11 helpful tips for setting up a summer kitchen

A summer kitchen, whether it be a simple gazebo with a barbecue or a solid structure with a stove and communications, is an essential building on any site. After all, country life is unimaginable without a barbecue, outdoor gatherings, and also without seasonal preservation of food. In this article, we have presented 11 tips, 70 photo ideas and several videos to help you create your perfect summer kitchen..

What summer kitchens are there?

They can be roughly divided into three types:

Open (for example, a barbecue gazebo, terrace or patio) – a simple frame building without insulation, often without walls (completely / partially) and even a roof. In fact, an open summer kitchen is a canopy or gazebo with a barbecue / stove and a dining area that can only be used in summer. It is good because it is comfortable to cook and eat in it, and to communicate with guests on fine summer days. An open kitchen is easier, faster and more economical to build than a closed kitchen. In winter, the summer building with a shed can be used as a warehouse for storing the farm. The disadvantages of an open kitchen are the limited life of the structure, as well as the lack of protection of furniture, equipment and kitchen inhabitants from insects, rain, wind and sun. For the winter, all furniture and equipment will have to be cleaned in a dry room..

Classic summer kitchen with barbecue and oven in the courtyard of a country house in the Moscow region

Closed (for example, a grill house or a veranda) – a permanent covered building / annex with insulation and glazing, sometimes even heated all year round. In fact, this is a real house, consisting of a kitchen and a dining room. A closed summer kitchen is good because you can cook and eat in it even in bad weather with rains and winds. Thanks to the walls and roof in such a house, you can equip a full kitchen with a refrigerator, microwave, gas/electric stove, dishwasher, TV and other equipment. True, on warm days, cooking in a closed kitchen will be as hot as in the main house. Also keep in mind that building it will cost you more than an open building..

Grill house
Grill house

Grill house interior with central grill arrangement
Grill house interior with central grill arrangement

Combined – this type of building combines an open and a covered room under one roof. Also, this category includes a summer kitchen combined with a bath. Such a kitchen is good for everyone and has only a couple of drawbacks – doubly complex design and an increased budget..

Now let’s look at the characteristics of freestanding and attached kitchens:

Freestanding ones are good because they allow you to place the hearth at a distance from the house so that smells, smoke and noise do not penetrate the house. It makes sense to build a detached summer kitchen if you have enough space on the site, if it has, say, a beautiful garden or a pond, if you want to decorate the area with a new pretty structure.
Adjacent to the house – a terrace or veranda can become an excellent summer kitchen, because it is much easier and cheaper to build (one wall has already been erected) or remodel, and it is very convenient to move between the house and the annex. True, the minus of the summer kitchen on the veranda / terrace is that smoke, heat, smell and fumes from the stove will enter the living quarters, and part of the kitchen will remain a walk-through.

11 tips for building, arranging and designing a summer kitchen

Tip 1. Choose the best place

No matter how thoughtful and beautiful your summer kitchen is, its unfortunate location on the site can complicate both construction and further operation. Therefore, the place is the first thing to think carefully about..

From a practical point of view, it is more convenient when the summer kitchen is located near the house. So it is easier for the inhabitants of the dacha to move between objects, and the implementation of utilities is cheaper, faster and easier. However, from an aesthetic point of view, it is better to place near the “attractions” of the site, which can be admired (for example, near a pond or garden). Also, bonuses are the following factors: protection from the wind, privacy from the eyes of neighbors and proximity to trees, which can shade the building and create coolness in it on hot days.

Summer kitchen in the country by the pond

Unsuitable places for a summer kitchen: by the road, garage, toilet, cesspools / compost pits, chicken coop and other places where unpleasant smells, noises, exhaust fumes, etc. can interfere with your rest.

Advice 2. Grill, barbecue, stove or oven complex? Solve this issue before developing / selecting a summer kitchen project

If the stove is the heart of the city kitchen, then the grill, brazier or stove can be called the heart of the country kitchen. Before you start designing, think about what kind of hearth you need: a grill, barbecue, stove or even a stove complex? Should the grill be stationary or portable? Coal or gas? With or without a chimney? What size and where will the fire source be located? A lot depends on your choice – from the type of foundation to the shape of the roof. So, for example, to build a stove, you will have to take care not only of the foundation, chimney and cladding, but also provide a place for storing firewood in the project..

To understand the features of different types of street hearth will help you This article.

