Does your home have an outdoor kitchen? If so, it looks like you might have gotten in on the ground floor of a trend that's gaining serious momentum across the country. The latest American Institute of Architects Home Design Trends Survey on kitchens found that the gap between the number of respondents who reported that the feature's popularity has increased vs decreased in the last year was +49%, the largest gap among any of the surveyed kitchen features. In other words, the strong majority of architects believe that the feature is becoming more popular. Not only is there agreement that outdoor kitchens are gaining popularity, but also the trend appears to be accelerating, gaining 4 percentage points compared to last year's survey.
Although your first thought might be that this trend is only happening in areas with a warm climate, the truth is that outdoor kitchens are gaining steam all across the country. Mitch Slater, founder and CEO of Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens and Brown Jordan Outdoor Kitchens, says that “California is first, but the second largest territory for us is from Boston down to Washington, D.C.”. Indeed, his company's Outdoor Living Report for 2019 found that the feature is increasing in popularity across all regions and has done so for several years.
Cleveland-based research company The Freedonia Group backs up the idea that the outdoor kitchen trend is still on the upswing, projecting that demand for hardscape products will increase 5.4% annually through 2023. This trend is driven by the desire of consumers to create "outdoor living spaces" for their homes, including outdoor kitchens.
The reasons and evidence for the growth of outdoor kitchens as a must-have home feature are detailed in this excellent article from Builderonline.com. They believe that the desire for outdoor appliances is expanding beyond the classic grill and will increasingly include items such as pizza ovens, smokers, undercounter refrigerators, and wine refrigerators.
In summary, if you're making plans for a major home renovation, consider adding "outdoor kitchen" to your wish list!
