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How to Get the Most Out of Your Outdoor Kitchen in Minnesota

Is your Minnesota backyard and outdoor kitchen space ready for prime grilling season? A well-designed outdoor kitchen can increase your home’s value and provide a central place for your family and guests to enjoy for years to come.

Our team at Outdoor Innovations Landscaping has been designing and building custom outdoor kitchens for nearly 20 years. With our extensive experience, we’re here with our expert guide to help you maximize your outdoor space, get the features you want, and improve functionality while staying stylish.

Match Your Hardscape and Home Features

Whether you’re adding an outdoor kitchen to your existing landscape or it’s part of a larger installation job, creating a cohesive design is crucial.

For example, too many conflicting stone colors between the pavers and stone counters won’t look as clean and pleasing to the eye. If you blend too many colors, patterns, and styles, your backyard ends up looking like a thrift store rather than the elegant space you desire.

It’s important to avoid squeezing too much into your yard. Crowding your space with features and items will only make the backyard look smaller instead of adding to your home’s overall aesthetic.

The best way to ensure your backyard brings elegance and feels like home is to combine features, colors, and other elements in a cohesive way. Our team at Outdoor Innovations has lots of experience in this department and can help you bring your ideas to life.

Related Content: Tips for Choosing the Right Landscaping Company

Create Designated Areas in Your Outdoor Kitchen

To create a functional and beautiful outdoor kitchen, it helps to section it into different areas. Keep a separate section for cooking, prepping, serving, and cleanup. That way, everything is cohesive and not a jumbled mess when it’s time to use your space. This is one of the best ways to ensure your kitchen is gorgeous and practical.

Oftentimes, people will install a line of grills and stovetops to have everything in one place while keeping the kitchen sink and counters on the other side. While some spaces have seating in the middle of everything, some of the best setups we’ve built have a separate seating area so the cook or grill master can move around more easily. Having a separate bar space can also come in handy, so people aren’t getting in the way while they are pouring a drink. And it is always nice when the chef can still be a part of the party while they cook! 

Being intentional with the layout of your backyard space and outdoor kitchen is crucial to both you and your guests' experience, and it’s important to know what you want your space to feel like.

Seamlessly Blend Your Outdoor Kitchen into Outdoor Dining

What’s a kitchen without a dining area? Whether you choose to extend the counter out to make a sitting bar or you add on a patio area for a table, it’s important to have somewhere close for everyone to sit and enjoy the food. Simple additions like adding seating to extra counter space and creating a dedicated patio close by can help elevate the space for events. However, you want to make sure there’s plenty of room to maneuver around both spaces. 

The best way to seamlessly create a dining space that blends into your kitchen is to build it side by side without putting them too close. You don’t want to have your dining space in your kitchen, but you can blend the lines a little by adding a little bar on the outside of your kitchen space. That way, people can sit and chat with you while you’re cooking or grilling without getting in the way. This is only one idea an infinite number of options you can choose from.

If you want to discuss how to blend your outdoor kitchen and dining space, speak with one of our designers to discuss your options

Related Content: How to Create an Outdoor Living Space That’s Perfect for You

Include Storage and Cleanup Solutions

When you’re dealing with the elements of harsh Minnesota winters and humid summers, storage and cleanup solutions in the outdoors need to be specially designed.

Landscape designers should know the best outdoor-safe cabinets, which will often be metal (add something about refrigeration drawers) since they hold up better outdoors. Adding a mini fridge will allow you to keep food like meat and other perishables at a safe temperature while prepping, and you can also keep drinks and condiments in there for an easy grab. Adding hidden trash areas, recycling bins, when they are built in it helps reduce the attraction of flies and pests, and other storage for cooking equipment is also a must.

Installing a sink and a pull-out trash helps make cleanup easy after using your outdoor kitchen. The sink hardware would also benefit from a faucet spray being included, so you can spray down the basin and the counter if needed. If you have the storage, you can keep all of your necessary cleaning supplies there as well.

However, it’s not necessary to figure out all this information by yourself. Our designers and builders can help you come up with a list of necessities that pair well with Minnesota weather and your particular lifestyle needs.

Add Lighting and Fire Features

Another great way to get the most out of your outdoor kitchen is to add decorative (and practical) lighting and fire features. Whether you want to combine your kitchen and living space with a cozy fireplace built in near it or if you want to install lighting fixtures like string lights, our team can help you make the best choices for your space.

Related Content: How to Choose the Right Outdoor Fireplace

Customize Your Cooking Experience with Kitchen Features

Have you always wanted a smoker or a wood-fired pizza oven? Maybe both? The design phase is the perfect time to consider how those features might fit into the job and if they’re manageable with your budget. Having a list of needs and wants will let the landscaper know exactly what you’re looking for, and they can do their best to include as much as possible.

Here are some popular features to keep in mind when deciding what custom kitchen features you’d like in your outdoor space:

  • Custom grilling stations
  • Cupboards and shelving
  • Stovetops and ovens
  • Wood-fired stoves
  • Counter and island spaces
  • Bar areas

Refrigeration options, Appliance - Fridge, Ice Maker, wine fridge, Sink(s), Kegerator, Soda dispenser gun for sodas, water, tonic etc.

To determine the best configuration for your backyard, work with an experienced landscaper.

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Transform Your Minnesota Outdoor Kitchen Space

If you’re looking for ways to improve your current outdoor kitchen, reach out to our team of experts. Outdoor Innovations has been offering quality landscaping services in the Twin Cities for over 15 years, and our expert team of designers and builders can deliver your backyard kitchen dreams.

Contact us today to see how we can help you create your dream outdoor kitchen.


Outdoor Innovations Landscaping creates elevated backyards for homeowners in Minnesota. From in-ground pools to luxurious grilling stations to outdoor living rooms, we do it all. Explore our past projects and get a quote online to make your dream backyard a reality.

It’s time you take your outdoor space to the next level.