Stationary gas grill built into a brick structure

Tip 3. Do you want to build a summer kitchen with your own hands quickly and on a budget? Build an open gazebo made of wood, with a light roof, without main walls and a stove

In this case, instead of a monolithic or pile-strip foundation, you can get by with a columnar foundation. The building itself will consist of 4 (or more) supports and a one- / two-pitched roof with a light roof, for example, made of polycarbonate. This is a very simple design, which can really be built with your own hands in just a couple of days and with a minimal budget..

The following selection of photos presents design options for simple summer kitchens.

A simple summer kitchen in a dacha in the suburbs

To build a summer kitchen with your own hands, it is easiest to use a tree. True, larch or teak should be preferred to pine, as they are stronger and, moreover, age beautifully.

Simple summer kitchen from a bar with a pitched roof

However, there is a way to make a summer kitchen with your own hands even faster and cheaper. Fold up your paving slab area, set up one or two large garden umbrellas, arrange furniture, set up a sink and portable grill, and start cooking!

Tip 4. The presence of a cellar is not always justified

On the one hand, the cellar in the summer kitchen is very useful, because it is so convenient to store food in it as in the refrigerator. On the other hand, its creation significantly increases the cost and complicates construction. Especially when it comes to an open building, because then the cellar will have to be insulated and protected from leaks. Even in the main house, you can do without a cellar and basement, let alone a summer kitchen.

Tip 5. The summer kitchen, the facade of the house and the landscape should be decorated in the same way.

When choosing or developing a summer kitchen project, thinking over options for its decoration, keep in mind that it should be combined with the facade of the house and other buildings on the site. So you will create a real suburban complex and achieve a sense of orderliness. It is not necessary that it be one hundred percent coincidence in color, decoration, architecture and style, but objects must overlap. The photo below shows an example of a modern summer kitchen on the terrace of a wooden house from a bar.

Design project of a summer kitchen-patio in Malakhovka
Design project of a summer kitchen-patio in Malakhovka
Design project of a summer kitchen-patio in Malakhovka
Design project of a summer kitchen-patio in Malakhovka
Design project of a summer kitchen-patio in Malakhovka

The closer the summer kitchen is to the house, the more similar both buildings should be..
If there is an object on the site that stands out from the “general picture”, say, a hastily built bathhouse, then the design of the summer kitchen can be planned in such a way that it combines the features of both baths and houses. So some randomness of the building will be corrected..

Tip 6. Gender should be especially practical

In an open kitchen, the floor can be sheathed:

A wooden board covered with oil or wax for outdoor use (varnish will work worse, as it will begin to crack over time and will require renewal of the coating).

Outdoor kitchen in the country with flooring made of larch deck boards covered with matte glaze based on alkyd resins

Terrace board (made of wood-polymer composite).

Stone or special street tiles. True, such a floor requires a strong foundation and a large budget..

Decorating a summer kitchen with a stone is durable and beautiful, but requires a strong foundation and a large budget.
Decorating a summer kitchen with a stone is durable and beautiful, but requires a solid foundation and a large budget.

In a closed kitchen, you can use the same materials as well as traditional ceramic tiles and porcelain stoneware..

By the way, we recommend that you refrain from a floor that is too dark, as crumbs, dirt and puddles of water will be especially noticeable on it..
If the floor of an open kitchen has a slight slope (1-2 cm), rainwater that gets inside will drain off on its own.

Tip 7. Stick to the “working triangle” rule when planning your kitchen

In the arrangement of kitchens, there is a rule of the so-called. “Working triangle”, which consists in the fact that three working areas (sink, stove and refrigerator) should be in reasonable proximity to each other, forming a triangle. Ideally, it should be equilateral. Thanks to this arrangement of zones, the kitchen is as convenient as possible..

In the summer kitchen, this rule is not always applicable in its pure form, because it can be too small, narrow, elongated, irregular in shape, instead of a stove, it most often uses a stove, grill or brazier, and there may not be a refrigerator at all. However, try to get as close to ideal as possible and not line up work areas in one line..

So, for example, if in your summer kitchen the fire source is a brazier and it is taken out of it, then the sink and the food preparation area should be installed as close as possible to the exit.

If the kitchen is small, then you can arrange the kitchen in an L-shape. For a narrow kitchen (for example, on a veranda), a two-row layout may be suitable. V square kitchen the U-shaped layout will fit most successfully.

