Outdoor Kitchens Improve Quality of Life While Increasing the Value of the Home

Transform your backyard cookout into an outdoor celebration by building an outdoor kitchen.  Outdoor kitchens increase the value of the home and enrich the barbecue experience, making your back yard into a livable space for you, your family and your friends to enjoy the warm summer months.Now is the time to brainstorm about the details of your new outdoor kitchen, before any work has started or any money has been spent.  You will be spending a lot of time in your alfresco dining area, probably for years to come, so envision a space that you and your loved ones will get the most out of.Keep in mind – outdoor kitchens add at least as much value to homes as homeowners spend building them (although the quality time you spend in it will be priceless).Here are some key ideas to keep in mind so that your outdoor kitchen will be built to perfection:1.    Plan ahead for the rain, wind and sun.  Too much of any of these things can make you and your guests what to go back inside.  Canopies and umbrellas will block the sun and rain, but can blow around or topple in a heavy headwind.  Be aware of where the rain runoff will fall, so that you don’t flood a major walkway.2.    Map out a spot for each of the major appliances you will install – the grill or grill island, the stovetop, the oven, the sink, the refrigerator, etc.  Keep them all within a few footsteps of one another, and don’t block any areas where there will be a lot of human traffic.3.    Now map out the plumbing and energy lines to each of these from the main hubs built into the house.  A wall on the side of the house is a great place to think about assembling your new outdoor kitchen, because of the protection is affords and its proximity to the rest of your home.4.    Think about the extra accessories you will want to add to the outdoor kitchen – media centers, fireplaces, space heaters, fountains, lounging furniture, etc.  These spots will see a lot of attention once the kitchen is put together.Outdoor kitchens bring the back yard cookout into the twenty first century.  They are places where the cook can work with all the effectiveness of an indoor kitchen, but where friends and family can join in to help, watch or just hang out.  Special occasions will no longer feature a battered host running to and fro to prepare and serve food, refill drinks and keep the guests happy.  Guests may sit on stools at the counter, right there where the cook is cooking, or they may be chilling out on lawn chairs adjacent to a grill island.Outdoor kitchens are fully stocked and independent structures that don’t have to rely on the indoor kitchen for every appliance, utensil or food item.  They convert a back yard or patio into a place that will draw people outside, where people will want to spend their time together.