Enjoying special times with family and friends usually means sharing meals, and these days, that means eating outdoors. If you don’t have the space or the desire to have a full outdoor kitchen, you can still have a chic and functional space. Here are seven design ideas to spruce up a small outdoor kitchen on Long Island, NY.
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In a small kitchen, it’s all about making the most of the space you have, and sticking to the key elements you will actually use. If you do this, you will never feel that your outdoor kitchen is lacking in amenities or charm. First, decide which cooking elements you consider must-haves. A typical outdoor kitchen includes a grill, counter, and storage space, and sometimes a sink or bar. For a small kitchen, you could still have these elements—your landscape design team will simply need to be creative with layout.
Wood-fired Pizza Oven
Pizza is a universal hit with young and old alike. Adding a pizza oven may seem like an extravagance in a small kitchen but if you combine it with a small grill, you’ll have all the cooking features you need to make everyone happy.
Pergola
If your outdoor kitchen is exposed to the afternoon sun, cooking can become a real chore on hot days. The shade of a pergola makes the kitchen more welcoming—and the open beams allow heat to escape, which makes for a much more pleasant experience for the cook and for the guests.
Bar Peninsula With Storage
Lack of storage space can make an outdoor kitchen feel “less than” its indoor cousin. One way to add storage space is to create an L-shaped kitchen where the cooking elements (grill and pizza oven, for example) are on one leg, and storage is focused under a bar on the other L.
Masonry Veneer
Even a tiny outdoor kitchen can look absolutely delightful when it is faced with the same veneer as retaining walls, seat walls, and other vertical elements in your landscape. You can achieve a rustic, casual, or modern look using stone veneer that’s made to mimic natural stone. It’s available in a huge array of colors, styles, and finishes to beautifully complement your existing hardscape features and home.
Upgraded Pavers
What’s underfoot matters just as much as what’s around you. Pavers that offer extra sealant protection could be the perfect choice for outdoor kitchens (after all, how much time do you want to spend cleaning up spills, versus enjoying time with your family and friends?). Pavers offer many design options as well as durability and ease of maintenance.
Sophisticated Landscape Lighting
Many outdoor kitchens are poorly lit, which limits their usability after dark, or they feature harsh lighting that casts strong shadows and attracts every insect in the neighborhood. Today’s landscape lighting beautifully marries function and beauty. Both task lighting and ambient lighting can be installed within a pergola or in masonry—making it unobtrusive during the day, and effective at night.
Herb Garden
Take cooking to a new level of freshness with a vertical herb garden as one of the “end caps” of your outdoor kitchen. Just as the end caps on supermarket aisles feature special items, your outdoor kitchen can become a cook’s delight with the addition of an herb garden.
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