The Outdoor Kitchen Ideas Guide
- 7 days ago
- 7 min read
Inspirational Designs for Your Garden Kitchen
An outdoor kitchen is one of the most transformative additions you can make to your garden. When thoughtfully designed, it elevates an outdoor space into an extension of the home itself, a place for long lunches, evening drinks, open-air dining and effortless entertaining. Far beyond a simple barbecue setup, a beautifully crafted outdoor kitchen creates a refined living space that brings together cooking, conversation and connection outdoors. At its very best, it becomes the true heart of the home.
At Home of Huckleberry, we design and make bespoke solid oak garden kitchens by hand in the south-west of England. We ship to the UK, USA and beyond. Every kitchen we make is different, designed to order, handmade around your garden, your cooking style and your idea of what outdoor living should look like. In this guide, we share the ideas, questions and decisions that shape a great outdoor kitchen, from the materials and layout to the appliances and finishing details.
1. Start With the Materials
The material you build your outdoor kitchen from will define everything else: how it looks, how long it lasts, how much maintenance it needs and, most importantly, how it feels in your garden.
Why we use solid oak
Oak has been used for outdoor structures in Britain for centuries, and for good reason. It is exceptionally strong, naturally resistant to moisture, and contains tannins that protect it against fungi and act as a natural pesticide, without any chemical treatment.
Our garden kitchens are made from solid oak frames, properly glued and screwed together using traditional joinery: mortice and tenon joints, hardwood dominos, brass screws and butt hinges. We make our drawers the traditional side-slide way, no modern runners that corrode over time.
Crucially, oak needs no staining, bleaching or chemical preservatives to ready it for outdoor use. Over time it weathers gracefully to a natural silver-grey, like the gates of an old English churchyard. Each piece develops its own character: a patina that tells the story of summers well spent.
Caring for a Huckleberry garden kitchen is simple. Because oak is almost impermeable to liquid and air, a wipe down is all that is required as it ages. At the end of summer, clean with a pH-neutral product and a nylon brush, rinse, dry, and cover (with one of our winter covers) for winter. That is it.
A note on sustainability
We use FSC-sourced oak throughout. Any off-cuts and waste are biodegradable and repurposed: for pegs, braces, animal bedding or slow-burning fuel. We support Moor Trees, who plant a tree for every piece of Huckleberry furniture made, and collaborate with Woodland Heritage. We have also designed our production process around the latest CNC nesting technology, which minimises waste at source.
2. Classic or Contemporary?
The first design decision for most clients is style. At Huckleberry, every garden kitchen is available in two distinct aesthetics, and the choice comes down entirely to your garden and your taste.
Classic Garden Kitchens
Our Classic style draws on the traditions of English craftsmanship: beautiful proportions, brass hardware, panel details and a timeless silhouette that sits naturally in walled gardens, country houses and period settings. It is inspired by the Georgian cabinetry and 'below stairs' aesthetic that underpins our heritage kitchen work, the same design sensibility that has earned us coverage in Country Life, World of Interiors, The English Home, The English Garden and The Sunday Times.
Contemporary Garden Kitchens
Our Contemporary style offers a cleaner, more architectural look: handleless doors, sharper lines, and a modern aesthetic that works brilliantly alongside contemporary garden design. Still solid oak, still entirely handmade, but with a more minimal presence that lets the landscape take centre stage.
Both styles can be configured to any size and specification. The material and the craft are identical, only the detailing changes.
3. Designing Your Layout
A good outdoor kitchen layout works with your garden, not against it. Here are the configurations our clients most commonly choose, and the thinking behind each one:
Single run
The most straightforward option: the cabinetry is arranged in a single line, typically against a wall or fence. Ideal for smaller gardens or inside a pergola or garden building. Our 2200mm single-run kitchen, with a Beefeater grill or Big Green Egg and Dekton worktop starts from £20,995.00, plus UK delivery or shipping (to the USA, Europe or further afield).
L-shape
Two runs meeting at a right angle, creating a natural workflow between preparation, cooking and serving. Our 2200mm + 2200mm L-shape configurations are popular, particularly those with an overhang on one run that doubles as a breakfast bar or dining counter.
Island
A freestanding outdoor kitchen island brings a kitchen to the centre of a garden space. It is the most sociable layout: the cook faces outward, part of the gathering rather than turned away from it. Islands work best in larger gardens where there is room to move around them freely.
Freestanding
Because our furniture is freestanding, it can be arranged in many configurations, and taken with you if you move house. Worktops can span multiple cabinets for a seamless finish.
