All the advantages of building a summer kitchen in the country: amazing projects and photos of unexpected solutions. Summer kitchen in the country: projects, photos, recommendations Do-it-yourself kitchen on the veranda in the country

In the fresh air, not only is your appetite stronger, but food is also digested much better. In warm weather, you don't really want to sit indoors. Preserving for the winter is also easier to do outside. In the article we will tell you how to build a summer kitchen in your country house with your own hands, we will demonstrate diagrams, drawings, photos and video instructions.

Choosing a type

All types of summer kitchens can be classified into two categories:

• open;
• closed.

Enclosed kitchens resemble a small structure, similar to a house, which often does not have much insulation. The advantage of this solution will be protection from insects, better protection from bad weather, as well as from wind. An open kitchen option on one or more sides can be protected with a fabric, wooden or other wall. The advantage of such a solution will be greater unity with nature. Among the open types of buildings there are options:

• With barbecue. In this case, you have the advantage of cooking your favorite dish over an open fire. Barbecue will be available in any weather. If you additionally install an oven, then you can please your friends with pizza.
• With a gazebo or pergola. It's nice to sit among the greenery. This is exactly the solution in which the entire structure will eventually be shrouded in grapes, ivy or other climbing plants.
• Shed adjacent to the house. The easiest way to build. Requires the least investment. But there is a negative point. When cooking, all the steam and smoke will go towards the house. This can lead to damage to walls or other finishing materials.

Preparation stages

Once you've chosen one of the possible options, it's time to create a small project.

• Choose a location. It’s good when it is possible to place the kitchen in a cozy garden, where a pleasant atmosphere of tranquility reigns. At this stage, it is necessary to take into account the proximity of various communications. They will definitely be needed. Electrical appliances will require wiring. When preparing food, you cannot do without water and you need to put it somewhere afterwards. Do not place the structure close to driveways and roads. Then your meal will not be spoiled by unpleasant odors. If there is a toilet outside, it is better to leave it as far away as possible.
• We dwell on the material for construction. If you are planning an enclosed kitchen, then you can approach it as a frame building, in which case you will need wood. A good option would be a structure made of foam blocks or brick. The open one will most likely be made of wood, or one or two of its walls will be made of the material that was listed earlier.
• We decide on the roof. Soft tiles will look great on an open building, but this is a rather expensive solution, although it cannot be ruled out, because the roof area will be small. A good option would be metal tiles or corrugated sheets. Perhaps, while waiting your turn, you have sheets of slate or ondulin - they will also do.
• The project should also take into account what equipment you plan to purchase for the summer kitchen.

Foundation

A summer kitchen is usually designed as a lightweight structure. This means that the foundation can immediately act as a floor, and perhaps no pouring will be required at all.

• First you need to clear the selected area of ​​all debris and vegetation.
• A small layer of top soil is removed.
• One of the corners of the future building is marked with a wooden peg or metal rod. Next, three more elements are installed. To position them correctly, it is necessary to measure the diagonals for identity. A fishing line or strong twine is stretched between them, which will serve as a guide.

If the building consists of a canopy, then after these steps you can proceed as follows:

• The entire perimeter of the marked area is excavated to a depth of 30 cm.
• The bottom is leveled and compacted.
• Sand is poured inside in a layer of 10–15 cm. It is also leveled and compacted well.
• The remaining space is filled with screenings and final leveling is performed.
• Next, paving or other slabs intended for the street are laid on our “pie”, which has been prepared. This can be done using dry cement mortar, which, after pouring with water, will fix the entire base well.
• Holes are dug at four corners; their depth should be at least 50 cm. Formwork is installed inside. The sheathing is made from reinforcement, which will be the basis of the reinforced concrete structure. It is placed inside and filled with solution. Using a vibrator, the entire mixture is compacted. While the concrete has not yet hardened, two metal plates are inserted into the middle, to which we can attach wooden posts that will support the walls and roof.

This base option will be relevant when the soil is quite dense. In cases where groundwater can come very close to the surface or displacements of the upper layer are noticed, it is necessary to provide a more solid foundation. Also, if you plan to add a stove or barbecue to such a foundation, then you will need to lay separate concrete supports for them.

In order to make a foundation slab, we will need to take the first three steps from the previous instructions. Next we proceed to the following:

• We are preparing 8 pieces of reinforcing bars. Four of them should be 10 cm shorter than one of the sides of the future structure, 4 others should be 10 cm shorter than the other. If the building is square, then they will all be the same size.
• We lay four of them in the shape of our future structure and secure them together. Then we tie longitudinal and transverse jumpers every 40 cm. In the same way we prepare the second grid. We connect the two gratings with jumpers to such a height that the future slab rises above the surface by at least 5 cm.
• We lower the entire structure into the middle of the dug hole, install the formwork and fill it with concrete. We ram it using a vibrator. We level it with slats and let it sit for several weeks.
• Metal plates can be placed in fresh concrete along the perimeter in meter increments the width of the future timber for the walls. Or this can be done only in the corners.

It is very important that the floor is higher than the surface of the ground. Thanks to this, rainwater will not flow in. It is also good to make a slight slope of the floor so that precipitation that is blown by the wind can flow freely into the drainage or simply through the door.

In cases where you plan to build an enclosed kitchen made of brick or foam block, this foundation option may be sufficient. Also for these needs, you can build a shallow strip or columnar foundation. In this case, such large-scale excavation is not carried out.

