6 Things You Need To Know When Planning Your Outdoor Kitchen

Make These Choices Before You Start PUrchasing materials

When planning your outdoor kitchen, there are a variety of factors that need to be kept in mind. A major one, before anything else, is deciding why you're doing this. 

Is your current home meant to be a permanent home for you and your family? 

Are you going to take pieces of your kitchen with you if you move, so everything has to be mobile? 

Are you the type of person who enjoys having the capability to rearrange furniture a few times a year? 

Or are you doing this to improve the market value of your home?

Each of these will have a deeply personal answer tied to how you look at your home.

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 For ones that aren’t as definitive, let's break down your choices from most to least complicated. 

Start by considering how many people do you want to make room for? What do you plan on doing in this space?  If this is an outdoor kitchen, are you doing it just so you can cook outside and have options during the year? Or is it so you can entertain outside? Do you tend to have a lot of people over, or do you prefer smaller, more intimate gatherings? Some options you might consider are a bistro table for two, a small island to hold 4 to 6 people: a large dining table, or an entire outdoor living room. 

 What about plumbing? Plumbing is definitely convenient, but it is costly. If you choose to add plumbing weather for washing up dishes, quickly getting water for recipes, or keeping yourself hydrated, each of these will present different options of what that might look like. However, all of them will require a licensed plumber or contractor. 

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You'll also have to winterize the pipes yearly to prevent them from bursting and destroying your yard and appliances. You'll almost certainly want somebody to check on them regularly to ensure everything is functioning properly. (Fortunately, Appliance Rescue Service does offer maintenance checks! It really is necessary, though, given how easy it is for something to get blown into places where it shouldn't be.)

You'll also need to ensure that any materials or appliances you choose are UV-resistant, scratch-resistant, and stain-resistant. 

UV-resistant materials mean that they're not going to degrade over time, thanks to continuous or heavy exposure to the Texas sun. 

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Scratch-resistant is important not only because of keeping what you purchase looking nice but also because scratches provide areas where food and bacteria can get stuck and thrive.

Stain-resistant is much the same. If you invest in building yourself an outdoor kitchen, you want it to continue looking nice. 

Some examples of materials that would work would be exterior quartz, porcelain, and weatherproof tiling.

No matter which decision you come to about your reasons for building an outdoor kitchen, modular cabinetry is a boon. You can choose exactly what you want in what configuration you want. With a few tips and tricks from a builder, it looks like it's built-in. And if you move or want to redo your backyard, you can easily pick it up and move it around. 

 Finally, you need to decide on what type of appliances do you want?

 Do you want to stop at a grill, or do you just think that you have to?

You can put in a grill.

You could add a smoker and not only use it for cooking but also to cure your own meats.

You can add in a pizza oven and offer homemade stone-fired pizzas.

Or you could put in beer taps and have your favorites always available.

You can easily add an outdoor refrigerator for easy food storage ahead of meals and to expand your storage space inside

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. You can even put an induction stove outside, which is wonderfully safe when dealing with children. (The burners only heat up when in contact with the pot.)

All of these, of course, will be based on what you want to get out of an outdoor kitchen. Which means taking a look at how you cook.

We love cooking outside at Appliance Rescue Service. Working on a grill adds an entirely different flavor to your food. And although we love and have advocated for indoor grilling options, those don't add the charred smokey flavor. That's us, though. What about you? Tell us which you prefer over on our Facebook page. As always, we love to hear from you. 

 If you're concerned about the outdoor kitchen you already have, maybe the appliances aren't working quite right; we can help. You can set up an appointment with us that fits your schedule by contacting us via phone ((214) 599-0055) or our website. We'll send over our technicians at the time you've chosen to figure out what's going on and how to get everything running smoothly again. Appliance rescue service, our goal is always to work with you.

4 Ways To Transform Your Yard Into An Extension Of Your Home

And How That Makes Your Yard Even More Fun For You

"Home is where the heart is," is how the saying goes - but what does that mean about the space around our homes? Many of us use our yards as gardens or just fields of green, with maybe the occasional patio thrown in for grilling and hosting small gatherings. What if instead you were to spread out and utilize all of that space to the max?

Creating spaces outside the home isn't always easy, though, especially when you have to contend with Texas' heat. To help with that, though, you can use a trellis with climbing vines, a pergola to designate “inside” and “outside,” panel walls, or furniture placement to create the idea of different rooms.

When you have a yard, as many of us in Texas prefer to, you need to break it up just as you would inside of your home. To best use the space, you break it apart into different rooms based on the goal of that area - and that is where this post comes in. We're looking at some ideas based on how you'd use them rather than what they're called. 

Places to Play

During summer, none of us want to stay inside all day, especially when you have children home from school. So why not use the areas around your home to create an outdoor playground for any age? 