4. Choosing Your Appliances
The appliances you choose will shape how you cook outdoors more than anything else. We offer a carefully selected range of high-end outdoor kitchen appliances, all specified for outdoor use and chosen for their quality and longevity.
Beefeater gas BBQ grills
The 7000 Series offers serious grilling performance with the convenience of gas, available with a fixed gas supply or bottled gas. Ideal if you cook outdoors frequently and want speed and consistency.
Wolf BBQs
For the most demanding specifications, we can integrate Wolf barbecues, the benchmark for professional-grade outdoor cooking equipment.
Big Green Egg kamado BBQ
The Big Green Egg is a versatile kamado-style cooker, equally at home smoking brisket low and slow, baking sourdough, or searing a steak at high heat. A genuinely transformative piece of kit.
Gozney pizza ovens
Wood-fired pizza in your own garden. The Gozney range brings restaurant-quality results to an outdoor kitchen, and looks spectacular doing it.
Blastcool fridges & Sunstone Ice Chests
Outdoor-rated refrigeration keeps drinks cold and ingredients fresh without the trips back inside. Essential for a kitchen that is used seriously.
All our kitchens include a price that covers design concepts and detailed drawings, outdoor-rated appliances, solid oak handmade cabinetry, and delivery and installation to mainland UK, or shipping overseas.
5. Worktops: Why We Use Dekton
The countertop is the most-used surface in any kitchen. Outdoors, it needs to withstand sun, frost, heat from cooking and everything the climate can throw at it. This is why we specify Dekton as standard for our garden kitchens.
Dekton is an ultra-compact porcelain surface that is unaffected by UV light, frost or extreme heat. Unlike quartz, which can fade or crack in direct sunlight and high temperatures, Dekton's colour remains true year after year. It is also highly resistant to scratching and staining.
Alternatives such as granite or lava stone are available, and we are happy to discuss the merits of each for your specific project. We simply ask that you talk to us first, as not all materials perform equally well outdoors.
6. The Bespoke Difference
Every Huckleberry garden kitchen is made to order, we do not have stock in a warehouse or ask you to choose from a fixed catalogue. We listen to what you need, and design something that is beautiful and fits precisely.
Want a cabinet a little longer or shorter than our usual configurations? A different height to suit a specific worktop or seating arrangement? More drawers, fewer cupboards, a built-in sink in an unusual position? We can do all of it. We also design and make accompanying pieces: outdoor dining tables, benches, sideboards so that your garden has a coherent, considered look throughout: see our garden furniture.
Our design process begins with a consultation, usually by video call. We brainstorm together, sketch ideas, and present detailed drawings before anything is made. Lead time is typically around six weeks from drawings sign-off.
7. About Us
Home of Huckleberry is an independent design studio based in Somerset, led by founders Matt and Claire Podesta. We design with an expert eye – and a deep nod to our curiosity for art, architecture and British heritage design which shapes what we do. We are super-proud that we use the best timber and the best craftspeople who obsess over every detail. Our satisfaction comes from making something properly and sustainably, and of such quality that you know it is going to stand the test of time.
Multi-award-winning garden designer and author Pollyanna Wilkinson chose us to design and make the garden kitchen at her own home: a testament, we think, to what happens when the best in the industry trust their own garden to the same makers they recommend to clients.
8. Outdoor Kitchen Ideas: Configurations to Inspire You
To give you a sense of what is possible, here are some of the configurations and combinations our clients have built — ranging from compact single-unit kitchens to large multi-module setups.
9. How Much Does an Outdoor Kitchen Cost?
A Huckleberry garden kitchen is handmade in Britain from solid oak, with professional-grade appliances, designed and built to last decades. Our pricing reflects the quality of the materials and the skill of the makers.
A 2200mm Classic garden kitchen in character oak, including a Beefeater grill and Dekton worktop, starts from £20,995.00, plus UK delivery or shipping (to the USA, Europe or further afield). This includes design concepts and detailed drawings, outdoor-rated appliances, solid oak handmade cabinetry.
Larger configurations, additional appliances, bespoke dimensions and premium finishes will affect the final price. We are happy to provide a detailed estimate once we have discussed your project.
10. Delivery, Installation and International Shipping
We offer delivery and installation to mainland UK, with the cost included in your project estimate.
We regularly work with international clients, both trade and private, and routinely ship to the USA, EU and beyond. The design process is the same wherever you are: we communicate by email and video call, share detailed drawings for approval, and organise safe shipping through our shipping agent. We have installed kitchens in the USA and across Europe.
Ready to start your project?
Book a design consultation or get in touch to discuss your garden kitchen. Lead time is typically around 6 weeks from drawings sign-off.
team@homeofhuckleberry.com · +44 (0)1458 570110
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