• A trench is dug to a depth of 50 cm along the entire perimeter of the future kitchen. The width will depend on the thickness of the walls. In any case, the foundation should be 10–15 cm wider.
• A layer of sand is poured onto the bottom, which is leveled and spilled with water.
• A metal lattice base is made according to the principle as in the previous instructions. She fits into the trench.
• The formwork is installed so that the future foundation rises 20–30 cm above the ground surface.
• Pour in cement mortar, tamp and level it. Let it sit for 2-3 weeks.

The supply of all communications must be done in parallel with laying the foundation, so that later you do not have to drill holes in it or dig under it. To prevent the pipes from becoming clogged with solution, they must be closed in advance using fabric and plastic oilcloth.

Open kitchen

This option can be erected most quickly. We have already laid the foundation and support for the supports. If you plan to have the kitchen closed on one or both sides by walls made of brick or other material, then the first thing you need to do is start building these partitions.

• At the corners of the future walls, we dig a metal square pipe or profile measuring 50x50 mm into the ground. We set it according to level. We do this so that the planks are close to the masonry. They will serve as our guide.
• We stretch the fishing line between them. We raise it to the height of the first row of bricks that will be laid. We set it according to level.
• Prepare a cement-sand mortar in a ratio of 1:3. This will be quite sufficient for our purposes.
• We carry out the laying, focusing on the stretched fishing line, and also periodically double-check ourselves with the level.
• As soon as the first row is completed, we raise the line for the next one and so on until the very end.
• To make the structure more stable, reinforcing mesh can be placed in the seams.

If you are not planning on having walls of this nature, then the process will be much easier.

• We screw a beam that will serve as a support to the metal plates that we laid during the manufacture of the foundation. When the entire structure is of great length, then it is necessary to foresee in advance the need to install 3-4 pillars on one side. Their length should be equal to the height of our building, and the dimensions of the sides should be 15x15 cm or 15x10 cm.
• We level them so that they are strictly vertical. The beams of one wall must be longer so that we can organize the roof slope.
• We immediately strengthen our posts using the top strapping. It can be made from the same logs. We fix it using metal corners.
• To give greater stability to the entire structure, you can install two jibs near each post. They can be secured to the support using self-tapping screws, and to the base with an anchor bolt.
• We are installing beams for our future roof. In order for them to hold better in the places where they adjoin the harness, it is better to make cuts. We fix it with metal corners.
• We make the sheathing for the flooring, as recommended by the manufacturer. We lay the roofing material.
• To create more comfort, one side (or more) can be sewn up using wooden lining or a house block. On the other, make a wooden lattice. You can arrange supports for climbing green plants.

If you plan to build a pergola, after laying the ceiling beams, nothing else needs to be done. They can be coated with stain or varnish. Then the plants will do their job themselves, creating shade when they are fully grown.

Closed kitchen

At the design stage, it may have been decided to build walls from foam blocks or bricks, then this can be done according to the principle of installing vertical landmarks, which was discussed above. The thickness of the walls may not be too large. In some cases, laying half a brick is allowed. But always consider the weight of the future roof. In the future, the outside of the building can be covered with siding or a block house. For interior decoration, a house block, lining or other material that will be resistant to frost is also suitable, because it is unlikely that anyone will deliberately constantly heat the room in winter.

A beam is laid on the walls, which will act as a mauerlat. Its size can be 10x15 cm. It is secured using anchor bolts or studs, which must be walled up during the construction of the walls. It is necessary to lay waterproofing under it in the form of roofing material or bikrost. A rafter system is installed on the logs. It can be for both a gable and a single-pitch roof (for this option it will be enough to make one wall higher than the other, then simply install beams between them). The sheathing is mounted on the beams and the roofing is laid. The ceiling is hemmed from the inside.

You can go simpler and stick with the frame version. For it we will need beams of the same size as for the vertical posts from the instructions for the open kitchen. From these we make the foundation. We lay them along the perimeter of our foundation on two layers of roofing material or bikrost, which will serve as waterproofing. We make a dressing between them. To do this, on the edge of each log there is a recess half the depth and a width equal to the width of the log. Checking the diagonals. We fix them together using self-tapping screws and internal metal corners. Next, we fix it to pre-prepared plates or anchors to the foundation.

We install corner support posts from the same timber. In increments of 60 cm, we install additional vertical supports from boards measuring 10x5 cm. For greater rigidity, we screw the jibs for each main support. We carry out the top trim and install the rafter system for the future roof. We do this by analogy with the open kitchen option.

Finish line

Even if our kitchen is planned to have a barbecue or stove, this does not exclude the presence of a gas or electric stove, which are much more convenient to use. It is necessary to take care of the installation of the sink, mixer, as well as a stand for dishes on which they will dry. It would be good if there was a cabinet in which you could hide cutlery and pots. You need to take care of the dining table, as well as comfortable furniture on which you can relax. For greater comfort, it is better to provide basic and decorative lighting.

For an open kitchen project, it is best to ensure that all lighting fixtures are preferably IP68 rated. In this case, you won’t have to worry about any elements being damaged by rainwater.

Don't approach your outdoor kitchen project in a casual way. Let it, in some sense, be a design decision. After all, it will serve not only as a place to eat, but also as a recreation area with family and friends.