Set up a playground:If you've got little ones, you can mark out an area that they can play in using gates and furniture, and (if you have it) a pergola. Alternatively, you can use an easy-to-break-down tent. Fill it with sensory activities, games, and books for kids to enjoy outside. They get time playing in the fresh air, and you know exactly where they are. 

Set up a living room:If your children are older, you can also set up an outside 'living room' space to allow them free range to spend time with friends or to hang out with family. All it takes is a bit of outside-the-box thinking. This setup could be used for everything from a movie night to space for board games and puzzles when you're too tired to face the heat. 

Places to Relax

While a living room, as we mentioned in our last section, would be considered a place to relax, we're looking at creating dedicated spaces. 

Set up a fire pit:Here is a space for relaxing and lazing about, sharing stories in the dying light of day, and creating memories with friends and family. Take your fire pit and draw a three-foot circle around it on all sides, giving plenty of space for safety. Fill that circle in with stone, and put down buckets for sand and water next to the pit in case of emergency. Beyond that circle, you can start placing poufs, chairs, and chaise lounges around the perimeter, creating an inviting and close-knit atmosphere for people to enjoy.

Use butterfly chairs, poofs, or a papasan:You can also scatter seating arrangements around your yard, with small tables in places that enjoy the shade at different times of day. Staking down the furniture where you place it is useful if you don't have your yard surrounded by a fence or broken up with windbreaks, but it's not necessary if you want to be able to move the furniture around easily. 

Courtesy of Kaboompics

Set up a swing or hammock:In your blogger's humble opinion, there's nothing better than a swinging hammock in the shade, a book and a cold glass of strong tea. Whether you hang it in the shade or in a spot in your yard that gets sun at different times of day, it's a great way to relax and catch a cat nap or just enjoy watching the clouds pass by. 

Places to Eat

Why stay inside where the air is still and everyone wants their phone or a screen? Take things outside instead and spend some time connecting to one another. 

Set up a table next to your garden, pool, or feature:Pick something in your home or yard that you find interesting. Is it a water fountain? Or a garden? Maybe it's an old tree. Now set up a table and chairs and eat dinner. Whether you intentionally focus on the feature that you chose or not, it's something that can spark conversation and make it easier to talk about all sorts of things. 

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Set up an outdoor counter:Alternatively, if you have a large window in your kitchen, you might consider setting up an outdoor counter with barstools along it for eating. This way, food can easily be passed back and forth between sides without having to go all the way through the house. It also means that whoever is cooking isn't sectioned off from conversation and company while they create food for the group. 

Places to Nap

There are many cultures that take a nap or quiet time in the middle of the day to avoid the heat. Why not set up your own space to let you do the same? While many people will say "well why then would I nap outside" we argue that there's something soothing about taking time to nap in the shade during summer. 

Set up a canopy bed:A first option might be portioning out a section of patio or your garden and putting in a bed with a canopy. Doing this allows for you to have space that is outside, but you get the full comfort of a bed. We'll point out again that whatever you put down, you want to make sure that it's weatherproof, but other than that, go for it. You can even go one step further if you love the stars and sleep out here at night, provided you have a bug canopy to keep away the pests. 

Set up chaise lounges in the garden, under trees, or on the porch:If a full bed isn't your thing, maybe a spot to nap after a swim is. Consider a chaise lounge or daybed in that case, something that's easier to move around and cover with weather proofing when things take a turn. It's great to be able to climb out of the pool, towel off and stretch out in the sun to finish relaxing after a long day.  It's also a lovely spot to enjoy a book or podcast when you're taking some time for yourself throughout the year (not just during summer). Adding in additional pillows and blankets can make it a great spot to escape to all year round. 

Turn a porch swing into a porch bed with the right dimensions, a thick pad, and plenty of bolsters for comfort:Or you might be someone that wants the comfort of motion. Studies have shown that a gentle rocking motion creates the deepest sleep in adults and children, so why not have a hammock or swing? Since we're talking about sleep though, let's take your normal porch swing and upgrade it a bit. To start with, make sure that your swing has high sides. There's nothing worse than rolling off a swing when all you wanted was a cat nap. Grab two cot mattresses and stack them on top of one another, then cover with an outdoor slip. Next up, grab some bolsters in a coordinating fabric and line the edges of your swing with them. Drag out a blanket when you're in the mood, and voila, you have a perfectly soothing spot to relax, nap and chat, whatever your mood.

Which room are you most interested in creating for yourself? Is there a glaring idea that we overlooked? A flaw maybe that we haven't considered? Or maybe you're seeing a chance for a room that we didn't think of. Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page. 

If you wound up here because the appliances inside your home are what are driving you out, then we can help. Whether it's your oven or your ice maker, give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or go to our website to set up an appointment that works for you.