New Trends in Outdoor Kitchens

Outdoor kitchens have been popular for years. Not only do they give you an excuse to enjoy beautiful weather outdoors but they’re also great for entertaining. Having a nice outdoor kitchen can even improve the overall value of your home! While these kitchens were once thought to be a fad, they actually seem to be getting more and more popular as time goes by.

If you’re thinking of adding an outdoor kitchen to your home, you might be wondering how to make sure that your new kitchen fits with the current trends in outdoor kitchen design. While the final decision comes down to you and your tastes, here are a few hot trends to help form the design of your new outdoor kitchen.

Rustic Looks Are King

Once upon a time, outdoor kitchens were little more than blocks of brick and mortar with an oven or grill built in. Now they’ve really grown, and their overall look has grown as well. One of the really popular trends in outdoor cooking spaces is to give them a rustic or even semi-rustic look; brick and stone still play a part, but so do aged wood and similar accents like corrugated metal. Brick flooring and rustic whitewashing are also fairly popular, as they give the whole kitchen area a very part-of-the-home feel.

Semi-Outdoor Chic

While some outdoor kitchens are completely separate from the home, one growing trend is to build them into a covered deck area or other space that connects to the home. Adding a bit of roofing and a few partial walls or supports capitalizes on the outdoor feel of the space while still giving you a bit of privacy and control over the space you’ll be cooking in.

Accessible Food Prep

When outdoor kitchens first started becoming popular, the usual approach was to do all the food prep inside and then bring things out to cook. Over time, though, homeowners have shifted toward wanting to do some if not all of their prep outdoors as well. This means that modern outdoor kitchens provide access to counter-space, butcher block cutting boards that are built in to the surface, and other prep-area essentials. They also offer up sinks and other sources of water, and many include mini-fridges to keep fresh ingredients cool until they’re needed as well. Some outdoor kitchens even come equipped with dishwashers to provide beginning-to-end cooking solutions!

Pizza Ovens Remain Popular

A lot of outdoor kitchens got their start as an excuse to install brick pizza ovens, and these outdoor ovens remain popular today. The types of pizza ovens that people want have evolved a bit, however. While you’ll still see plenty of very basic brick pizza ovens, clay ovens and more traditional gas or electric ovens are also gaining popularity. The type of pizza oven you choose depends largely on personal preference, just so long as there’s a place for you to cook a pizza out there somewhere.

Outdoor Storage

One other major trend in outdoor kitchens is an increase in available storage space for various tools and other kitchen implements. Some of these spaces are simple, with shelves or reclaimed crates as a place to hold items temporarily. Others are much fancier, including “windows” attached to the house that open to reveal service settings and everything else you need to enjoy a good meal outdoors. There are lockable storage solutions, open-air storage solutions and just about everything else that you can think of available. Basically, it’s a good idea to include all the storage that you would want in your regular kitchen when building a kitchen outdoors.

Building Your Dream Outdoor Kitchen

Are you loving the idea of an outdoor kitchen but aren’t really sure where to start? Let HomeKeepr help! Sign up for a free account today to find a contractor who can take your outdoor kitchen dreams and build them into reality.

Outdoor fireplaces

Adding an outdoor fireplace can be a great way to liven up your backyard or patio area. Not only do outdoor fireplaces provide a unique visual aesthetic, they can also serve a functional purpose. Even though it’s outside in the open air, the heat produced by an outdoor fireplace can actually keep the surrounding area fairly warm on cool autumn evenings. Before you decide to have an outdoor fireplace installed, though, there are a few things you should take into consideration.

Fireplace Materials

Depending on the look and functionality you want, there are a few different options available in regard to what your fireplace can be made of. Commercial outdoor fireplaces made of iron, steel or other metals are available for purchase and installation as-is. If you’re building the fireplace itself, materials such as concrete, brick and stone are often used. In many cases, a concrete or stone fireplace will feature supplemental components made of metal such as fireplace grates and racks to hold logs or other fuel.

Chimneys

Another important aspect of your outdoor fireplace is the chimney. Even though the fireplace is outside, you still need to divert smoke up and away from you and your guests as there are a number of hazardous materials found in fireplace smoke. A number of options made of metal or other heat-resistant materials are available, and it is also possible to build a chimney from brick or stone as well. Even if the chimney is constructed from one of these materials, a liner may be needed to prevent smoke from leaking out of cracks or gaps in the chimney construction.

Fuel Options

Wood is the most popular fuel option for outdoor fireplaces, though it is not the only one. Propane fireplaces are also a possibility, though fuel lines will have to be run through the fireplace material so that the tanks can be hooked up safely away from the fire. Other less common options include pressed wood pellets, charcoal and even some forms of biofuel.

Cooking Options

Many people who own outdoor fireplaces use them for cooking as well, allowing the fireplace to double as a rotisserie or a wood-fired pizza oven. This may restrict some of your fuel options as the fuel needs to be food safe, and the fireplace design will need to incorporate a large enough chimney to prevent excess smoke from building up around the food. Depending on the design you want, additional components such as metal cooking grates, a heat stone, rotisserie controls or other features may also be needed.

