outdoor Kitchen
Here are the key things for your outdoor cooking space:
- Shelter: Protect your cooking from bad weather. A simple pergola works well, particularly one with removable walls so you can use it in any weather.
- Work surfaces: An easy-to clean area where you can chop, mix and serve food hygienically and conveniently.
- Storage: Keep the kitchen area neat and keep your fuel dry, by having dedicated spaces for gas bottles, charcoal, logs, utensils, plates etc.
- Water: For washing hands, rinsing equipment and freshening up ingredients before they are cooked or served.
- Good lighting lets you cook even when it’s dark outside. No more using low visibility as an excuse for burnt sausages!
- Heat Source: Choose from a grill, pizza oven, or smoker. Or, have one of each and vary your menus!
Nice Extras for Your Outdoor Kitchen
- Electricity: Perfect for plugging in the ice maker and the coffee machine!
- Fridge: Serious outdoor cooks will appreciate the convenience of having a fridge in their outdoor kitchen. But honestly – who wants to keep nipping in and out of the house to refresh drinks when you can have a cooler close by?
- Herb Garden: Imagine being able to just pluck fresh herbs fresh from the garden to use in your outdoor kitchen…..you really will be able to cook up a taste sensation.
- Firepit: To keep everyone toasty warm, ward off biting insects and create a talking point.
Having a beautifully lit seating area close to your outdoor kitchen will encourage you (and your guests) to spend even more time out of doors.
Planning an outdoor kitchen
Once you have decided which features to include in your outdoor kitchen, it’s time to design the layout and the surroundings.
Don’t worry at this stage the colour scheme or choosing a dining set. First you need to decide where in your garden the outdoor kitchen will sit. Which way it will face? Do you need paths leading to and from the house? Should the kitchen be screened from your home and neighbouring properties? What type of materials will you use? How will you ensure the new kitchen feels like an integral part of your garden? And who can help you with the installation.
As an experienced garden designer and landscaper, Dan Richards from SilverBirch Gardens knows just how to help clients design and build a practical, long lasting and beautiful outdoor kitchens that add value to the property and take part in the creation of many, many happy memories. Dan’s 3D garden designs help you to visualise your outdoor kitchen before the build begins. That way you can be sure that it will complement your lifestyle and bring joy to your friends and family.
