Outdoor Kitchen Planning Guide: Materials, Design, and Space-Saving Tips

An outdoor kitchen extends your living space and makes it easier to enjoy time outside with friends and family. In warmer climates, it can be used nearly year-round—and in any region, it enhances outdoor entertaining and adds value to your home. But building an outdoor kitchen requires careful planning to ensure it’s both functional and long-lasting.

In this guide, we’ll cover key considerations for designing your outdoor kitchen, including how to choose durable materials, plan an efficient layout, and make smart decisions that will maximize your enjoyment.

Choose Durable, Attractive Materials for a Professional Finish

Material selection is one of the most important decisions in outdoor kitchen design. The right materials will not only determine how your kitchen looks, but how well it performs over time—and how efficiently it can be built. Below, we break down the most common options for the kitchen structure, as well as key considerations for countertops and flooring.

Structural Materials

The three main structural options for outdoor kitchens are concrete landscaping units, custom wood or aluminum framing, and modular outdoor cabinetry, and each one has its own advantages.

Concrete Landscaping Units

Concrete blocks are a practical and durable choice for building the base of your outdoor kitchen. Unlike wood or metal-framed options, they don’t require a separate structural frame—each unit contributes to both the structure and the finished look. Because they’re noncombustible, they’re well-suited for high-heat areas around grills or pizza ovens, and they’re engineered to withstand the elements in all seasons. Corners and curves are also easier to execute cleanly than with applied stone veneer, making it easier to achieve a polished, professional look, like the efficient grill and prep area in the Lakeside Lounge project.

The Lakeside Lounge project includes an efficient outdoor kitchen built from Unity Landscape Units, which provide a professional aesthetic that coordinates with the rest of the hardscape design. 

County Materials offers three block systems that are well-suited to outdoor kitchen construction:

• Unity^TM Landscape Units offer a sleek, linear look with 4-inch height increments that make it easy to build counters and bar areas to standard dimensions without custom cuts.
• Tribute® Smooth Wall Systems provide modern aesthetics and installation efficiency. Their versatile design means you can use the same product for grill islands, retaining walls, and seating walls, reducing installation labor and simplifying color coordination across the project.
• Summit Stone® Landscape Units include three different block sizes, including a tapered unit that makes it easy to create curved layouts without making cuts.
  

The Lasting Impression project demonstrates the versatility of Tribute Smooth Wall Systems for outdoor kitchen structures. 

Custom Wood or Aluminum Frame

Some outdoor kitchens are built with a wood or metal frame that’s then clad in materials like natural stone, brick veneer, tile, stucco, or cement board. This approach offers aesthetic flexibility, with the opportunity to match the cladding materials of your home. However, it adds complexity to the build. Frames must be constructed first, followed by a decorative finish. These systems also often require a roof or cover to protect against weather damage, and many cladding materials are combustible, making them less than ideal near high-heat appliances.

Modular Outdoor Cabinetry

Modular cabinet systems are the most expensive option but offer efficient use of space and storage. These prefabricated cabinet systems are designed to be weathertight and include ventilation to prevent condensation and pest issues. However, design flexibility is limited. While you can choose from a few colors, the style tends to be utilitarian and can clash with more natural-looking hardscapes or homes with traditional architecture. And unlike modular concrete block systems, they usually can’t be seamlessly integrated into the surrounding landscape design.

Countertops

Many of the same materials used for indoor kitchens can work outdoors, as long as they’re properly rated. Popular choices include granite, Dekton, and stainless steel, all of which offer good durability and weather resistance. Poured concrete is another common choice, especially when a more customized or rustic look is desired.

If your kitchen will be exposed to full sun, consider lighter-colored countertops. Dark stone surfaces can absorb heat quickly and become uncomfortable to the touch on warm days. Avoid wood or any other material that isn’t specifically rated for outdoor use.

Flooring

Concrete pavers are a practical and attractive flooring choice for outdoor kitchens. They create a level, easy-to-clean surface and are especially low maintenance when sealed. With County Materials’ pavers, you can match or coordinate paver colors with the materials used in your kitchen structure, walls, columns, fire pit, and borders for a unified look across your entire outdoor living space. Our pavers manufactured with Sentinel Sealed Technology^TM offer maximum stain resistance and surface protection, making cleanup of spills a breeze.

This stunning outdoor kitchen created a unified design by repeating the colors from the two-tone paver border in the accent stripes on the outdoor kitchen features as well as the columns holding up the pergola. 

Plan for Function, Flow, and Long-Term Use

The layout of your outdoor kitchen should reflect both how you plan to use the space and what conditions it needs to withstand.