Cooking in a hot and cramped kitchen in the summer is a very dubious pleasure. And if residents of high-rise buildings are deprived of a choice, then owners of private houses or summer cottages can take the cooking process outside the house in the summer - to the summer kitchen. And the house will get rid of excess fumes during the season of active conservation. Well, food cooked in the fresh air always tastes better than at home. Besides summer kitchen, without special expenses, you can make it spacious enough to turn it into a place for evening gatherings and meetings with friends.

There are many options for a summer kitchen for a summer residence:

• With veranda adjacent to the house

• with barbecue area

• With pergola

• with a separate gazebo (pavilion)

In general, summer kitchens are usually divided into two types:

• open – canopy, open on one or more sides, sliding structures, tarpaulin (fabric), roller blinds or removable partitions can be used as protection from the wind. You will be comfortable in such a kitchen throughout the entire summer season - from late spring to early autumn.

• a closed kitchen is actually a “house-kitchen”, reliably sheltering from all the vagaries of nature, but at the same time a significant part of the unique charm of the summer kitchen is lost.

Since this is a fairly simple structure, constructing a summer kitchen with your own hands will not require excessive effort.

Choosing a place

An important stage in creating a summer kitchen project is choosing a location, the correct choice of which determines both the simplicity and speed of construction, as well as the convenience of further operation.

There are several factors to consider here:

• availability of communications - proximity and ease of supply of water, electricity, gas, organization of drainage

• distance from roads - exhaust fumes, dust and noise are not the best background for relaxing rest and cooking

• distance from toilets, cesspools and compost pits, barnyards and other places with a characteristic pungent odor

• fire safety - if you plan to use open fire in the kitchen ( grill, barbecue), there should be no flammable buildings within a minimum radius of 10 m

• the presence of trees - crowns will provide shade and keep cool, limiting the exposure of the scorching rays of the sun. Cooking food over a hot stove and even under the hot sun is a dubious pleasure

• distance from the house - the construction of a summer kitchen that has a common wall with the house (in the form of a veranda or an extension) will significantly reduce the cost of the project. But on the other hand, smoke and fumes from the stove will enter the house, but the main idea of ​​a summer kitchen is to rid the house of the side effects of cooking. At the same time, if you move the kitchen away from the house, in bad weather there will be problems with delivering food to the house

Laying the foundation

Quite often on thematic sites the option is considered when the kitchen interior has its own cellar. The option is quite controversial, because in this case the cost of construction increases sharply. In addition, if the kitchen is open, then in winter such a cellar will require additional insulation. And to get to it, you will have to additionally rake away the snowdrifts. So we will still consider the cellar an attribute of the house, and we can safely begin marking and laying the foundation.

If the construction of permanent (brick, stone, foam concrete) walls is not expected, then there is no need to lay a full-fledged foundation. To do this, a pit (depression) of 10-15 cm is opened in the ground over the total area, which is covered with screenings or sand and compacted. You can lay tiles or boards on top for the future floor of the summer kitchen. In this case, the floor should be raised 15-20 cm above the ground level to avoid rainwater flows.

If there is a foundation, a wooden frame made of timber is laid as the foundation, secured with metal corners at the points of attachment to the foundation. Subsequently, the construction of the frame repeats the process described above.

When building an enclosed kitchen, brick, foam blocks or stone are used to build walls. In this case, a wall thickness of half a brick will be quite enough. Inside, the walls can be sheathed with plasterboard, plastic, clapboard or plastered - the only limitation can be the frost resistance of the selected material, because in winter the room will not be heated regularly.

For a summer kitchen, it would be justified to arrange a lean-to roofs, for which it will be enough to erect one wall of the beam structure slightly higher than the opposite one. When choosing a roofing material, it is important to consider the strength of the frame. If for a closed kitchen there are practically no restrictions (slate, metal tiles, composite tiles, bitumen shingles, corrugated sheets, seam roofing, polycarbonate), then for an open kitchen you need to choose a lighter material, for example, polycarbonate or bitumen shingles.

Summer kitchen in the country: design and decoration

The main thing to consider when choosing a summer kitchen project for a summer house is its compliance with the overall design and style of the entire site. To create a unique bright kitchen, especially if the kitchen is visually close to the house, the decision on its design and interior should be made in the same key so that general stylistic touches can be traced.

Some finishing tips:

• bake- the main element in the interior, but do not forget about the main purpose of the kitchen - cooking. A grill or barbecue is, of course, good, bright and aesthetically pleasing, but for daily needs you cannot do without a gas, electric or wood-burning stove. And you can’t do without a sink, countertop, all kinds of drawers and other kitchen utensils

Cooking in a small kitchen is not a pleasant task. Hot air, cramped spaces, and constant lack of free space make the cooking process difficult and sometimes unbearable. There is only one way out - to build a separate spacious summer kitchen at the dacha, with enough space not only to accommodate a working area, but also a dining area, with a large and comfortable dining table. Read on in our article to find out which summer kitchen is most in demand today, and whether it is possible to build it yourself using standard designs and a regular photo.

What is a summer kitchen?

A summer kitchen in a country house is a structure attached to the house or a separate structure designed for cooking and relaxing. Depending on the choice of materials and method of insulation, it can be used both during the warm season and constantly.

The type of summer kitchen design can be open or closed. In the first case, the walls of the building are missing completely or partially. They can be replaced by light curtains or. The closed type has solid walls and windows that reliably shelter the kitchen from rain and wind.

For an experienced carpenter, it will not be difficult to build a rain shelter over the summer kitchen yourself.

