When you build an outdoor kitchen in your backyard, you’re making a conscious choice to cook more and spend more time outside with friends and family. Some of the most magical moments can be spent enjoying delicious meals outside and there are plenty of ways to turn your outdoor kitchen into the hub of outdoor living. Masonry, layout, and other design choices will have a huge impact on the whole area. To help you finalize your design, here are five hardscape ideas for a very active outdoor kitchen in York, PA.

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Easy Clean Surfaces

Sometimes cooking or moving dishes around can create a huge mess. Substances like oil, tomato sauces, beet juice, turmeric, and condiments can quickly stain surfaces and make cleanup an aggravating chore. It’s even worse when these accidentally stain your masonry and hardscape surfaces. In order to keep spills from becoming permanent stains, make sure that your masonry professionals use pavers with a factory-applied stain resistant sealant. As well, be sure to seal surfaces regularly, including the jointing compounds between pavers. This way, simply wiping up a spill will be all you need to do when accidents happen.

Enough Counter Space

The surface area in your outdoor kitchen will dictate how many people can comfortably fit together and cook. This can be adjusted in the design of your kitchen, depending on the available space. Whichever layout you choose, prioritize counter space so prep work doesn’t have to happen indoors or on dining surfaces.

Choosing an L-shaped or U-shaped design will give two or more cooks plenty of space to work without stumbling over each other. The L-shaped kitchen fits perfectly into a corner of the patio to maximize space. A U-shaped kitchen is bigger, but the design makes the space feel a little more exclusive (not so open to the rest of the patio). A galley kitchen needs to be spacious enough for two: at least 4 feet between countertops.

The Hub of Outdoor Living

Since everyone loves to gather around a kitchen, consider where you’re going to place this hub of outdoor living.

The outdoor kitchen does not need to be in the center of everything. In fact, it can be tucked away in a corner of the patio to improve traffic flow around your outdoor living space. This approach works especially well in small patios, allowing for complete segregation of high-activity cooking areas and low-activity lounge areas.

Bar Seating

Bar seating is common in modern outdoor kitchens, eliminating the need for an adjacent dining area. Bar seats will make the space feel more exciting and collaborative, giving whoever sits a front row view to all of the cooking or bartending action. It’s a great solution for smaller patios or for anyone who loves to be the center of attention while cooking.

Wood-Fired Oven & Outdoor Fireplace

To help the outdoor kitchen better fit into the entire outdoor living space as a whole, you can add a masonry structure that acts as a combination wood-fired oven and outdoor fireplace. This grand structure will both heat the surrounding space and assist in preparation of delicious foods. Some of the amazing foods you can make in a wood-fired pizza oven include pizzas, braised meats, soups, casseroles, breads, and more. It will make practically any meal taste more delicious and help your entire landscape feel more lived in and intentional. Plus, it will make gatherings more exciting for all those that visit!

Related: ADDING AN OUTDOOR KITCHEN IN HARRISBURG AND STATE COLLEGE, PA? DON\’T FORGET TO CONSIDER THESE APPLIANCES

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