Outdoor kitchens have become all the rage of late, and why not? Considering how a well-designed backyard kitchen can dramatically enhance the experience and enjoyment of your home, it’s a little surprising that they took this long to move beyond the confines of their more or less agreed upon birthplace in California. As with many things however, what you get from your backyard kitchen often depends on what you put into it. An article on houzz.com offers some advice on getting more ‘outdoor’ out of your outdoor kitchen.
Have you ever found yourself running back and forth between cooking indoors and cooking outdoors on a warm afternoon? The best way to prevent this from happening is to properly design your outdoor kitchen so that it can function like your indoor kitchen…Prevent unnecessary trips inside by doing all the prep work ahead of time, and when it’s time to cook, make sure you get all your essentials together before you start — it’s easy to forget about the paper towels or the trash can until you actually need it.
Some of the articles suggestions are common sense as you can see and some make a great deal of sense though they’re not really all that common. Such as…
- Placement of the Kegerator – Keep it outside so guests are encouraged to go there but place it so that people topping up don’t interfere with any natural movements you might need to make while cooking.
- Having a Bar Top Near the Cooking Area – This encourages guests to settle outdoors and allows them to relax and interact with you while you’re cooking without getting in the way.
- Setting Up a Satellite Kitchen – That is, set up your new kitchen adjacent to your indoor kitchen with generous passageways between the two. This way even though you’re outdoors you’re never far from anything you might need.
- Creating a Focal Point – Renaissance architects learned the power of perspective lines and used them to draw the eye in. Why not do the same with your outdoor kitchen? Hey, if it’s good enough for Brunelleschi, it’s good enough for you.
Some of these suggestions will be more applicable to someone just setting out on the plein air kitchen journey. If this is you and you’re still not completely sold on the notion, here are a few more virtues of outdoor kitchens that you may or may not have considered.
- Enhanced Entertainment Potential – Even if they never eat a thing, it’s probably fair to say your boss or big client will be duly impressed when you have them over to socialize.
- Backyard activation – While most people’s backyards tend to sit there idle, an outdoor kitchen can bring this largest part of your property back into the family fold and make it a relevant part of your life; instead of just an afterthought you view through the window.
- Increased Market Value – A backyard kitchen can be a plus when offering a home for sale. Homes with outdoor kitchens sell faster and at more attractive prices than homes without them.
- Expanded Culinary Repertoire – Trying to do a rotisserie anything inside the house can be a messy affair, yet outside it can seem perfectly natural.
Choosing the Right Contractor to Build Your Outdoor Kitchen
A backyard kitchen can be a game changer when it comes to the way you, your family and your friends experience your home. Many people who’ve decided to call Toronto Custom Decks and have us design and build one for them tell us it’s like they’ve moved into an entirely different house; one where entertainment is not a chore but a joy.
No one in the GTA has more experience designing and building outdoor kitchens than the pros at Toronto Custom Decks. We take the art of design seriously and can deliver a plein air kitchen for you that will wow your friends and add immediate curb appeal and resale value to your home. If you’re interested in learning more about having an outdoor kitchen added to your home call us on 647-878-8780 and talk to one of our design specialists.