Everything is perfect - guests are chatting, food is excellent, drink is chilled, atmosphere is pleasant - your picnic on a terrace is definitely an achievement.
But why are you so sweat and tired even before the end of the evening?
Because you constantly run to the kitchen and back to the terrace: to serve cold drinks from refrigerator, to search bags of ice in freezer, to prepare food for grill in the kitchen, to wash dirty dishes etc.
Convenience and availability of everything on one place are certainly the main arguments for a summer kitchen that you have been thinking about already since last summer.
What should you take into consideration when planning your summer kitchen, which materials should you choose and with which designs you cannot make a mistake?
Which kitchen sink and kitchen tap is the best choice for your outdoor kitchen?
We have prepared for you some useful answers and tips in order to help you to enjoy your new summer kitchen already this summer.
Why summer kitchen?
The most important, your outdoor kitchen will save up your valuable time so that you will have more time to be in company with your loved ones. It will also save up your steps because you will not need to go back to kitchen so many times as everything you need is placed close to the terrace.
Your summer kitchen will also extend your living space as well. Namely, in warm weather you may stay in front of the house and enjoy the fresh air, prepare and eat your meal there, enjoy in company of your family or drink a cup of coffee. And everything that you need is just next to the terrace, in your summer kitchen, so that you do not need to constantly go back to the house.
Your summer kitchen becomes thus an outdoor »extension« to your kitchen and living room where family usually spends the most time.
An outdoor kitchen also means a flat without any unpleasant odors generated during cooking. Thus you may eat your favorite dishes without any fear that you will have to smell them in your flat for several days.
What type of summer kitchen do I need?
As with the majority of decisions, the available budget will be deciding factor also at your summer kitchen – the final image of your summer kitchen depends upon it.
Will you have a luxury kitchen with a grill, an oven, a stove, a dishwasher and all necessary kitchen utensils or just a cabinet with some basic kitchen utensils and a gas grill?
In any case we advise you to decide for convenient running water, at least a small kitchen sink that will significantly ease your spare time activities on the terrace or garden.
As the summer kitchen extends your living space it is therefore very good idea to arrange it in such a way that you do not need to go back to house for every small thing.
In kitchen, the wet part (i.e. kitchen sink with kitchen tap) is most often in use: when you rinse your hands, pour a glass of water, wash strawberries from your garden etc. So, the kitchen sink directly on the terrace or garden is worth more than any other element of the summer kitchen.
How to design your summer kitchen?
There are some important factors to consider when planning the summer kitchen.
- Summer kitchen is outside, although it is covered.
Even if it is covered, the summer kitchen is still outside, exposed not only to weather but also to pollen.
Regardless the magnificent Instagram photographs of hanging pans and oh how tidy arranged shelves, the functionality is more important at the summer kitchen than the appearance.
We advise you to use kitchen cabinets with door where you may store (and hide from dust at the same time) all kitchen utensils.
You certainly do not want to wash all kitchenware and kitchen utensils each time before their use in order to start cooking at all, do you?
And please keep in mind: in order to prevent the ants and other insects to get to the foodstuffs that are useful to always have at hand (i.e. salt, sugar, coffee etc.), the kitchen cabinets should be closed tightly and the foodstuffs should be kept in airtight containers.
- Functional summer kitchen layout
Similar as the kitchen layout is important at the indoor kitchen, you should keep in mind a favorable and functional layout also at summer kitchen.
Consider where you will get the most of natural light while preparing the food and at the same time enough shadow in the summer heat.
Consider where will the kitchen sink be the most useful, where will the wind blow the smoke to, where will you store the kitchen utensils for grill, where will you put down your kitchenware after washing etc.
Clever kitchen design is of key importance and will make sure that you will really feel good in your outdoor kitchen and that your outdoor kitchen will serve its purpose.
Do not accept any partial decisions in any way as you will regret them later and it will take a lot of effort to correct them.
- Choosing the materials for summer kitchen
In addition to summer kitchen functionality it is very important that you choose appropriate materials which will be able to withstand all weather challenges.
It often comes to questions when choosing the most exposed part of the summer kitchen, namely the wet part of the kitchen, which means kitchen sink and kitchen tap.
The most common choice is stainless steel, inox, which suits to the outer space also stylistically.
With the growing interest in natural materials and fashionable returning to the nature becomes increasingly popular granital composite material, which is one of the most solid materials on the market.
When deciding on the kitchen sink for your outdoor kitchen, please keep in mind for what purpose you will use it. Will it only be used for food preparation or will it also be used for washing the dishes? This will help you to narrow the selection among the top quality kitchen sinks and kitchen taps provided by Alveus.
- Maintenance
When choosing materials for kitchen cabinets, floor and kitchen countertop, please keep in mind how different materials (wood, wall tiles, concrete, inox, marble etc.) are cleaned and how they are affected by temperatures, sunlight and weather.
Which kitchen sink to choose for your summer kitchen?
Alveus experts have prepared a list of kitchen sinks and kitchen taps that are recommended to be used in summer kitchen.
