How to Create a Great Outdoor Kitchen this Season

One idea to cheer yourself up considerably is to start thinking about and planning your outdoor barbecue parties. If you love great food and good company, then it’s time to start thinking about your “must have this summer” list and plan-of-action for your outdoor kitchen and bar.

Create an Outdoor Bar to Enjoy Nature

Think of your deck or patio as an extension to your house. Think of it as an “extra room” where you can enjoy warm, balmy days and pleasant evenings with family and friends. After spending so much of your time indoors during the winter, it’s only natural for outdoor decks or patios to become the best place for convivial social gatherings. We love these outdoor bar and kitchen ideas from DIY Network.

However, rather than simply filling up the space with chairs and tables and a modest grill, why not go all out and make it the favorite “room.” Yes, convert your deck or patio into a fully-functioning outdoor kitchen with all the comforts of a den.

Here are 4 outdoor kitchen ideas that go far beyond simply tossing hotdogs and hamburgers on a grill and eating at a wooden picnic table:

1. A Gas BBQ Grill

A built-in bbq gas grill is probably the first thing to think about when it comes to designing a great outdoor kitchen. Think about how many people usually come to your parties when you’re buying a grill. If you get something too small, then you won’t be able to cook all your meat, corn, and potatoes at the same time. It will be difficult to serve uniformly hot food to your family and visitors.

2. A Functional Outdoor Kitchen

There are three things that make a kitchen a functional place for culinary craft: electricity for appliances, plenty of countertop space for food preparation and placement, and refrigeration. There is no reason why you can’t have all three in your outdoor kitchen, too.

Electricity: It will make a huge difference to the quality of your small gatherings to have electricity to plug in your appliances. While you’re waiting for the food to cook on the grill, you could blend up smoothies or use a food processor for fresh salad dressing, meat sauces, and prepare quick and easy recipes. Instead of sitting around feeling hungry as the food heats up in the grill, you could be sampling drinks and appetizers.

Countertops: What’s the most frustrating thing about cooking in a small kitchen? It’s the lack of enough countertop space. So when planning your outdoor kitchen, be sure that you have enough countertop space for preparing your food and placing it after it’s cooked. Things will go a lot smoother if you’ve got all the counter space you need to stay organized.

Refrigeration: Imagine how convenient it will be to have a refrigerator under the countertop. This will save you the bother of running into your kitchen every time you need sauces and veggies. You’ll also be able to serve chilled cans of beer or bottles of wine.

3. A Full Outdoor Bar

If you tend to have many people at your fabulous outdoor parties, then a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine isn’t going to cut it. You need a wet bar to practice all your mixology skills. It will also make it much easier to have a sink for cleaning up glasses and dishes.

4. An Outdoor Kitchen with Brick Fireplace

If you really want to get cozy, then think about adding an outdoor brick fireplace. After you’ve enjoyed your drinks from the wet bar and eaten a delicious meal, everyone can lounge around the fireplace in comfortable chairs and enjoy the ambiance of firelight.

Naturally, the more area you have available, the more you can do to create a magnificent outdoor kitchen that everyone will love. However, these simple ideas will help you get off to a good start.

For more outdoor kitchen ideas on Stagetecture, visit our outdoor home archives.

Image via: Coats Homes

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BBQ Tips: Summer Grilling Dos and Don’ts

Image via: Houzz

Do:

Inspect and Clean the Grill Thoroughly

Inspect the grill to make sure it doesn’t have rust and its vents are working properly. Clean the burner of fat and grease as these can provide fuel for a fire if left neglected. If you have a gas grill, make sure its hose doesn’t have any holes or leaks. Hook up the hose properly and ensure all connections are working.

Keep the Grill At Least 10 feet from your House

Keep the grill far from your house to reduce the risk of fire. Make sure it is out of high-traffic areas where children and pets can’t bump into it. Additionally, don’t place it under wooden overhangs as fire can erupt into the structure above. This rule applies to both gas and charcoal grills.

Create Zones of Varying Heat

When grilling with charcoal, move the coals to one side so that they incline towards the centre. This way, you have one hot zone for direct heat and a less hot one for indirect heat. When your barbecue is almost done, you can move it to the less hot side to prevent it from burning.

Image via: Homes

Don’t:

Char Meat

You may love the charred and crispy bits on grilled meat, but such meat isn’t good for your health. It may contain cancer-causing chemicals formed when meat is grilled at high temperatures over an open flame.

Image via: America’s Test Kitchen

Cover the Grill When Cooking Meat Directly Over Coals

This is a grilling mistake many people make. Covering the grill causes the meat to release fat drippings which turn into puffs of foul-tasting smoke when they hit the coals. The smoke gives your food a bad flavor. When grilling, build a multi-level fire and pay close attention to the meat.

Image via: Williams – Sonoma

Summer brings with it many backyard parties and quick meals on the grill. Without proper caution however, lovely barbeques can quickly turn into disasters. Use these summer grilling tips to make your food tasty and healthy.

