NJ Outdoor Kitchen Design Tips Condo Building Admins Should Remember
February 11th, 2016 | By: Mitchell Knapp | Landscape Design
February 11th, 2016 | By: Mitchell Knapp | Landscape Design
Although summer is often viewed as the best time to set up a barbecue, the brilliant colors and cooler temperatures of autumn also creates a fantastic mood for cooking outdoors. In fact, your condo building may be looking to add several outdoor kitchens in a common space to increase the value of the building and to attract more people. If so, here are a few NJ outdoor kitchen design tips you should keep in mind before breaking ground:
Construction Materials
Be very particular about the durability of the materials you use to construct your outdoor kitchens. Although this excerpt from a Better Homes and Gardens article is geared toward residential living spaces, the same logic applies to your condo building:
Outdoor kitchen surfaces must be able to withstand your climate’s weather conditions. Select durable materials such as stainless steel, shown here, and stone, slate, tile, or stucco, Make sure all countertop surfaces and hardware are recommended for exterior use. If you want to install a kitchen on an existing deck, verify that it structurally can support the kitchen’s additional weight before you build.
Health Issues
Naturally, cooking outdoors can pose several health risks such as food poisoning. Be sure to post tips near the cooking area to remind the residents of your building on proper food preparation. You may also want to teach staff how to properly clean food particles stuck on the grill.
Create Ambiance
Food tastes so much better when you eat it in a beautiful place. With that in mind, you may want to redo the landscaping of the common area, an especially important step if you plan to add multiple kitchens and tables. In such cases, working with a NJ commercial landscape design company, like Tapestry Landscape Architecture, that offers both landscaping and outdoor kitchen installation is preferable.
Proper Ventilation
With all the smoke coming out of pans and grills, make sure that the outdoor kitchen you install has access to proper ventilation. This is especially important if you have multiple outdoor kitchens. After all, you wouldn’t want the smoke to deter people from enjoying other nearby amenities.