Making an outdoor kitchen can solve so many problems during the warmer part of the year. First of all, regardless of their brand, ovens, stoves, toasters and kettles all raise the temperature inside of your home, which means that an air conditioning needs to work much harder in order to maintain the temperature at an acceptable level. This also means that making an outdoor kitchen may save some money in the long-run. Still, where will the break-even point be, as well as how luxurious can you afford to make this project depends on the budget you set for it. Here are some considerations to make.
1. The theme
Unlike with the indoors kitchen where you’re most likely to separate the kitchen from the dining area, it’s far more likely that outside, you’ll combine these two ‘rooms’. This means that you have to handle the situation with seating as elegantly as possible. Sure, you can go to a thrift store and buy an old shabby table but keep in mind that this might ruin the impression made by your luxurious grill and your high-end covered counters. Therefore, it’s by far the best to pick a theme and set some basic parameters before you even start.
It’s far better to downgrade a bit in order to keep everything thematically matching or, to pick a style that matches your DIY capabilities. A rustic theme can be created with a bit more modest means and it somehow fits the exterior far better. Same goes for shabby chic or a simple, minimalist design. Some of these trends will require you to restore old furniture which is, still, more frugal than buying new seating and table altogether.
2. The plumbing
The next issue you need to tackle is the one of the plumbing. In a real kitchen, you need to have both hot and cold water, as well as figure out what to do with waste-water. Most commonly, the latter is handled by connecting your outdoor sink with the rest of your home’s water system. Depending on the local laws and regulations, this shouldn’t be an issue, however, it’s probably more complex than anything a layman plumber has ever dealt with. Therefore, you might want to look for a reliable plumbing agency and ask them to help you plan this new connection.
Most importantly, a lot of people lose from their mind the fact that they won’t be using their outdoor kitchen during winter, which doesn’t mean that the outdoor plumbing is safe. While writing the article, we have consulted with the experienced plumbers from Sydney, and they reminded us that you also need to take care of the winterizing, which is an additional item on the list. As for the choice of the pipe type, the faucet and the sink, you get to choose materials based on your personal preference. Of course, different materials also have different physical properties, which is probably another thing you should carefully consider.
3. Adding a touch of luxury
Depending on the amount of money you’re working with, you’ll get a chance to make your outdoor kitchen appear more like something straight out of a catalogue. The simplest way to do so is by building with stone or brick. Flooring is just the tip of the iceberg, especially when you consider the prospect of building your countertops with stone, instead of going for something a bit more frugal like concrete. People with an inclination towards masonry may even try building their own grill from stones or red bricks.
In some scenarios, it might even be a good idea to pay someone to build it for you. The downside lies in the fact that you’ll use substantially on mobility, which is why you should have this grill covered in case of rain, hailstorm or snow.
4. Consider appliances
Finally, in order to make your outdoor kitchen into something really special, you need to think about the appliances. An additional gas cooktop is always a great idea, aside from the standard barbecue and, if you want to go with something a tad more extravagant, you might want to consider getting a built-in smoker, as well. Naturally, you can get a wine cooler or a mini-fridge in order to get the most out of your summer days and raise the level of service you provide to your audience to a whole new level. All in all, these are just some of the things you may want to consider.
In conclusion
At the end of the day, you need to understand that planning a budget for your outdoor kitchen mostly depends on your own ambition and realistic assessment of the usefulness of such an area. Think about it, if you’re going to spend most of the summer outdoors, it will be easy to justify a bigger expense, while an investment in a place you’ll seldom visit might be excessive. That being said, the one thing you need to do before anything else is to decide on just how big of a priority this outdoor kitchen is.
