An outdoor kitchen is the perfect addition to any backyard or garden for cookouts during the warmer months. However, installing a built-in, outdoor kitchen is a big commitment, as well as an expensive one.
Luckily, there are ways to deck out your backyard with an outdoor kitchen without having to worry about hefty installation fees, or irreversible changes to your outside space.
Many people assume that having an outdoor kitchen, especially a freestanding one, means having to go without many of the appliances you’d expect to find in an indoor kitchen, such as a dishwasher, refrigerator, or range.
However, all of these things can be incorporated into an outdoor, freestanding kitchen design with a little creativity.
Here are 7 trendy, freestanding outdoor kitchens you should take a look at. These designs range from rustic to modern, but what they all have in common is that they can be easily moved and built using components from some of the best kitchen construction brands out there.
Rustic Counter And Cabinets
For instance, if you don’t have an outdoor shelter to protect your wooden kitchen unit from the elements, you can simply wheel the unit indoors as needed. One of the best brands you can work with to build this kind of rustic, freestanding outdoor kitchen is NatureKast.
NatureKast is one of the biggest names in outdoor kitchen cabinetry. Even better, the cabinetry you can order from NatureKast is weatherproof, meaning that even if you don’t opt for wheels on your design, you can trust that your outdoor kitchen will remain undamaged by adverse weather conditions.
The ‘Rustique’ cabinet style from NatureKast is perfect for a rustic, freestanding outdoor kitchen, with mildly distressed teak and fine grain, available in shades ranging from ‘nutmeg’ to the very trendy ‘arctic slate’.
Minimalist Module
Your best option for this kind of outdoor kitchen woodwork is WeatherStrong’s outdoor cabinetry. The cabinet doors from WeatherStrong come in 4 styles: there’s ‘Daytona’, which is the closest to what you see in the image above.
However, there are 3 other styles to choose from if you’d prefer something slightly different.
Doors can be manufactured in a wide range of colors, from ‘shell white’ all the way to ‘pitch black’, with medium wood shades such as ‘dark ash’ and ‘weatherwood’ in between.
WeatherStrong can also manufacture base cabinets, including grill base cabinets, utility cabinets, end panels, island panels, and almost any other structure you could want in your outdoor kitchen.
Range And Refrigerator
Alternatively, Perlick manufactures residential outdoor kitchen appliances including freezers, refrigerators, ice makers, and beverage dispensers.
As you can see, this design also features a range with a grill, which blends seamlessly in with the other features of the design. This sleek, metal construction is not only appealing and easy to wipe clean (important with any appliance you’ll be keeping outdoors) but also weather-resistant and durable.
When it comes to grills for your outdoor kitchen, you can’t go wrong with Alfresco, which specializes in open-air culinary systems, including a wide range of grills. For example, the 42-inch luxury grill can be built into a standard cart, or a refrigerated cart. You also have the deluxe cart option.
Freestanding Frames
While it doesn’t feature the appliances you might find in a more elaborate outdoor kitchen, such as a refrigerator or dishwasher, it does include a sink, plenty of storage space, and enough room for food preparation.
The largest component of this kitchen is the grill, for which we recommend working with Blaze Grills. This company manufactures incredible-quality grills that are durable enough to be installed as part of freestanding, outdoor kitchens.
The Premium LTE grill range by Blaze Grills can be combined with outdoor cabinetry and come with advanced features such as built-in lighting systems. Made out of robust, marine-grade stainless steel, with triangular cooking rods, these grills are designed to last a lifetime.
Wooden Workspace On Wheels
This freestanding outdoor kitchen design mainly consists of wooden cabinetry and a streamlined grill that allows you to cook to your heart’s content while saving room on the countertop for food preparation.
Underneath, you can see the cabinet doors and storage spaces, so you’ll always have somewhere convenient to put your utensils when they’re not in use.
We recommend WeatherStrong for your cabinet-building needs if you want to emulate this kind of design. The ‘Tampa’ cabinet door style by this brand matches the doors in this design closely, as does the ‘teak’ color option.
Since grills can be incorporated into WeatherStrong’s outdoor cabinetry (grill base cabinets and side burner cabinets can be built into designs), achieving this kind of outdoor kitchen build should not be an issue.
When it comes to the grill itself, Hestan manufactures some excellent built-in grills that can fit in seamlessly with your outdoor kitchen design. These award-winning grills range from 30 inches to 42 inches, and you can have an insulated jacket fitted to ensure that your grill lasts for as long as possible in outdoor weather conditions.
Movable And Modern
It has everything you need in an outdoor kitchen and is made from durable materials that are also easy to wipe clean and won’t be damaged by adverse weather.
This particular kitchen design features an outdoor refrigerator, which we would typically recommend sourcing from Perlick. Perlick’s residential product range includes 125 outdoor refrigerator models that are perfect for freestanding kitchens.
However, Coyote Grills has an entire product range for outdoor kitchens. Not only can you purchase the grill for your outdoor kitchen from Coyote Grills, but many of the outdoor-rated grills come with panels and cabinets, so you can also commission the cabinet construction for your kitchen island from this manufacturer.
It’s worth noting that Coyote Grill’s range includes products like the ‘Outdoor Solutions 8 ft Pellet Outdoor Kitchen Island with 24-Inch Refrigerator’ (HCOY96PREF), which closely replicates the above design.
Counter, Cabinets And Cooler
Since you won’t be looking to incorporate a range or grill in an outdoor design like this, you’ll mainly be looking for a countertop and cabinet structure with an outdoor refrigerator to complete the design.
Either NatureKast or WeatherStrong will be able to meet your needs for cabinetry. You can choose either the ‘Daytona’ door model from WeatherStrong or the ‘Louver’ door style from NatureKast will best emulate the slats in the cabinets in this design, but you have plenty of other styles to choose from if you want to put your own spin on it.
For your refrigerator, you have a couple of options. Perlick has a wide range of outdoor refrigeration solutions for both built-in and freestanding kitchens, as does Sub-Zero.
Sub-Zero’s under-counter solutions for outdoor refrigeration are available with glass doors that allow you to see what’s inside, or if you’d prefer something closer in style to what this design depicts, you can opt for a steel door without a window.
The range of finishes from Sub-Zero also include custom panels which can be designed to match your cabinets, so you can customize a design where the refrigerator blends in more seamlessly with the rest of your workspace.
Final Thoughts
We hope that these trendy freestanding outdoor kitchen designs have inspired you to create the perfect outdoor space for all your culinary needs!
Remember, there are plenty of manufacturers on the market selling outdoor kitchen units as a whole, or individual kitchen appliances and cabinetry units that you can fit together to complete your ideal design.
Whether your personal style is simple and rustic, practical and sturdy, sleek and modern, or a combination of all 3, your dream freestanding outdoor kitchen is just a few clicks away!