Why I Love Our Outdoor Cooking Station
With summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time to get everything ready outside for our outdoor cooking station and entertaining.
Most of you know how much I love to cook. (Although I should admit that I like to entertain more than just cook.) About ten years ago I talked my husband into adding an outdoor cooking station to our backyard. It’s one of my favorite “rooms” in our home as I enjoy outdoor cooking so much.
We already had the barbecue and smoker so adding the outdoor kitchen really meant we were adding the island with the counter and a few kitchen items.
outdoor cooking station, outdoor kitchen sink, outdoor kitchen countertops, outdoor kitchen bar, outdoor kitchen accessories,
Outdoor Kitchen Station
We added this island and what a difference! The island has two different counter heights. One for seating (or without the chairs, it makes a perfect bar height) and one counter for prep. I also added storage space, an ice maker, and a refrigerator. Usually, it doesn’t have so many plants but I couldn’t resist when I styled it today!
Outdoor Cooking
This is the side that already existed with our green egg and 48″ DCS grill. I call it our outdoor grill station. just had the inside of the grill redone because a lot of the parts had kind of deteriorated in the last ten years. I have everything I need for outdoor cooking. It looks almost brand new now!
I did add the two burners on the side of the BBQ when we build the kitchen island. I don’t think I really needed these but it seemed like a good thing to do at the time. It is nice to have the burners to saute veggies but often I end up grilling almost everything for the meal! As long as I can spend my entire time outdoor cooking then I am happy.
Some of the items that I really searched for were the stainless drawers and cabinets. I looked everywhere and found the best prices on Amazon. You can shop here to see what I mean.
All of the brick is original to our house from a hundred years ago. We found a brick chimney in the middle of our home when we remodeled in 2000 and we used the brick for our outdoor fireplace and patio. We had some leftover bricks and I am so happy we kept them so we could use them for our outdoor kitchen addition.
The slate on the island is from when we did our remodel in 2000 as well. I put a slate floor in the mudroom, bath, and craft room. I saved the extra slate so we used it on the island.
The counter seats four perfectly. I often serve appetizers here to attract family members and dinner guests to relax and entertain me while I am cooking.
You may recognize the clay pots that I “aged”. You can find them at How to Make Vintage Garden Pots.
Outdoor Entertaining
If I can set a table anywhere, you know I will! I created a small dinner setting on the backside of the island. All of the links are listed below for the rattan placemats, cream wood chargers, green wine glasses, clear water glasses, black and white plates, and napkins.
If you are thinking about putting in an outdoor kitchen, a prep sink is a must. It’s small but works perfectly. Our island is 9′ long and the back barbecue island is 8′ long. The eating counter is 20″ wide and the prep counter is 24″ wide.
I love styling the outdoor kitchen island with items from inside our home. Why not bring the indoors outside when you entertain?
If you don’t have an outdoor kitchen you can add an outdoor island or a vintage piece and create your own! Even vintage potting sheds make perfect outdoor kitchens.
Why not set up an outdoor kitchen bar too?
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Browse some of my favorites for setting a table for outdoor dining.
I am going to call up some friends and have a little dinner party outside as the weather is really warming up this week.
I would love to know what you think of our outdoor kitchen. It is very well used and I am so happy with the look and style of it.
Similar Posts
I will be sharing a fun California barbecue dinner soon! If you have any great barbecue recipes, please share them with me!
Pin the image below to your decor boards on Pinterest (just click the Pin button in the top left corner). You can also follow along with me on Pinterest!
I’m sorry if I missed it but what is behind the two stainless doors? Refrigerators? Ice maker?
It is both, a refrigerator and ice maker! Both are super important for California summers!
I’m curious, when entertaining outside do you get any bugs? And if you do how do you deal with them? Living here in the Midwest when it finally gets warm mosquitoes, flies and tiny gnats along with other bugs love our outdoor food fests!
We don’t really have too many bugs here but if anything some bug spray and citronella candle always help!
Your island is so cool! How great that you had the bricks and slate left over – they really tie it all together. That’s where I’d be all summer. 🙂 I love it!
Thanks so much Barbara!
What color is your house? Is that a pale grey? It is all so beautiful.
It is Dunn Edwards Swiss Coffee!
I love your “outdoor kitchen”. 🥰. Every day possible, we eat outside. Living in the Northeast limits those days, so I insist on taking advantage of every single one!! We have talked about building something similar … THIS may be the year 🤞🏻. I can only hope! I am pinning this to show my Mr. DIY 😉.
That is fantastic! Thanks so much Barb! I will keep my fingers crossed for you
Hi Leslie,
Which drop in barbecue do you recommend?
Your outdoor kitchen station is beautiful; it is exactly what I’ve been hoping for. Perhaps I can get started this spring. I love yours.
Thanks so much Jackie!
I’ve always wanted an Outdoor Cooking Station like this; it gives me a different sensation when I cook and is perfect for a family dinner! Thank you for sharing your ideas for Outdoor Cooking Station decoration. Hope I could save up enough money to buy a house with a wonderful garden to make this come true!
Oh I’m so happy this helped! Yes best of luck!
What a great space! How do you keep the grill and doors so clean? I would think they would get so dusty and or greasy. Do you use a cover and what do you use to clean the stainless steel? I adore the counter stools. Do you have a resource you could share?
This is my dream kitchen~~!!! Thank you for sharing these great ideas
Thank you so much!
I LOVE your kitchen!!! Looks so wonderful….. Thanks for sharing this for us 🙂
Love this post! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for reaching out. I am so happy that you enjoyed the post!