At the height of summer, most of us love to enjoy time outside with our family and friends. It’s prime time for dips in the pool, lounging on a tanning chair, playing some catch, or tending to your vegetable & fruit garden. If you’re a self-proclaimed grill master and love to show off your culinary expertise, you most likely already have a pretty sweet BBQ setup of some sort. But have you ever dreamed of an outdoor kitchen?

Outdoor kitchens are starting to be one of the most trending outdoor entertainment. Do they provide the necessary grill that one needs to cook and prepare food — yes, but it doesn’t just stop there. In today’s market, you can have everything you would have access to in your kitchen inside, just on the other side of that screen door. From refrigerators to sinks, to pizza ovens, it’s all available.

Let’s take a look at some reasons why you need that dream outdoor kitchen in your own backyard:

Hostess With the Mostess

If you love to entertain and play host, then this is a great way to really impress your guests. Outdoor gatherings are a staple of summertime and nice weather – which in Houston, Texas, we get a lot more of. Imagine your guests walking out to see a cooking space and not just your regular standard grill. Custom outdoor kitchens can be designed to match the aesthetic of your outdoor space and keep consistency with materials and colors. Outdoor kitchens are an upgrade and feature that your guests will surely be talking about on their way home.

More Time to spend with your Family & Friends

Instead of spending your time inside chopping up veggies and sauteing the shrimp, you can be just as much a part of that fun conversation. Having an outdoor kitchen can keep you outside with everyone else, and you won’t have to feel like you are missing out on all the fun.

Bringing your indoor living space outdoor

Outdoor kitchens don’t have to stop at only being cooking equipment, they can also be a part of a hangout space. You can incorporate them into an already existing outside entertaining area, or design one with seating and an island or counter so that there’s room for people to be together and hang out, sit and eat, all while staying close to the action on the grill.

Keeping It Cool Indoor

Cooking needs heat, and heat is hot. By doing your cooking outside, you’re keeping your home’s indoor temperature much cooler, not to mention smoke and food-smell free. You might even find yourself saving a little on energy costs since your AC won’t be working as hard trying to lower the temperature when you’ve got the kitchen fired up. When you cook outside, the heat factor is much more easy-breezy, lemon squeezy.

Raise Your Property Value

This kind of brings it back to the “wow factor.” Buyers love to see a home that stands out from the rest, and having a built-in custom outdoor kitchen will definitely accomplish that. Since an outdoor kitchen extends the usable living space of a home, buyers will see it as an additional bonus and it will immediately increase the value and resale price of your home.

Now that you’ve pictured yourself with your favorite dad joke apron on, steaks set aside, swimming in the perfect weather, and your neighbor Paul posted up on a stool at the island counter, choppin’ it up while you grab a cold one from the built-in mini-fridge — what are you waiting for? Let’s start building your dream outdoor kitchen.