Peninsula bar kitchen
U-shaped layout

If only a single-row layout is possible in your summer kitchen, then a compact mobile island / peninsula will help to make it more convenient..

Tip 8. The dining area should be at a distance of at least 2 m from the barbecue / stove

Ideally, the distance between the dining table and the brazier / stove / grill should be about 3 m.In this case, smoke, heat and odors will not disturb the guests, and chips, ash and sparks will not spoil the appearance of the dining area.

Tip 9. Use furniture that will withstand outdoor conditions

Kitchen sets and dining furniture in a summer kitchen must withstand high humidity and temperature extremes, therefore, luxurious wooden furniture, furniture made of laminated particleboard / MDF, as well as furniture upholstered in fabric or leather should be discarded.

But the following options are suitable for a summer kitchen:

Veneered MDF furniture;
Wooden garden furniture (folding structures are especially well suited, which at the end of the summer season can be easily transferred to the pantry);
Forged outdoor furniture;
Stainless steel furniture (if you do not want to remove the kitchen set for the winter, choose stainless steel furniture);
Wicker furniture made of natural vine, rattan or plastic;
Plastic furniture (e.g. polycarbonate).

The photo below shows an example of the design of a summer kitchen-terrace with an all-season stainless steel set.

The stove in this kitchen on a light and safe gas cylinder
The stove in this kitchen on a light and safe gas cylinder
The stove in this kitchen on a light and safe gas cylinder
The stove in this kitchen on a light and safe gas cylinder
The stove in this kitchen on a light and safe gas cylinder
The stove in this kitchen on a light and safe gas cylinder

In this selection of photos you can see ideas for furnishing a summer dining room..

Wood and glass dining furniture
Furniture for a recreation area made of wicker plastic under rattan
Wicker rattan chairs
Garden furniture in the dining area
Table and chairs made of rattan wicker plastic

Tip 10. Spread light sources evenly

Often summer residents forget to pay sufficient attention to the lighting of the summer kitchen. But it is with its help that you can create real coziness and comfort..

Ideally, artificial light in the evening should be soft, uniform and multi-level. To do this, the room should be lit not with one chandelier, but with several lamps: floor / pendant lamps, wall sconces, spot spots, suspensions, table lamps, floor lamps and / and or garlands of bulbs.
With the help of light, you can divide the space into zones, for example, the kitchen and the dining room. So you will have the opportunity during evening meals to hide the work area in the dark and illuminate only a beautiful table..

To make your evenings comfortable to cook, install the lighting directly above the work area. If you limit yourself to the light behind it, your back will block the light during cooking..
For lighting an open summer kitchen, metal, plastic, wooden and wicker lamps with additional protection from water are suitable. Ideally, these should be garden and park lamps..

These photos show an example of lighting a summer kitchen-gazebo
These photos show an example of lighting a summer kitchen-gazebo

Solar powered lanterns can be installed around the summer kitchen and along the walkway. During the day they accumulate energy, and in the evening they turn on automatically. True, they give a little light, and on cloudy days they do not charge at all..

Tip 11. The more greenery around the building, the better

With the help of hedges, pergolas or screens with climbing plants, you can make the summer kitchen more secluded, close the view to unsightly areas of the site.
Ornamental plantings, flower beds and bushes can mark the boundaries of zones, hide the foundation and simply decorate the summer kitchen and the general view of the territory.

It is good if the plants will decorate the interior as well. For example, it can be tall potted trees and topiary.
To preserve trees on the site, a summer kitchen can even be built around or bypassing trees. The following photos clearly show this technique..

And some more beautiful photos for inspiration

Finally, we invite you to glean design ideas from a selection of the most original summer kitchens of country and private houses..

This summer kitchen converted from a former carport

This kitchen is interesting because the work area and grill in it are hidden in a niche.

Brick summer kitchen

Nice suburban complex with a covered living room, an open kitchen and a terrace

Kitchen with a fireplace stove with a through firebox
Kitchen with a fireplace stove with a through firebox

And finally, we present the summer kitchen, which has a whole bunch of interesting details, namely: a height-adjustable awning, a balcony, a sandstone bar counter, imitation of stained glass windows, as well as a grill with a fireplace effect..

And for those who plan to build a summer kitchen with their own hands, we recommend watching the following selection of videos.