Decide Whether to Cover Your Kitchen

If you build your kitchen with durable materials like concrete landscape blocks, your kitchen can be fully exposed to the elements without sacrificing performance. These units are manufactured to withstand direct sun, rain, humidity, and freeze/thaw cycles and don’t require added protection like many wood- or metal-framed alternatives. In warmer regions or for year-round use, adding a roof or pergola can help protect appliances and provide welcome shade. Just keep in mind: covered kitchens often require proper ventilation systems to safely manage smoke and heat from grills or pizza ovens—something open-air kitchens typically don’t need.

Start With Your Must-Have Features

At a minimum, most outdoor kitchens include a grill, countertop workspace, and a small refrigerator. A dedicated prep area is especially useful if you’re hosting guests and don’t want to keep running in and out of the house. To further enhance their outdoor living experience, some homeowners also opt to add:

• Outdoor-rated metal cabinets or drawers for storing utensils and grill tools
• Sinks with hot/cold plumbing for easier prep and cleanup
• Specialty cooking appliances like a pizza oven, griddle, or Big Green Egg (concrete landscape blocks make an excellent, heat-resistant base for these appliances)
• Outdoor TVs or speakers to turn the space into a true entertainment hub

The Suburban Drive project demonstrates the beauty and practicality of a compact outdoor kitchen space featuring a built-in gas grill with prep counters on either side.

A compact outdoor kitchen, such as the one included in the Suburban Drive project with a built-in grill and two prep counters, can deliver a big return on investment. 

Design a Functional Layout

Designing an outdoor kitchen is as much about workflow as it is about appearance.

Make sure your design includes ample countertop space, especially for setups involving lots of ingredients or large cooking surfaces. For example, if you’re using a pizza oven, you’ll need room to stretch dough, prep toppings, and serve guests all in one area.

The placement of your appliances can affect their effectiveness and your enjoyment of the space. When possible, separate the refrigerator and the grill to improve energy efficiency. While it’s not unsafe to place them next to each other, keeping some distance between hot and cold zones helps keep the refrigerator working efficiently. Additionally, the placement of the grill can affect your enjoyment of the space. While cooking, it’s nicer to look at the yard, the pool, or the gathering areas than it is to face the side of your house. Building in a bar with seating can make the cooking area more social. Lastly, avoid placing the refrigerator or trash can directly under your most important prep space, because guests will constantly need access to those spaces.

Durable and versatile building materials like our concrete landscape units make it easy to tailor the layout of your outdoor kitchen to your needs.

Add Lighting for Ambiance and Safety

In regions like the Midwest, the most comfortable times to enjoy your patio also come with shorter daylight hours. Thoughtful lighting can extend your outdoor kitchen’s usability in the early spring and late fall and make it feel more inviting.

• Under-counter lighting creates a soft glow along bar or prep areas and helps with nighttime visibility without harsh glare.
• Overhead lighting works well if your kitchen is under a roof or pergola. Choose warm-toned fixtures for a more natural ambiance.
• Pathway lighting built into steps, retaining walls, or freestanding columns helps guide guests safely between seating and cooking areas. 

Pathway lighting like the lights incorporated into this staircase as part of the Lakeside Lounge project can enhance both the safety and ambiance of your outdoor kitchen.

If you don’t have access to electrical wiring, concrete pavers manufactured with Glow Path Technology® from County Materials are a low-maintenance alternative. These glow-in-the-dark pavers absorb sunlight by day and emit a soft glow at night, creating a subtle, practical lighting effect without the need for electricity.

The Textured Terrace project used step units with Glow Path Technology to add ambiance and improve nighttime visibility. 

Account for Changes in Slope

If you’re building an outdoor kitchen on top of an existing patio, you may need to level the surface before installation to ensure stable counters and appliances. If your outdoor kitchen project is part of a full landscape overhaul, consider integrating the kitchen into a retaining wall, where it won’t disrupt the flow of the patio and can be built with the proper base to ensure a level surface. The Riverside Retreat project is a great example of how to incorporate an outdoor kitchen into a retaining wall as part of a multi-tiered outdoor living area.

The Riverside Retreat project used Tribute Smooth retaining wall blocks to create an alcove for an efficient outdoor kitchen.

Maximize Space Without Sacrificing Style

An outdoor kitchen doesn’t have to be large or elaborate to make a big impact. Some of the most popular and space-efficient setups include just a built-in gas grill, a compact refrigerator, and a bit of counter space for food prep and seating. A grill and refrigerator can fit within a space as small as six feet wide and two-and-a-half feet deep. Adding a countertop overhang creates a comfortable and social seating setup with minimal additional space.

Start Planning Your Outdoor Kitchen Today

County Materials’ concrete landscape units offer the durability, design flexibility, and clean finish needed to bring your outdoor kitchen to life. Our concrete landscape units are designed to withstand the elements and require minimal maintenance so you can enjoy your outdoor kitchen for many years.

Whether you're working with a contractor or designing the space yourself, we’re here to help you get started.

• Contact our Sales Team to discuss your project
• Request our Product Catalog for full color and size options
• Find a Contractor through our trusted partner network