The Gradual Outdoor Kitchen

This story starts a long time ago.  In fact over a decade ago, when we first bought this house.  This is what the back wall of our garage looked like.  The built-in barbecue that came with the house, our old timber trolley barbecue, and a grey concrete floor.

In September/October 2005, we took a big financial plunge and added an outdoor entertaining area to the back of the house.  It comprised the main area where we sit and entertain, and a smaller kitchen/barbecue area at the back of the garage.

The "Outdoor Kitchen" ended up looking like this.  The poles and the green bit across the front were meant to be timber (but that's another story and why I have learnt my lesson with builders - big time!).

That's our barbecue all shiny and new.  It still looks like that now after I restored it here.  So for the past 7 years our outdoor kitchen has looked pretty much the same, complete with "provision for hot and cold water" - translate - ugly pipes sticking out of the ground with me always explaining to guests "Oh that's where the sink is going ....eventually".

I knew I wanted a sink and a fridge.  I knew it needed to be stainless steel for when we get those crazy Queensland storms, this area gets wet despite the roof.  I knew that to get something custom-made would cost a bomb.  I looked at IKEA and Bunnings solutions but nothing worked the way I wanted it to.

Well it finally happened.  I found a sink and fridge unit, in stainless steel, the right dimensions and configuration to fit the space I had, and at a price within my budget.  Hallelujah!!!!  

Here it is.  The writing on the fridge says Schmick.  I think it's a pretty good description. It's all plumbed in, and my lovely electrician Matt came and put in an external power point for the fridge and any appliances we need to plug in.

I found this unit online at a site called Man Cave Oz.  Oh Yeah.  Where else would you find something like this but a blokey man cave?

So now I have a working fridge, sink and barbecue.  I also have a timber butcher's block trolley that I want to restore, and put it inbetween.  The idea is that if I can get this outdoor kitchen set up, we will have somewhere to cook when we finally renovate our indoor kitchen, and also it is so lovely to cook outside when you have people over.  You stay part of the conversation rather than being stuck inside.

The green fascia has discoloured and faded - which makes me dislike the builder even more, and you can see where the ceiling has dropped from rain getting in, but one trip to the BSA tribunal was enough for me.  One day we may have to replace the ceiling panels, but for now it will just have to be.  Maybe I could grow a climber up the poles and across the front?

Now all the really hard work is done, I can get on with finding lots of pretty things to make the kitchen look more than just brick and stainless steel.

This post is being featured at Decorating Forum.