Now that it’s getting ever so slightly warmer, I’m ready to tackle some outdoor projects. The big one on the list this year is an outdoor kitchen and bar. We’ve lived here 6 years now, and have gone back and forth about where we would like to add a grilling spot.

When we first built this home, our landscaper made us a 3 phase plan. We started with phase 1. We wanted to live in our house for a few years before we decided on the rest. I’m so glad we did, because he originally planned for an outdoor kitchen space by the pool area.

After living here we’ve discovered we very rarely eat dinner over by the pool. It’s so fun to have friends over to hang out in the pool, but when it’s dinner time we like to enjoy the lake view.

With that in mind we finally decided to work on our outdoor kitchen and bar plans. So let me show you what we have planned. We have this grassy area in the backyard to the left of the stairs.

The grass doesn’t do that well here and it’s not really usable space the way it is. Our plans are to add a paver patio, extend the landscaping, and put in a grill and bar area.

We are keeping it simple with just the grilling area and a bar with three seats. When we entertain, the guys tend to hang out by the grill. So having a bar area made sense for this space. The landscaping will extend further down with the addition of several new trees and bushes. That will be nice for more privacy.

There is a really fun game table planned for (more on that later) this space as well. We decided against a fridge since the basement bar is right inside. We also have a fridge in the pool house and the guest cottage.

It’s nice that it’s close to our patio where we hang out. These stairs lead up to our deck and our kitchen, so it should be easy to run food down to the grill.

You know me, I’m already looking at throw pillows and planters for this space, but I should back up a bit and share the materials we are going to use.

I love the modern yet classic look of these simple gray cement pavers. I think they will go well with our existing concrete.

The grill area will be out of this stone with a concrete counter top. The Mr. is in charge of the grill situation. He loves Weber products so we will be putting in a Weber grill.

Our outdoor kitchen and bar plans are pretty simple, but I think it’s really going to complete our backyard space.

They are going to get started on our project in just a few weeks, as soon as the weather cooperates. I should be able to share the completed space early June. Stay tuned!