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4 Space-Saving Ideas for Your Outdoor Kitchen

You can create a beautiful and comfortable outdoor cooking and dining space no matter the square footage. Follow the tips below to make more room for guests and activities, without sparing your storage capacity.

Utilize Wall Cabinets

If you are working with a small space but have extra room overhead, consider using wall cabinets. Not only do they accommodate large plates and cooking utensils, but they can easily be built with extra depth to accommodate larger appliances associated with outdoor kitchens. 

Choose from open or closed-door cabinets depending on if you want to display decorative items, or hide items that interfere with your kitchen design. Further dress up your cabinets with crown molding, glass-pane doors, colorful glass tile backsplashes, and under-counter lighting for an even more personalized effect. 

Go Portable

Choose appliances and kitchen features that have wheels for extra static counter space. For example, consider buying rollaway bars and islands to prep food and drinks. This helps make more room for staple outdoor kitchen pieces like grill cabinets and sink base cabinets

A grill is a focal point for many outdoor kitchens. The area under a grill is usually hard to reach, so installing customized drawers for your grill makes reaching for cooking accessories safer and more convenient. 

Sink base cabinets are a beautiful and useful upgrade to any area that requires sanitization. They provide the strength to uphold a heavy sink and can be personalized with an array of shelf and drawer designs to suit your needs. 

Use Pull Out Cabinets for Trash and Recycling

Trash and recycling bins are necessary items that can take up a lot of living space outdoors. Pull-out cabinets can easily resolve this issue. Add a pull-out trash drawer at the end of your cabinets to keep your cooking area clean and organized. Your guests will also appreciate this feature since they can quickly throw away garbage without creating clutter. 

If Building From Scratch, Opt for a Corner Kitchen

When building an outdoor kitchen from scratch, you have a lot of overwhelming options and each choice will impact the amount of space you’ll be leaving for the activities that mean the most to you. For cooking and entertaining, we recommend you choose a corner kitchen over a linear style if possible. 

Corner kitchens can be easily adapted to existing structures on your property and can help create a natural flow between your home and the outdoor kitchen. It is also ideal for adding on more cabinets and appliances without sacrificing as much room. The corner kitchen provides larger access to custom-made storage space without eliminating the ability to interact with guests. 

While the linear model can also be nice for entertaining and speaking with guests during food preparation, it can sometimes block the amount of room available for movement and other outdoor furniture items, leaving a cramped look and feel. 

When creating an outdoor kitchen, it is important to optimize space depending on your unique layout. If you have a small area that you want to feel more open without giving up storage space, consider choosing a few of these options to build your dream outdoor kitchen area.