If the trend has been for kitchens to extend into living areas, then doesn't it follow suit that outdoor spaces are morphing into kitchens?

According to Hanley-Wood's CustomHomeOnline, one of the most popular new trends for custom homebuyers is to make big plans for outdoor entertainment.

People are looking at outdoor spaces differently and want to turn them into something they can use year-round -- no longer the little barbecue that Dad used to roll out from the garage on the first warm spring day. Outdoor kitchens, complete with built in BBQs, sinks, cook tops, refrigerators and cabinetry have become all the rage.

Backyards, side yards and (where space is limited) even enclosed front courtyards are seeing fully furnished living spaces in areas previously relegated to a patio chairs, dog runs or swing sets.

In a recent analysis by the HPBA -- Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association -- this trend for outdoor kitchens is being perpetuated by a number of factors, not the least of which is the statistic that nearly 60 percent of all grill owners now cook outdoors year round (70 percent for gas grill owners).

To accommodate them, manufacturers who supply the barbecue hardware industry are offering increasingly higher quality, all-weather outdoor cooking appliances for both primary and the vastly popular vacation home markets. Couple that with the idea that a lot of existing homeowners are choosing to stay put for a while during this real estate market shakeout, and you've also got a remodeling explosion of outdoor kitchen additions!

Weber, a name in grilling known to even the apartment dwellers among us, recently asked homeowners what their "dream grill" would be. The overwhelming response was that it be self-cleaning and have side burners. Sure doesn't sound like the little dome-shaped grill with charcoal briquettes from the 1960s, does it?

Today's built-in deluxe grilling systems go even further and are outfitted with extras like storage and warming drawers, smoking systems, wok elements, infrared rotisserie burners and Teflon coated catch pans for easy clean-up.

Outdoor kitchens can include beer taps, patio heaters, halogen lighting, gas ovens, and gourmet bar and entertainment centers.

Who knows? With as sophisticated as some outdoor living spaces are becoming, we wouldn't be surprised if someday real estate appraisers began counting outdoor kitchens as a part of a home's overall square footage!

But if all this talk of food and the outdoors doesn't either make you hungry or give you a touch of spring fever, then we don't know what would.

Published: February 12, 2008

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A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.