90% of Americans believe that outdoor space is more valuable than ever. That means most Americans would not hesitate to invest in their outdoor space to make it better to hang out in.

You may be one of those Americans!

Have you considered building an outdoor kitchen?

If not, you may want to! There are so many benefits to having an outdoor kitchen, and it’s not too difficult to add to your home! 

Ready to learn how? Here are eight pro tips to get started with building an outdoor kitchen!

1. Plan the Space

Before you jump into creating the outdoor kitchen of your dreams, you must plan first.

As part of this plan, you need to determine what you think you will be using the outdoor kitchen for most of the time. Will it before entertaining and cooking for a lot of guests or will you mostly just be cooking for the family?

Do you want to have a fridge and bar area out in the kitchen as well or just a grill and counter space?

These are all things to consider before you start the process.

2. Determine the Location 

Obviously, you know that you want the outdoor kitchen in your backyard area, but there’s more planning to do than just that.

You must decide where exactly you want the kitchen to be. Do you want it right outside your doors? Do you want it across the yard?

You need to plan this to be able to move forward with the next step.

3. Go Through with Paver Installation 

Once you have a plan set, you want to start with your paver installation. This will set the groundwork for the rest of the outdoor kitchen area.

While this may not seem like the most fun part of the project, you can choose the pavers you want for your paver patio installation – and you can even have them become pool pavers as well if you have a pool on your patio! 

If you’re redoing part of the patio, why not redo the entire thing to match!?

4. Add the Kitchen Elements

Once you have the level patio in place and the pavers that you love, you can start with the kitchen design elements. They can be put in place after in the layout that you want.

When it comes to how you want your counters, this can be done to match the pavers or be completely different.

As part of your kitchen elements, you may even want to consider adding in a wood fire stove!

5. Don’t Forget to Add the Sink

When you are putting in your counters, it can be easy to forget a sink in an outdoor kitchen. However, this will make your life much easier if you have it outside!

You won’t have to go inside to wash dishes or get water – it’ll all be right there.

When adding a sink to your outdoor kitchen, you have to decide if you want an undercount sink or one that sits on top. 

6. Determine Your Lighting Needs

Even if the kitchen is outside and you have natural light, odds are you are going to want to use the kitchen at nighttime, too. That means you need to pick out the type of lighting you want!

There are many ways you could go about this. Here are a few ideas:

  • Add pendant lighting around the walls of the kitchen area
  • Add strip lighting beneath the cabinets as an illuminating walkway
  • Add a ceiling fan with a light or chandelier above the main part of the kitchen where the cooking takes place

These are just a few ideas, but you have to do what you feel looks the best in your own home!

7. Add a Seating Area

When you create an outdoor kitchen, you don’t want just a kitchen. You want an area where people can enjoy the food you just cooked! 

This means you should add in a seating area or a lounge area near the outdoor kitchen.

If you have pavers around the pool, you can easily add a lounge area on top of the pavers.

If you want to add more shade to the area, you could consider adding a pergola to the lounge area as well so you can enjoy the outdoor kitchen and entertaining area in all weather.

8. Decorate

Is it really a kitchen if it’s not decorated!?

Just because the kitchen is outside, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t decorate it and spruce it up to make it feel like yours.

Consider adding wall decor, outdoor placements to the bar area, chairs that work with the counter or bar you installed, outdoor candles, colorful pillows and couches in the lounge area, and whatever else you may want! 

It’s your space, so you’ll want it to feel that way!

Building an Outdoor Kitchen Can Be Easy

If you have decided that you want an outdoor kitchen in your home, you can do it! Building an outdoor kitchen is not too difficult, especially if you follow the tips above.

The first thing you want to do is plan your layout and kitchen as well as get pool pavers laid out to get the spot ready for the kitchen. 

At Paved 2 Perfection, we want to help you start building the kitchen of your dreams! You can contact us today so we can determine which pavers would be best for your project to get started.