Our internal checklist

Seven questions before the first decision

Before you decide on colour, natural stone or appliances, it is worth answering seven more fundamental questions.

They determine whether your kitchen merely looks good later on, or whether it genuinely works for the way you live.

The first three questions concern your daily use

How you cook and where your guests are

1 — How will you actually cook? Mostly for two? For your family? Regularly for a larger group? The answer determines how much worktop, grilling area and equipment you really need.

2 — Where will your guests be? When you cook, you still want to be part of the evening. Seating areas, sightlines and counters therefore shape your plan at least as much as the appliances do.

3 — Which routes will you walk? From the house to the kitchen. From the barbecue to the worktop. From the sink to the table. The more natural those routes are, the more naturally your kitchen will be used later.

Fugendetail der sandfarbenen Arbeitsplatte einer Außenküche auf Mallorca

Two questions that can hardly be corrected later

Location and connections

4 — What weather is your location exposed to? Fully exposed, covered, in strong sun, or close to a pool or the coast? Your location determines which materials and engineering solutions make sense. Salt-laden air places different demands on a kitchen than a sheltered courtyard.

5 — Which connections already exist? Electricity, water, waste water and, where applicable, gas should not be considered only once the kitchen has been planned. The earlier these points are clear, the fewer compromises arise later.

Detail des PureAlu Korpus: pulverbeschichtete Front und Einlegeboden aus Eiche

The two questions that are considered least often

Effect and endurance

6 — What role should your kitchen play in the outdoor space? Should it sit quietly within your architecture, or deliberately structure the outdoor area? This decision influences form, position, colour and proportion.

7 — How should your kitchen look in ten years? A FREILUFT Kitchen lasts considerably longer than most design trends. It is therefore worth choosing colour and form by more than what looks interesting today.

Setting, use and timeframe are enough to begin

Going through these questions for your outdoor space

If you like, we will go through the seven questions for your outdoor space specifically. It helps to know: where the project is, how you usually cook, where guests should sit, the exposure of the location, the connections already in place and the timeframe you have in mind. Photographs or a floor plan help as well.

Questions about your project?

If this article has left any questions open, we are glad to answer them. A short conversation is often enough to clarify what is realistic in your outdoor space.