Cleaning and Maintenance

As with any fireplace, an outdoor fireplace will require periodic cleaning and maintenance. This is especially important before winter as the fireplace will be exposed to potential freezing temperatures and other inclement weather that could cause cracks or other damage to appear. The fireplace should have a visual inspection every few months for signs of problems and should have its chimney cleaned at least annually. After any period where the fireplace has not been used for more than a few weeks, the chimney should also be checked to make sure that birds or other animals have not attempted nesting or otherwise created potential blockages within the chimney.

Other Considerations

Before installing an outdoor fireplace, be sure to check and see whether there are any restrictions or ordinances in place in the city where you live. If you’re in a homeowner’s association, you should also check to see if they have any rules concerning outdoor fireplaces. You may be restricted in the materials you can use, the fuels you can put in it, the height of your chimney and even the location of the fireplace, in regard to nearby vegetation or buildings. Installing an outdoor fireplace without checking this first could result in fines or possibly even having to remove the fireplace entirely.

Ready to Build?

Now that you have a better idea of what you’ll need, are you ready to find someone to build or install an outdoor fireplace for you? Check out HomeKeepr to find a professional you can trust who will help you create the outdoor fireplace of your dreams.

Outdoor Kitchens

Your new house has an awesome outdoor kitchen, or maybe you just had one installed, either way you’re all set to grill outside all summer (and maybe into the fall and winter, too). Have you stopped to consider all the things that it takes to keep an outdoor kitchen running smoothly? Remember there’s live electricity, gas lines, appliances and other things that are going to require regular effort.

An outdoor kitchen can be the best investment you’ve ever made, but you definitely should be considering how an outdoor kitchen is different from an indoor kitchen.

Outdoor Versus Indoor Kitchens: The Big Differences

There’s nothing wrong with an outdoor kitchen, they’re not inherently dangerous or troublesome, they’re just different than an indoor kitchen. Heck, some of the early pioneers had outdoor kitchens before it was cool. At the end of the day, though, the two are fairly different, so let’s take a look at the biggest stuff.

Exposure to the Elements

Your indoor kitchen is around 72 degrees Fahrenheit or so all the time, day in and day out. Depending on where you live, your outdoor kitchen could be exposed to some really extreme weather, swinging from below freezing in the winter to above 100 degrees F in the summer. It’s a lot for gaskets, plumbing and wiring to bear.

Maintenance and regular health checks are vital for your outdoor kitchen, otherwise you could have catastrophic failures without warning. In addition, ensure that all your outdoor kitchen components are approved for outdoor usage — if anything is not, replace it right away or plan for it to have a shortened lifespan.

Levels of Cleanliness

Look, no one is judging you here, but your outdoor kitchen is a lot dirtier than your indoor one. It’s partially because your indoor kitchen is inside, protected from blowing pollen, dust and the various types of insects and animals that happen to run around at night in your backyard. But, there’s also the fact that you neglect to clean your grill as often as you should and you leave the grease catch full.

You can’t keep an outdoor kitchen squeaky clean, but you should always, always, always clean that grill from top to bottom. Not only does grease left in the catcher underneath attract mammals that you’d not normally invite into your kitchen, but the dirtier the grill is, the worse it will perform when it’s time to cook.

Counters and Floors

Inside kitchens are pretty easy to maintain. You clean the tile, vinyl or hardwoods with a regular household floor cleaner and wipe the counters with a wet sponge. No problem! Your outside kitchen, as you may have guessed, is a bit more complicated. So many outside kitchens use stone like granite for counters because of this material’s ability to withstand heat and, of course, because they look amazing next to the pool. The “floor” of that kitchen is often concrete or stone. Not exactly the kind of thing you just mop and go with.

First, make sure your granite counters are sealed every three to five years to protect them from the worst the sun can deal out. Next, make sure you always sweep your patio clear of grass clippings, blown dirt and other plant materials to prevent weeds from popping up where they can find footing. Lastly, make sure to power wash that patio at least once a year to remove stains, grease and mildew.

Winterizing

Obviously, your indoor kitchen should need little to no winterizing since it’s both serviced by a modern heating system and protected from the cold by at least one wall and the insulation therein. Even in a very old house, the most you might need to do is turn on heat tape that’s wrapped around plumbing to prevent frozen pipes. Your outdoor kitchen, though, will need a lot of care ahead of the cold.

Remember to disconnect all your appliances from their various services. Turn the gas off to the grill, empty and disconnect the fridge, drain and winterize the water lines running to the sink. Cover your patio furniture or bring it inside. Cover the grill and other appliances, too, if your outdoor kitchen lacks a permanent roof (a sail or solar cloth isn’t the same thing). If you’re lucky enough to live in a place that only freezes once in a while, you can wait to disconnect everything until just before the storm comes, provided you’re still using the kitchen regularly.

Having an Outdoor Kitchen is Amazing…

…until something breaks or is severely damaged because of a lack of maintenance, that is. Keeping these items in mind can help extend your period of trouble-free enjoyment, but even the best kitchen will need to have a thorough professional inspection every now and again to remain reliable.

When that time comes, just log into your HomeKeepr community. Plumbers, electricians, patio-builders and even pest control experts are at your fingertips, just waiting for a call from their HomeKeepr family. Your Realtor recommended them, so you know you can trust that they know their stuff.