A summer kitchen with a simple design can be easily erected in just one summer. This will require basic construction skills, the necessary material and tools. Well, to be on the safe side, it is advisable to have one or two assistants, since some types of work will be performed at height.

Important! Before you begin construction of a facility, you should select a suitable location for it. Not only the aesthetic, but also the practical side of the issue will depend on how correctly this is done.

We select a place for construction

When choosing a suitable place, first of all you need to take into account that the kitchen should not be too far away from the house. And the point is not even that it will be easier and cheaper to connect communications, but that it should be within walking distance from the main building. After all, you must admit that going to the opposite side of the site every day to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner is not very convenient.

In addition, there should be no sources with an unpleasant odor near the summer kitchen. These include sheds and cages with animals, pits with fertilizers, compost heaps, sewer wells, septic tanks, etc.

Having your own kitchen in the fresh air is the dream of every housewife.

If there is a tree on the site, it is advisable to plan a summer kitchen in close proximity to it. On hot days, you can place a table and chairs under its thick crown. It’s no secret that having breakfast in the fresh air is doubly pleasant.

However, when you are carried away by planning the future structure, you should not forget about fire safety rules, neglect of which can lead to not the best consequences.

The presence of an open flame in a summer kitchen is allowed if it is at least 8-10 meters away from flammable buildings.

Deciding on a kitchen project (photo)

In order for the cooking extension to be practical, functional and convenient, as well as have an attractive appearance, it is important to choose the right project for it, in which all the nuances and design features will be detailed down to the smallest detail.

In addition, it is important that the kitchen fits organically into the overall development and does not disturb the surrounding landscape, so it is advisable to choose the same materials for its construction as for the house itself. This way you will achieve perfect harmony between the two buildings.

As you may have already noticed, many summer kitchen projects, photos of which are posted in the article, have an original and non-standard design. This suggests that today the aesthetic component is no less important than the functional one.

Constructing a building on your own

When the place and design for the summer kitchen have been chosen, you can safely begin its construction. Like any building, the construction of a summer kitchen is carried out in four stages:

1. Marking the site and pouring the foundation.
2. Construction of walls (if provided for by the project) or support pillars.
3. Roof construction.
4. Interior and exterior finishing.

Foundation

Since this structure is relatively light, there is no need to pour a capital foundation. It is quite possible to get by or, most importantly, it is carried out in compliance with technology.

Important! For those who subsequently do not want to bother with the installation of the floor, it is perfect, the upper base of which will be the floor.

To build a summer kitchen made of glass, a foundation may not be required at all

• Strip foundation. First, a marking is made on the site, which is marked on the plane with fixed pegs with a rope stretched between them. Next, a pit is dug (depth 40-60 cm), along the perimeter of which formwork made of boards or moisture-resistant plywood is installed on both sides. Then, to avoid heaving of the soil, a backfill is made of compacted seeded sand and crushed stone. Before pouring concrete, reinforcement is lowered into the trench and tied with wire using a special hook. The foundation must stand for at least 30 days. If you are lucky with the weather, you can start construction in 2 weeks.
• Monolithic foundation. Having previously marked the site, a pit is dug to a depth of 15-20 cm. To strengthen the soil and protect the slab from groundwater, geotextiles are placed at the bottom of the pit, on top of which a sand cushion is made. Next, the sand is well leveled and compacted tightly with a tamping machine. All that remains is to install the formwork, tie the reinforcement cage, and pour the concrete solution. After complete drying, a reliable and high-quality base for a summer kitchen is ready.

Important! If you plan to use an open type of summer kitchen, it is recommended to make a slab from a monolithic foundation with a slight slope of 1.5º-2º so that rainwater can flow down on its own.

Walls and roof

If the walls of the summer kitchen are wooden, their construction begins with the construction of a frame, which is made of metal or wooden blocks.

1. Large (support) posts are installed in the corners - measuring 200x200 mm, and between them additional ones - measuring 150x150 mm.
2. The upper strapping beams are placed on the support bars, which will also serve as the basis for installing the rafters.
3. After the rafters are installed, from bars measuring 50x50 mm. lathing and counter-lattice are made.
4. Next, the entire structure is treated with a special compound against fungus and mold, after which installation is carried out.

Often, rounded logs, bricks or stones are used as wall materials, which are ideal for this type of construction. With such walls, the building can be used all year round, the main thing is to make them of high quality.

An undeniable advantage is that summer kitchen facade made of logs, facing bricks or decorative stones does not require additional finishing. The extra costs come down only to the fact that wood is needed, and stone and brick are needed.

Deciding on the façade design

When choosing a summer kitchen project from photos that you like, you need to pay attention not only to its shape, size, and functional component, but also to the design of the structure. For a dacha, it is very important that the style of the extensions matches the overall layout of the entire site as a whole.

This does not mean at all that the building should be a kind of clone of the main structure. Quite the contrary, they should not replace, but complement each other, creating common stylistic touches.

In the summer kitchen, special attention should also be paid to the working and dining areas, where everything should be as rational and convenient as possible. The following will help you organize your space wisely: photos of summer kitchens, where it is clearly demonstrated how to beautifully and correctly design various zones.