The following four most important criteria were taken into consideration: material, cleaning and/or maintenance, usability, and appearance.
Our outdoor kitchen experts recommend stainless steel or inox and granital composite material.
- Stainless steel: Alveus stainless steel kitchen sinks are one of the most sold in Slovenia and abroad as they are made of extremely high-quality steel which is processed in a way that meets all requirements of users and follows the latest guidelines of trends at the same time.
Stainless steel has a timeless appearance which suits the majority of styles of selected kitchen, it is highly hygienic and easy for cleaning and maintenance as it requires only occasional thorough polishing, otherwise the kitchen sink shall be simply wiped with a soft cloth.
- If you wish classic kitchen sink and have less space, we recommend two small and affordable kitchen sinks, Form 30 or Basic 140.
Due to their small size they are convenient, round or square in shape and unoriented, which means that they can be oriented according to your wishes and adopted to the kitchen cabinet and kitchen layout. The kitchen cabinet of 45 cm in width is sufficient. Type of installation is classic built-in type.
- With just a little more space available (kitchen cabinet 50 cm) and requirement for drainboard, we recommend a model Classic Pro 30 which can be oriented to left or right. This kitchen sink with top-mount installation will make your outdoor kitchen elegant and practical as drainboard is hygienically the most appropriate place to drain already washed dishes.
In summer the dishes will get dry quickly and so you will be able to store them soon after washing for their next outdoor use.
- One of the youngest members of the Alveus family is Luno kitchen sink, available in different sizes and designs. The most classic models are Luno 30 and Luno 40 which are unoriented, with a modern build-in type of installation into kitchen countertop, which means that you can wipe the breadcrumbs and other rests of food preparation directly into kitchen sink.
- Modern, minimalist and with sharper lines is Kombino 50 kitchen sink, whose aesthetic appearance will perfectly suit to more modern outdoor kitchen.
It requires a little wider kitchen cabinet of 60 cm and it can be installed completely horizontal with countertop or under the countertop which is very desirable at clients nowadays.
On our website https://alveus.si/en you will find the kitchen sink made from stainless steel that suits you the most – there are more than 100 models of kitchen sinks in different lines, sizes, orientations, with or without drain board, with one or two sinks.
Filters on website will help you to easily narrow your selection to a few different kitchen sinks regarding to your needs and to finally choose the most suitable model.
For kitchen sink from stainless steel, we recommend kitchen tap from the same material, for example, an elegant curved Elza fixed kitchen tap or Delos pull-out kitchen tap or Siros-P pull-out kitchen tap for those who like straight lines.
2. Granital: the composite material is a mixture of granite powder with a high-quality bonding agent that gets the characteristics of one of the most solid materials on the market.
Thus, granital is an excellent choice for the outdoor kitchen as it is very resistant to temperature changes and it also follows the guidelines that follow the trend of the natural.
As granite is a non-porous stone, you do not need to worry about kitchen stains.
Granite kitchen sinks Alveus are available in soil colors of reddish clay, concrete, beige and popular glittering colors of arctic snow, sandy, chocolate and modern carbon color.
Along with different designs in all the above-mentioned color options, granite kitchen sinks may easily adapt to any style of the outdoor kitchen.
Here are some suggestions provided by Alveus experts for summer kitchens:
- Kitchen sinks from Formic family represent everything what the outdoor kitchen needs – elegant appearance and high functionality.
Formic 20 is a basic kitchen sink of medium size. Due to its oriented form it can oriented optionally and installed in two ways: above the kitchen countertop or under the kitchen countertop.
Formic 30 has an additional drainboard with inclination which is sufficient enough to ensure that the excess water drains back into the sink.
- Quadrix 50 is a modern kitchen sink with straight lines which will perfectly suit the modern design of the summer kitchen.
. - Rock 90 is a double kitchen sink for all those who use the outdoor kitchen a lot in the summer and adore the spaciousness and comfort. Double kitchen sink allows easy and quick food preparation and more simple washing of dishes.
On our website https://alveus.si/en you will find several dozens of granite kitchen sinks versions that can be ordered in different colors. The possibility of choice is really wide.
At granite kitchen sink we advise you to decide for kitchen sink size and shape first and then to reduce selection and decide for the most suitable color that will be definitely as a cherry on the cake for your summer kitchen.
Of course, kitchen sink without kitchen tap is not of much use, so Alveus offers also kitchen taps in combination with granital which may also perfectly match the chosen kitchen sink.
- If you like straight lines, you may choose from Zenit kitchen taps, the latest Zina kitchen tap and Siros-P pull-out kitchen tap.
- If you prefer elegant curved kitchen taps, we may offer a brand new Elza kitchen tap or Arc 110 kitchen tap in completely granite look or Roxa kitchen tap.
For washing the larger dishes or pouring water in large jugs Delos pull-out kitchen tap will be very practical choice.
As the soil colors of granite kitchen sinks are so versatile, all kitchen taps made of stainless steel match with them very well.
Do not let this summer to overtake you. Click quickly on our website alveus.si/en and start planning your summer kitchen already today!