Designing the Perfect Outdoor Kitchen: Style, Function, and All-Season Living

What accessories would elevate an outdoor kitchen design?

To transform an outdoor kitchen into a practical and beautiful space it’s all in the details. And especially important to remember that outside durability is key with weathering. - Outdoor Porcelain , Porcelain Worktops – these are a great choice for a durable, low-maintenance surface. Porcelain is the perfect product, with being, scratch-resistant, stain-resistant, won’t warp or degrade under sunlight and rain and with constant cooking and food there is no worries about grease stains and using chemicals to clean it up, it is non-porous and chemical resistant, so it has you covered!

Lighting – Ensuring a balance of lighting creates ambiance and also great for evening cooking. A great option is LED strip lighting under counters, combined with wall mounted lights for ambience and some candle lit/solar powered lanterns to give that cosy feel.

Weatherproof Storage – Depending on budget there are lots of great options out there in regards to weather proof storage, made from stainless steel, this can be cladded in thin format porcelain for a great look, these are great systems where you can integrate into your outdoor kitchen.

Covered Area – a free-standing Pegola, there are some really great ones available with motorised roof for enjoying all weathers or traditional Oak frame with a roof. This allows you to enjoy your space rain or shine.

Heating – some kind of heating is essential in the English weather so you can enjoy your space all year round, this could be patio heater or fireplace.

Built In Outdoor Appliances - if you want to go the extra mile some of these built in appliances make a great social cooking experience and a centrepiece to your outdoor cooking: a built in BBQ/Pizza Oven, a wine fridge, bar area, ice maker, fire pit tables, the list goes on, and if you are on a budget just prepare cables and water so you can add as you go!

Outdoor Cushions – make a feature style with your outdoor comfort from naturals of outside to some wacky bright colours.

Finally some outdoor crockery – this just finishes it off! Creating a style and feel that will make your outdoor living so practical and easy to carry out with your friends. Acrylic glasses ensures that anything that is dropped outside will not break or damage.

How would you style an outdoor kitchen?

This all depends on the setting you are incorporating it into!

House Style – Starting with the house style is a great way to start your planning journey ensuring it is a seamless addition.

A few examples:

With a classic country style go for a tumbled edge outdoor porcelain such as: Tevere Cream

Pair this with an oak frame and warm furniture, potted plants in traditional English Pots, eco conscious accessories, knitted pots, candles, wild flowers. With a modern style choose a modern porcelain range such as Telio Smoke

Pair this with: Motorised Pegola, some thick metal frame furniture. Minimilist work station with a feature walls and clear surfaces a modern inbuilt fire pit table. Some feature cushions and modern outdoor crockery, large plants with feature planters or a small box hedge. With a rustic style choose a wood porcelain range such as Climax Rustic or stone look Wainwright Bowfell.

Pair this with: Wooden Hut, a large stone fireplace, dark concrete effect porcelain work top, dark wood furniture and soft cream to warm red cushions cushions and wooden rustic crockery.

Seamless Indoor to Outdoor – The beauty of using a porcelain tiles means you can have matching tiles from inside to outside, blurring the lines between indoor to outdoor living for a great design feature. So if you want to plan for this make sure your tiles can go from inside to outside in different finishes and thicknesses when you are planning your full project.

Statement Features – Be sure to include all the statement features at the start of your design so you can plan round them, eg a fire pit, a decorative feature backsplash such as small format tiles (Kuda photograph), sculptures or lighting, these can be the centre or focal point of your design and add a lot of personality.

What are the essential accessories for an outdoor kitchen?

• Cooking method, from grill to pizza oven to a flat top griddle it is essential that you have some method of cooking outside to enjoy this.
• Sink
• Rubbish disposal bin with in the storage area.
• Storage and preparation areas so you can keep outside accessories ready for use, especially to enjoy the nice weather when it comes.
• Light, Cover and Heat – to enjoy all year round some source of heat is essential, cover helps you to enjoy it more and lighting make sure you can see at all times of day making it a useable space!
• Cooking Utensils – To use alongside your cooking appliance this makes a great addition to ensure you can easily cook.

How do they differ from your regular kitchen accessories?

• Everything needs to be waterproof/durable and UV resistant or they will quickly become brittle/discolour and will not be durable.
• Accessories to be non-breakable saves getting your best crockery/glassware damaged with dropping.