The work area is an important element in the interior. Try to make it comfortable and practical

• Furniture. Using upholstered furniture in an open summer kitchen is not a good idea. In most cases, it is made of foam rubber, which absorbs moisture well. Therefore, it is better to use wooden or plastic benches and chairs with removable cushions. Also, various types of wicker furniture will fit well into the interior, which goes well with any finishing materials. For example, a rattan chair or a wicker chair will look very beautiful. If a closed type of kitchen is used, then the flight of fancy should not be limited by anything. In this case, you can use any furniture, including upholstered furniture.
• Lighting. Proper lighting of a summer kitchen in a country house, regardless of its size, is an important stage of renovation work. A chandelier or a single lamp suspended in the center cannot always cope with the task assigned to it. To illuminate all areas, it is advisable to use more than one type of lighting. It is appropriate to place spotlights in tandem above the work area, and hang a large chandelier above the table.

We hope that this article will help you intelligently approach the issue of choosing a suitable project for your summer kitchen. As you can see, there are plenty of sources for inspiration and fresh ideas for implementing your plans. Good luck with your construction.

Various types of summer kitchens allow you to build this structure in almost any home on various sites. Kitchens can be closed or open. The simplest open-type summer kitchen is a terrace, equipped with all the necessary kitchen equipment and kitchen furniture. Closed summer kitchens are a veranda, partially or entirely closed.

Closed summer kitchen in the country (photo)

Whatever the design of the open summer kitchen, it is traditionally divided into two main zones - a place for cooking and a living-dining room. The minimum set for the “culinary zone” includes a stove, oven or grill-fireplace, cabinets and shelves for kitchen utensils and dishes, a work surface or cutting table and a sink.

Summer kitchens, equipped in buildings separate from the house, can also be open or closed depending on the design.

Summer kitchen in the form of a house in the photo

This could be an open summer kitchen in the country or a kitchen in the form of a light frame house (usually unheated), although it happens that such a house is built of brick and even equipped with a fireplace or stove.

An open kitchen is a structure without walls, which visually creates the effect of free space. Such a kitchen may have a canopy or a roof on pillars or no roof at all, being at best under the branches of a spreading tree.

In this case, there is a feeling of complete unity with nature.

An open kitchen can be built in the form of a veranda or gazebo. Its main elements are kitchen furniture (table, benches, chairs), a sink and a stove for cooking.

The main advantage of open kitchens, in addition to unity with nature, is that they do not need to be ventilated and are not hot in summer.

Typically, when building an open kitchen, the supports and roof are made of wood, and natural and artificial stone is used for the foundation.

If a stove is being built, it is usually also lined with stone. Low monetary costs make the arrangement of an open-type summer kitchen inexpensive.

In addition, construction does not involve complex work or the use of equipment, so building such a summer kitchen is also quite simple in technical terms. So we can safely say that this is a good option for novice builders.

All outdoor summer kitchens have the same advantages:

• insignificant costs of building materials during construction;
• much faster and easier construction;
• no need for expensive excavation and roofing work;
• Cooking outdoors in summer is always more pleasant than indoors;
• a great opportunity for both family recreation in nature and celebrations with a large number of guests;
• using a barbecue, barbecue or grill for preparing meat dishes;
• minimal fire hazard of such structures;
• significantly lower overall project cost than when constructing an enclosed kitchen.

Open-type summer kitchens also have disadvantages, which include:

• inability to use the kitchen in the cold season, as well as in windy weather and heavy rain;
• lack of protection of the kitchen working area from dust, which requires additional effort when cleaning;
• attacks by mosquitoes and other insects in the evening;
• inability to leave food overnight, as it could be stolen by animals or birds;
• inability to leave equipment and valuables overnight that attract thieves;
• impossibility of using it as additional housing even in summer;
• the need to hide furniture and other interior items during rain, as well as put them away for the winter;
• performing only one function - as a place for preparing and eating food in the fresh air.

A summer kitchen with a closed veranda is very similar to an ordinary small house with walls, a roof, windows and a door. This makes it possible to use them in any weather and, if heating is provided (although this is usually not done), even in winter.

Closed kitchen on the veranda (photo)

A closed kitchen on a veranda at the dacha, in addition to its main function, can be used as an overnight place for guests, a hunting lodge, and in winter - as a storage room. Such a summer kitchen with an open terrace is usually built from plasterboard, lining or plywood, while more durable structures, designed to last for many years, are built from brick, foam blocks or stone.

Look at the kitchen veranda in the photo, which illustrates a successful layout:

The main advantages of a closed building are:

• the room is protected from dust, wind, precipitation and insects, so you will not have to clean it as often as is required in open kitchens;
• if heating is available, it is possible to use the building in winter;
• the ability to safely leave food supplies, equipment and other valuables in a closed kitchen overnight, especially if the room is locked;
• use as a guest house;
• the possibility of combining with other additional premises - a bathhouse, a cellar, a workshop or a garage.

The main disadvantages of a closed summer kitchen with an open veranda lie in the operating features:

• a larger amount of building materials and more complex construction, including labor-intensive work that requires the involvement of assistants and equipment;
• the need for careful drafting of the project, as well as calculation of the foundation, rafter system and other building components, as when building a house;
• a significant increase in the cost of construction in general and a longer construction period.

In addition to general information, it is worth considering in more detail the types of open and closed options for a summer kitchen.

For example, a summer kitchen-veranda is built as an extension to a country house. When constructing it, it should be taken into account that, like any extension, it should become a harmonious continuation of the house, fit into its design solution and at the same time retain its main function - to be a kitchen and dining-living room, and not become a hallway.

