Whether you plan to find an outdoor kitchen builder or DIY, there’s one thing you need to consider in great detail. This is the outdoor kitchen plans. It all starts with the location. Then it has to do with the layout. Take one step further and you’ll see that even the simplest outdoor kitchen design must integrate a few features. But then again, it has to do with your personal preferences, your habits, the family budget.
Things are easier when you assign such jobs to experienced outdoor kitchen contractors. You don’t have to lift a finger. But still, you will be asked about the plans of your Los Angeles outdoor kitchen – what you want, what you like, what you need.
What’s included in your outdoor kitchen plans, what could be excluded?
There’s a good reason why there’s a lot of hype around outdoor kitchen Los Angeles projects. Due to the mild climate, locals spend more time outdoors than indoors. Naturally, finding some nice backyard and outdoor living solutions to make their lives easier comes with the territory – literally.
With that out of the way, let us focus on the outdoor kitchen plans. Why are they so important? Why some things are necessary, while others may be excluded?
There’s a perfectly good reason why most people opt for custom outdoor kitchens. Not all landscapes are the same. They vary in many aspects, size included. And so, an outdoor kitchen for a small space will not have the amenities a big kitchen in a large landscape would have. Then again, such projects are not cheap. Even if you have ample space, what you integrate in your outdoor kitchen plan has to do with your personal needs. Why have three different outdoor ovens if you hardly cook? Why invest in a pizza oven if you hate pizza – just saying!
Space – the first determinant of your outdoor kitchen plan
The layout of the outdoor kitchen design is made based on the available space in your backyard. You may already have a deck or patio in the backyard and want to build the outdoor kitchen at this location. An excellent choice for a sheltered outdoor kitchen is the space in the gazebo, assuming you have one. Or the covered area right outside your kitchen.
In any case, the space of the location will determine the plan of the outdoor kitchen. If it’s small, you need to fit the necessary. If it’s ample, you can go beyond the required.
Now, while people have different expectations and habits – all of which will shape the outdoor kitchen plans, there are some features which are considered necessary.
- Don’t settle for an outdoor kitchen without a sink. The point is to make your life easy and running water is a basic part of cooking.
- Since this is an outdoor kitchen project, you will need some form of cooking appliance. If having a grill alone is fine with you, it’s okay. If not, consider your habits, how often you entertain relatives and friends, the size of your family to figure out what type and size of cooking appliances you need. This is important when you are considering the outdoor kitchen design.
- You also need some kind of a refrigeration appliance. Surely, a fridge. Maybe, a cooler. Perhaps, a freezer. You may consider the latter redundant but think again if you have six children that love ice-cream.
- Even if you hardly have enough space, it’s convenient to fit at least one cabinet where you can store some basic items.
Overall, you need to have a convenient outdoor cooking area. An outdoor kitchen countertop with a cooking appliance, some storage space and a sink – a small-scale replica of your indoor kitchen.
Have the space for big outdoor kitchen plans?
If you are lucky to have enough living space in the backyard, you can go beyond the necessary. You can integrate more than one cooking appliance in your outdoor kitchen plans. If you like spending time outdoors even when it gets chilly or when the night falls, you may consider a fire pit.
As you can see, the factors that determine the outdoor kitchen plans are the landscape size and your habits. So, focus on those aspects first.
