Outdoor kitchens are the perfect complement to your outdoor living space and they give you the perfect setup to host friends and family for an awesome outdoor experience! Adding a kitchen on the outside of your house is a highly enjoyable way to increase the value of your home and gives you the possibility of having a unique feature like a wood-fired pizza oven!
What Is An Outdoor Kitchen?
There are a variety of options when it comes to outdoor kitchens, but most are built on a concrete foundation and include at the minimum, a gas grill and a well-built island. Sometimes, the island even extends into a bar top with bar stools for a place for guests to enjoy a cocktail while you grill! While a grill and bar go a long way, if you really want to have some fun, add a pizza oven or a smoker. Other additions include sinks, refrigerators, in-cabinet trash cans, burners for other accessories such as pans, woks, and griddles.
What To Plan For
It’s good to consider your overall goals from the beginning. Perhaps in the future, you’d like to build a pergola or add furniture and have a place to mount a television. Maybe for now a grill and island is fine, but one day, you’d like to have a second island or a pizza oven. Whatever appliances you add to your outdoor kitchen will either need electricity connected to them or a water line if you have a sink. You may also want to connect the gas grill directly which would require a connection. All of the utilities will require careful placement and you’ll want to check with the local authorities to make sure that it’s all up to code.
Outdoor Kitchen Lighting
Another important aspect of island placement is lighting. Figure out where the sun will be when you’re most likely to use the kitchen and place the island in such a way that you can see what you’re grilling. You should also ensure that all of the main features of the outdoor kitchen are highlighted for the best experience. This may or may not require a few extra lights, whether they’re installed on the island, the pergola or you just have some standing lamps or tiki torches to compliment the natural light.
Outdoor Kitchen Guide
We at Butler Contracting love to install outdoor kitchens and we’ve just made it easier! We’ve created some package deals with several options and add-ons to help you create the living space of your dreams. You can find all of these options in the Outdoor Kitchen Guide that we’ve created for your convenience.