The construction of a summer kitchen in the form of a veranda should begin with laying the foundation. Its depth should be equal to the depth of the house’s foundation so that the extension does not tear off in winter. The frame for the walls is then installed, the exterior sheathing is done, and the pitched roof is covered.

Ideally, a country house and a veranda should have the same roof covering, but if the veranda is added later, its roof or canopy should be combined with the main roof both from an aesthetic point of view and from a technical point of view (so that there is no leakage during rain, etc.) .

To make the kitchen veranda lighter and more airy, you can install large casement windows or glaze the entire front or side parts.

An open-type kitchen extension is a structure in the form of a terrace due to a significant expansion of the porch. In this case, support beams are installed along the wall of the house, on which an inclined canopy is laid on top.

If the terrace is built on a well-leveled area and there are no problems with water accumulation, the floor can be laid directly on the ground - it can simply be a covering of paving slabs. The terrace can be protected from any bad weather (rain, wind, etc.) by side partitions (both permanent and decorative) or, for example, waterproof curtains. You can build pergolas and decorate them with climbing plants or plant a hedge of shrub plants, which will decorate the terrace and provide pleasant coolness on hot summer evenings.

When building a summer kitchen-gazebo, you cannot do without a columnar or strip foundation. Frame racks made of brick, stone or timber are installed on it in the corners, and then the entire structure is fixed with a roof made of lightweight roofing material, such as ondulin, bitumen sheets, etc. Buildings of this type, more than all other types of summer kitchens, are suitable for installing barbecues and barbecues in them or oven.

In such a kitchen it is also very convenient to process the harvested crops without fear of wind or rain and without worrying about cleanliness and ventilation of the room from kitchen aromas.

The openings between the counters of such a summer kitchen can be left open or one of the walls can be sewn up to install kitchen cabinets and shelves. You can arrange pergolas with climbing plants, decorate the openings with textile curtains and lattice wood panels.

Sliding or removable partitions may be provided, as well as roller blinds to be opened in good weather.

Other options for a summer kitchen can be formed on the basis of existing ones, for example, if the gazebo is glazed or have hinged windows, it can serve during the cold period, especially if the kitchen is equipped with a fireplace or stove.

Such options for summer kitchens in the country as a house are practically a full-fledged dwelling, so its construction requires more effort in comparison with the same gazebo. This will require a reliable foundation (preferably monolithic), walls, a reliable roof, and installation of windows and doors. But such a house will be multifunctional.

In addition to the kitchen, you can equip a cellar in it, then construction will need to begin with digging a pit, and the walls of the cellar will become the foundation for the above-ground part of the building. The house can be supplemented with a terrace or veranda, which in this case will serve as an outdoor living room with a dining area with a large table, chairs, benches, armchairs, and cooking will take place inside the house.

Summer kitchen with cooking equipment in the photo

A country summer kitchen must have cooking equipment. Typically, electric or gas stoves are used for everyday cooking, but some summer residents choose a more exotic option - a wood-burning stove, fireplace, barbecue or barbecue, which must be made of refractory bricks. And in this case, you should think in advance about the fire safety of the entire structure and a high-quality ventilation system. These types of fireplaces not only make the summer kitchen cozy, but also contribute to significant savings - while the wood is burning in the stove, not only is the food being prepared, but the room is also warming up. Well, talking about how tasty and healthy food cooked over an open fire and fresh air is completely unnecessary.

When planning to equip the kitchen with a fireplace, barbecue or barbecue, you must take into account that in this case the room should be as ventilated as possible. You can make such a focus temporary or permanent. For example, there are collapsible models of grills and barbecues, which with the onset of cold weather can be safely stored until the next summer season.

If you plan to build a summer kitchen in the form of a house, you can put a large stove made of refractory bricks in it - with various compartments and additional accessories.

Kitchen with bath in the photo

Recently, complex structures have become very popular, including, in addition to a summer kitchen, other country buildings, for example, a bathhouse, a terrace, a hunting lodge, etc. Depending on the wishes of the owners, the combination of such structural elements can be anything, and all of them are built on one common foundation. At the same time, the amount of materials required for the construction of structures is reduced, which allows significant savings during construction. For example, a common roof costs much less than the roofing of several separate buildings. There is also no need to lay many paths connecting various buildings on the site, since in this case all objects will be located in one place.

As a result, building an integral structure in many respects will be more profitable than constructing separate premises. In addition, a complex designed in the same style and built from compatible materials will look much more attractive in appearance than several separate structures built at different times and from different materials.

In this case, energy resources for heating are saved, and in general the organization of electrification, water supply and sewerage is simplified. Finally, construction will require less land than several buildings, and in general it will be much more convenient to move from one room to another if they are all under one roof.

There are several options for complex buildings. For example, one of them is a summer kitchen in the form of a house with a barbecue and a veranda, in which the owners can not only spend time pleasantly themselves, but also welcome guests. The house can be made into either one or two rooms, in which case the second room can be used as a guest room. Light, comfortable furniture can be placed on the veranda to have breakfast, lunch and even dinner in the summer, and during rain or cool weather the dining room can be moved inside the house. Naturally, the roof for the entire structure must be uniform.

Another option is a summer kitchen with barbecue and gazebo. In this case, you can also do everything under one roof. The gazebo can be open or glazed, and the summer kitchen can also be closed or open. The choice of the optimal option depends only on the owner’s imagination and his budget.