For more bbq tips on Stagetecture, click here.

This summer how about spending more time entertaining your family, guests and of course, you! One way to take advantage of your great backyard is to design a beautiful summer kitchen. Whether you plan on grilling, keeping food warm, preparing your food, and keeping it cold – a summer kitchen enables you to bring your culinary and entertaining activities outdoors.  If you’ve been thinking of ways to make your outdoor home more enjoyable

Image via: Mark Scott Associates

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Now, imagine a well-designed kitchen that fits the summer season. This idea will definitely inspire you to cook more and even better. With everything at stake in the outcome of your food, you don’t have to settle for anything less. A perfect summer design for your kitchen is a great project. To help you out with your plan, here are some important tips when designing your summer kitchen:

Consider the climate

Since it’s summer time, your kitchen should be able to sustain the heat from inside and out. You have to consider proper ventilation so that the circulation of air will be good. Also, consider the insulation of your roofing. You may opt to have wider windows so you can open them if the temperature in getting higher. Another good idea to neutralize the summer heat is to use a natural wood as materials for your summer kitchen.

Image via: Dean Herald-Rolling Stone Landscapes

Assess your furniture

Kitchen furniture can make or break your desired summer kitchen. These furnishings play a vital role in making the best kitchen for summer and any other seasons. Your furniture must complement with your floor plan. Kitchen furniture can include seating area, accessories, and side amenities like carts, tables, and any elements that could effect how the cook moves throughout the summer kitchen preparation area. Look to a layout that enables the cook and guests to be far enough from one another to not distract the other party. Consider having a kitchen design professional to layout your summer kitchen if you have questions.

Image via: Lynx Professional Grills

Invest in the quality of materials

You have to think of long term and not just for one season. Bear in mind that summer will not last for a year. Another season will come and the cycle will keep on going. Therefore, the materials you have chosen will be essential in the long run. These materials should be in high quality and can sustain in a changing environment.

On top of it all, you have to plan it properly before implementing. It is very important to think about every aspect of your plan and see if it is your ideal summer kitchen design.

For more kitchen & bath ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

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I’m always intrigued by designers who pair up with brands and manufacturers to bring innovation and beautiful products to the design world. Jamie Durie from HGTV’s – The Outdoor Room, has paired up with Electrolux to bring an innovative and gorgeous outdoor kitchen line to your home.

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Electrolux has launched the Outdoor Kitchen, a design collaboration with landscape designer Jamie Durie. The new addition to the Electrolux premium outdoor collection is designed to complement modern outdoor entertaining areas and features the Electrolux Integrated Barbecue and the new Electrolux Integrated Burner.

The Outdoor Kitchen joins the ranks of other successful Electrolux collaborations such as the Electrolux Jeppe Utzon Barbecue. With as much emphasis on form as function, the Outdoor Kitchen is an impressive addition to the Electrolux outdoor entertaining portfolio.

Jamie, a strong advocate of the ‘Outdoor Room’, shares the Electrolux passion to redefine outdoor entertaining.

“Australia has had a long standing love affair with outdoor entertaining, so it was important to redefine that space in respect to modern demands when designing The Outdoor Kitchen. We wanted something that would stylistically push the parameters of outdoor design and alfresco luxury whilst still keeping in harmony with garden elements,” says Jamie.

The Outdoor Kitchen is a distinctive, custom-design to fit any outdoor space and evolves organically and grows alongside the garden. Its distinctive form offers a unique outdoor cooking and entertaining area that is environmentally friendly and a testament to increasingly sophisticated outdoor areas.

As an active supporter for preserving natural surroundings and the environmental future, Jamie is also passionate about the environmental aspect of the design. The Outdoor Kitchen is both sustainable and timeless, selecting clever eco-friendly materials and having greenery and plant life as an integral part of the design.

All images courtesy of Electrolux

“The Outdoor Kitchen is an engineered green entertaining area, designed to meet contemporary life, it is not just a piece of furniture or a utilitarian space, it’s an outdoor area designed to draw people out of their houses and into their gardens, where they seem to want to spend their leisure time these days,” says Jamie.

For more outdoor entertaining  ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been getting into the preparation mode for summer. I’ve showed you beautiful outdoor furniture from Restoration Hardware. As you get your patio ready for the warmer weather, don’t forget about your summer kitchen.

A summer kitchen can be a simple counter, and grill outside, or it can be as extravagant as your indoor kitchen.  The more elaborate kitchens have: refrigerator, grill, sink, warming station, wine chiller, and lots of counter and eating space.  Look at these beautiful images below to get your juices ready for summer!

Planning on building a summer kitchen? Make sure a plumber and electrician confirms your home can handle the loads of a summer kitchen.  Gas lines may need to be run, and a new electrical breaker box may need to be added.

Summer kitchens are becoming more popular in higher price bracket homes.  Buyer’s are starting to put a higher value on entertaining, especially outdoors!

Do you have any summer kitchen inspiration photos you want to share? Leave us a comment, and we’ll share them.