Australians love their outdoor kitchens and with our beautiful sunny weather who can blame us? Whether you’re throwing a chilled Sunday afternoon barbecue or wanting to entertain guests in a completely decked out backyard kitchen, the outdoor kitchen island can help create a stylish and functional space for food preparation.
We’ve put together 14 great outdoor kitchen island ideas to suit any design preference, style, space and budget.
- Natural Stone Blocks
We love natural stones and incorporating stone blocks into your backyard kitchen design in the form of an island is an excellent idea. Natural stone doesn’t just look amazing and perfectly match a natural backyard aesthetic, it’s also inherently durable when exposed to the outdoor elements.
There’s plenty of opportunity to still customise your natural stone kitchen island in terms of tabletop and other incorporated features. More on that later on.
- Reclaimed Wood
Another way in which you can retain a natural aesthetic and design style in your outdoor kitchen is through reclaimed wood. There’s a lot to be said by using this building material. It’s an affordable and stylish option and of course gives previously used timber a new lease on life, making it a highly attractive environmentally-friendly option.
- Stainless Steel
Like your indoor kitchen, an outdoor kitchen island is bound to see it’s fair share of liquid, spills, food and even rain. A stainless steel island topped with a concrete countertop or steel from top to toe offers peace of mind with unrivalled durability and resistance to wear, tear, corrosion, staining and damage.
- Outdoor Splashbacks
If your outdoor kitchen island design includes a sink area, an outdoor splashback offers an opportunity to inject style, colour and personality to the space. There’s plenty of scope to customise a splashback as well. Stone tiled splashbacks can come in all sorts of shades and tones and the tiles themselves can be arrayed in a variety of patterns and styles.
- Waterfall Countertops
If you’re looking for big, bold outdoor kitchen island ideas you can make quite the statement by opting for a waterfall countertop. Popular indoors and outdoors, this impressive looking design turns your island benchtop into more than just a functional table. The flowing aesthetic is an impressive, sleek style of outdoor kitchen island you’ll be sure to love for many years.
- Multiple Tiers
A smart way to make the most use out of your outdoor kitchen island design is by incorporating multiple tiers. A two-or-more tiered island allows you to utilise space as a benchtop, introduce a bar-like area and make the most of both vertical and horizontal space.
When entertaining, it offers a perfect area for you to busy yourself with food prep while chatting to your visitors who are standing or–with the addition of outdoor bar stools–sitting at the island.
- Long, Curved Island
This outdoor kitchen island idea requires a bit of space but is an excellent solution if you’re wanting a ton of surface space to incorporate a food preparation area, dining room, a sink or two, grill and more.
A long curved island brings together the functionality of a stove (barbecue) top, kitchen benchtop, sink, and dining table. The curved shape is not just a nice little way to spice up the visual appeal of the island.
It means you can fit even more chairs or people around the island. Plus, if your backyard kitchen has a fire pit or some other central feature, you can effectively yet subtly highlight the centrepiece with a long, curved island running halfway around it.
- L-Shaped Island
There’s a minimalist quality to a stand-alone rectangular island and aesthetic and functional benefits to a long, curved kitchen island. Someway in between the two is a classic L-shaped kitchen island. You can easily fit in any extra features you want (think bar fridges, pizza ovens or an extra burner or two) with the additional space without having to sacrifice any of the space you need reserved for other essential activities.
- Built-In Barbecue
Built-in barbecues are very popular and there are a couple of ways in which you can incorporate a complete grill into your outdoor kitchen. If you’re tight on backyard space or find the thought of a self-contained kitchen island unit that can be completely closed up and shut off, you might want to consider putting your barbecue into the island itself. With some clever design and accompanied with smart storage solutions, it’s not necessary to compromise on too much of your food prep space either.
- Integrated Bar Fridge
What’s a luxury outdoor kitchen without an integrated bar fridge? Whether for easy access to an ice-cold beer or chilled bottle of white wine, or convenient storage for various cooking condiments and ingredients, an integrated bar fridge is an excellent idea for your kitchen island. Subtle and practical, it’s a must-have.
- Outdoor Kitchen Bar
Turning your outdoor kitchen island into a bar might not be suitable for everyone, especially if you have young kids, but there’s a really appealing quality to a long, thin, high kitchen island looking over a pool area or backyard. Set up with some bar stools and delicately accessorised, you can easily picture you and some friends relaxing like you’re on holiday while the barbecue or pizza cooks away behind you.
- Highlight With A Skylight
If your outdoor kitchen is situated under cover, be it a pergola, patio or permanent shade fixture, one way to bring out the shine in your kitchen island is by placing a skylight directly overhead. You get all of the benefits of natural sunlight without exposing you and your outdoor kitchen to the weather. When the sun’s overhead, the natural light filtering through will also help you enjoy extra strong visibility while preparing food on the bench.
- Strip Lighting
There are many ways to incorporate lighting in your outdoor kitchen. Some stylishly arranged strip lighting, LED or similar, placed considerately along, beneath or above your outdoor kitchen island will kill two birds with one stone: it will add practical lighting to the space and also look amazing, especially when entertaining at night. Many strip lights offer different colour options so you can adjust the colour based on the type of event you’re hosting.
- String Or Party Lights
An affordable way to bring some life as well as light to your outdoor kitchen island is through strung up party lights. Carefully hung above your kitchen island, much like the skylight, you’ll enjoy both the practical benefits of extra lighting (particularly necessary if your backyard isn’t well lit) and the ambient atmosphere that party lights can bring to an outdoor kitchen.
Let’s Talk About Your Backyard Kitchen Design
There you have it: 14 amazing outdoor kitchen island ideas to help inspire you. The Euro Marble team is always happy to chat about different ways you can improve your indoor or outdoor space. So why not contact us today and let’s talk about your outdoor kitchen design.