Another popular option is a summer kitchen with a stove and a sauna, which can be used not only in the summer, because both the kitchen and the sauna can be heated with a stove all year round. Often, all the charm of using a bathhouse can be felt in winter, when the temperature contrast in the bathhouse and outside is greatest, which causes an indescribable feeling.

Video: Summer kitchen options

A summer kitchen, be it a simple gazebo with a barbecue or a solid structure with a stove and communications, is an essential building on any site. After all, country life is unimaginable without barbecues, outdoor gatherings, and seasonal food preservation. In this material, we presented 11 tips, 70 photo ideas and several videos that will help you create your ideal summer kitchen.

What types of summer kitchens are there?

They can be divided into three types:

1. Outdoor (for example, barbecue gazebo, terrace or patio)- a simple frame building without insulation, often without walls (entirely/partially) or even a roof. Essentially, an open summer kitchen is a canopy or gazebo with a barbecue/stove and a dining area that can only be used in summer. It is good because it is comfortable to cook, eat, and communicate with guests on fine summer days. An open kitchen is easier, faster and more economical to build than a closed one. In winter, a summer building with a canopy can be used as a warehouse for storing household items. The disadvantages of an open kitchen include the limited period of use of the structure, as well as the lack of protection of furniture, appliances and kitchen inhabitants from insects, rain, wind and sun. For the winter, all furniture and equipment will have to be stored in a dry room.

Classic summer kitchen with barbecue and stove in the courtyard of a country house in the Moscow region

1. Closed (for example, grill house or veranda)– a permanent covered building/annex with insulation and glazing, sometimes even heated all year round. In fact, this is a real house, consisting of a kitchen and a dining room. A closed summer kitchen is good because you can cook and eat in it even in bad weather with rain and winds. Thanks to the walls and roof, such a house can be equipped with a full-fledged kitchen with a refrigerator, microwave, gas /electric stove , dishwasher, TV and other equipment. True, on warm days, cooking in a closed kitchen will be just as hot as in the main house. Also keep in mind that its construction will cost you more than an open-air structure.

1. Combined– this type of building combines open and indoor space under one roof. Also included in this category is a summer kitchen combined with a bathhouse. This kitchen is good for everyone and has only a couple of disadvantages - doubly complex design and an increased budget.

Now let's look at the characteristics of free-standing and attached kitchens:

• Freestanding- are good because they allow you to place the fireplace away from the house so that odors, smoke and noise do not penetrate the house. Building a detached summer kitchen makes sense if you have enough space on your property, if it has, say, a beautiful garden or pond, or if you want to decorate the area with a nice new building.
• Adjacent to the house– a terrace or veranda can become an excellent summer kitchen, because it is much easier and cheaper to build (one wall has already been erected) or refurbish, and it is very convenient to move between the house and the outbuilding. True, the disadvantage of a summer kitchen on the veranda/terrace is that smoke, heat, smell and fumes from the stove will enter the living spaces, and part of the kitchen will remain a walk-through area.

11 tips for building, arranging and designing a summer kitchen

No matter how thoughtful and beautiful your summer kitchen is, its poor location on the site can complicate both construction and further operation. Therefore, the location is the first thing you should think carefully about.

• From a practical point of view, it is more convenient when the summer kitchen is located close to the house. This makes it easier for dacha residents to move between objects, and installing utilities is cheaper, faster and easier. However, from an aesthetic point of view, a place near the “attractions” of the site that you can admire (for example, near a pond or garden) is better suited. The following factors are also bonuses: protection from the wind, privacy from the eyes of neighbors and proximity to trees that can shade the building and keep it cool on hot days.

Summer kitchen at the dacha by the pond

• Unsuitable places for a summer kitchen: near the road, garage, toilet, cesspools/compost pits, chicken coop and other places where unpleasant odors, noises, exhaust fumes, etc. may interfere with your relaxation.

Tip 2. Grill, barbecue, oven or oven complex? Solve this issue before developing/selecting a summer kitchen project

• If the stove is the heart of the city kitchen, then the grill, barbecue or oven can be called the heart of the country kitchen. Before you start designing, think about what type of fireplace you need: a grill, barbecue, oven or even a stove complex? Should the grill be stationary or portable? Coal or gas? With or without chimney? What size and location will the fire source be located? A lot depends on your choice - from the type of foundation to the shape of the roof. So, for example, to build a stove, you will have to take care not only of the foundation, chimney and cladding, but also provide a place in the project for storing firewood.

It will help you understand the features of different types of outdoor fireplaces.

Stationary gas grill built into a brick structure

Tip 3. Do you want to build a summer kitchen with your own hands quickly and on a budget? Build an open gazebo made of wood, with a light roof, without main walls and a stove

In this case, instead of a monolithic or pile-strip foundation, you can get by with a columnar foundation. The building itself will consist of 4 (or more) supports and a single-/double-slope roof with a light roof, for example, polycarbonate. This is a very simple design that you can actually build with your own hands in just a couple of days and with a minimal budget.

The following selection of photos presents design options for simple summer kitchens.

A simple summer kitchen at a dacha in the Moscow region

The easiest way to build a summer kitchen with your own hands is to use wood. True, larch or teak should be preferred over pine, as they are stronger and, moreover, age beautifully

Simple summer kitchen made of timber with a pitched roof

However, there is a way to make a summer kitchen with your own hands even faster and cheaper. Build a paver area, install one or two large garden umbrellas, arrange furniture, set up a sink and portable grill and start cooking!

On the one hand, a cellar in a summer kitchen is very useful, because it is as convenient to store food supplies in it as in a refrigerator. On the other hand, its creation significantly increases the cost and complexity of construction. Especially if we are talking about an open building, because then the cellar will have to be insulated and protected from leaks. Even in the main house you can do without a cellar and basement, let alone a summer kitchen.

Tip 5. The summer kitchen, the facade of the house and the landscape should be designed in a single manner

When choosing or developing a summer kitchen project, thinking through options for its finishing, keep in mind that it should be combined with the facade of the house and other buildings on the site. This way you will create a real dacha complex and achieve a feeling of orderliness. It is not necessary that it be a 100% match in color, decoration, architecture and style, but the objects must have something in common. The photo below shows an example of a modern summer kitchen on the terrace of a wooden house made of timber.

• The closer the summer kitchen is to the house, the more similar both buildings should be.
• If there is an object on the site that stands out from the “overall picture,” say, a hastily built bathhouse, then the design of the summer kitchen can be planned in such a way that it combines the features of both the bathhouse and the house. This way, some of the chaotic nature of the development will be corrected.

In an open kitchen, the floor can be covered with:

• A wooden board coated with oil or wax for exterior use (varnish is worse, as over time it will begin to crack and require re-coating).

Outdoor kitchen in the country with a floor made of larch deck boards coated with a matte glaze based on alkyd resins

• Terrace board (made of wood-polymer composite).

• Stone or special street tiles. True, such a floor requires a strong foundation and a large budget.

• By the way, we recommend avoiding too dark a floor, as crumbs, dirt and puddles of water will be especially noticeable on it.
• If the floor of the open kitchen has a slight slope (1-2 cm), rainwater that gets inside will drain on its own.

Tip 7. Follow the “working triangle” rule when planning your kitchen

In arranging kitchens, there is a so-called rule. “work triangle”, which means that three work areas (sink, stove and refrigerator) should be in reasonable proximity to each other, forming a triangle. Ideally it should be equilateral. Thanks to this layout of zones, the kitchen is as convenient as possible.

• In a summer kitchen, this rule is not always applicable in its pure form, because it can be too small , narrow, elongated, irregular in shape, instead of a stove, it most often uses a stove, grill or barbecue, and there may not be a refrigerator at all. However, try to get as close to the ideal as possible and do not line up your work areas in one line.

So, for example, if in your summer kitchen the source of fire is a barbecue and it is moved outside the kitchen, then the sink and food preparation area should be installed as close to the exit as possible.

• If the kitchen is small, then you can build the kitchen in an L-shape. For a narrow kitchen (for example, on a veranda), a two-row layout may be suitable. IN square shaped kitchen The U-shaped layout will fit most well.

If only a single-row layout is possible in your summer kitchen, then a compact mobile island/peninsula will help make it more convenient.

Tip 8. The dining area should be at least 2 m from the grill/stove

Ideally, the distance between the dining table and the barbecue/oven/grill should be approximately 3 m. In this case, smoke, heat and odors will not disturb vacationers, and wood chips, ash and sparks will not spoil the appearance of the dining area.

Tip 9: Use furniture that can withstand outdoor conditions

The kitchen set and dining furniture in the summer kitchen must withstand high humidity and temperature changes, so luxurious wooden furniture, furniture made of laminated chipboard/MDF, as well as furniture upholstered in fabric or leather should be abandoned.

But the following options are suitable for a summer kitchen:

• Veneered MDF furniture;
• Wooden garden furniture (folding structures are especially suitable, which can be easily moved to the storage room at the end of the summer season);
• Wrought iron outdoor furniture;
• Stainless steel furniture (if you do not want to remove the kitchen unit for the winter, choose stainless steel furniture);
• Wicker furniture made of natural wicker, rattan or plastic;
• Plastic furniture (eg, polycarbonate).

The photo below shows an example of the design of a summer kitchen-terrace with an all-season stainless steel set.

In this selection of photos you can see ideas for furnishing a summer dining room.

Summer residents often forget to pay enough attention to the lighting of the summer kitchen. But it is with its help that you can create real coziness and comfort.

• Ideally, artificial light in the evening should be soft, uniform and at different levels. To do this, the room should be illuminated not with one chandelier, but with several lamps: floor/pendant lanterns, wall sconces, spotlights, pendants, table lamps, floor lamps and/or garlands of light bulbs.
• With the help of light, you can divide the space into zones, such as the kitchen and dining room. This way, during evening meals, you will have the opportunity to hide the work area in the dark and illuminate only a beautiful table.

• To make it comfortable for you to cook in the evenings, install the lighting directly above the work area. If you limit yourself to a lamp installed behind it, your back will block the light while cooking.
• Metal, plastic, wooden and wicker lamps with additional protection from water are suitable for lighting an open summer kitchen. Ideally, these should be garden lamps.

• Around the summer kitchen and along the path you can install lanterns that run on solar batteries. They accumulate energy during the day and turn on automatically in the evening. True, they provide little light, and on cloudy days they don’t charge at all.

• With the help of hedges, pergolas or screens with climbing plants, you can make the summer kitchen more secluded and block the view of unsightly areas of the site.
• Decorative plantings, flower beds and bushes can mark the boundaries of zones, hide the foundation and simply decorate the summer kitchen and the general appearance of the area.