Bring the outdoors into your kitchen

First off, when intending to bring the outdoors into your kitchen, it’s best if you can do so by incorporating it structurally. If you have a door that opens off the kitchen to the outside, this is a good place to start. Through creating easy access to the outdoors with the door, you will already make it much easier for you and your family to enjoy the surrounding landscape. Not only will the right doors make it easier to go outside more often, but also they will allow you the option of opening them on nice days for greater air circulation. 

If you’d like to know which kinds of doors would work best for this purpose, sliding doors are always a good option. For one, as long as they are in good condition, they are easy to open and close allowing for greater accessibility. More than this, sliding doors are usually made of large pieces of glass encased in a frame. Therefore, they permit more expansive views and draw in more sunlight that other kinds of doors.

To really go all-out with the doors, try going bifold. Bifold doors are easy to use like sliding doors are because they operate on a similar premise. Largely comprised of glass, they open and shut by running on a frame. Due to the large amount of glass used in their structure, bifold doors also allow lots of light to radiate inward. What makes these doors unique is that they can allow you to completely remove the barrier between your kitchen and the outdoors. Unlike sliding doors, bifold doors contract completely to expose the yard outside. These doors are ideal for those living places where the climate is pleasant all year round. This way, you’ll be most likely to open the doors completely more often. It may also be a good idea to combine bifold doors on one wall with another style door on an adjacent one so that quick trips in and out don’t require you to open up the entire thing.

If you’d like to add a stylistic element to your doors, try opting for French doors or windows. This is a classic look usually involving 2 hinged doors or windows surrounded by windows on the sides and above. Because of their large dimensions, usually spanning almost from floor to ceiling in height, they can help to create a thinner barrier between indoors and the yard outside. For this reason, they are often used to connect the interior to a garden, patio, or balcony. When the weather is nice you can leave these pretty doors ajar to allow guests to roam freely between the kitchen and outdoor spaces making them ideal doors for those who enjoy outdoor entertaining. If the classic look isn’t for you, consider choosing French doors with less conventional frames. Black metallic frames like the ones featured in this kitchen by Russell Taylor Architects, depict the versatility of this style.

As noted above, creating visual continuity between in and outdoors can help to accentuate the presence of nature in your home. Doing so with large windows and doors is one way to create such continuity. Another way to fully maximise this sense of continuity is with the type of flooring you choose to use in each area. This tip mostly goes for those who have an outdoor patio that extends from the kitchen. We certainly wouldn’t expect you to start growing grass as carpeting in your kitchen! To get an idea of how you might be able to do this, check out this phenomenal example. The kitchen already has elements of nature incorporated inside like the smooth rocks located on the ground. Further, the wood panelling the surrounds the rocks on the inside looks as if it extends through the glass doors to the outside. By playing with the visual appearance of the spaces, incorporating natural materials into your kitchen, and choosing similar shapes and textures, you can begin to add continuity through the right flooring choices.

Another way you can get clever with your efforts to bring the outdoors into your kitchen is by being savvy with your furnishings and décor. Not everyone necessarily has the means to take major efforts like installing a new door or adding more windows to their kitchens. If this sounds like you, no need to worry. Making mindful choices with your interior designs can go a long way. Centring the kitchen furnishings around the largest window in your kitchen is a good start. For example, the countertops and workspaces in this kitchen are oriented toward the large window. In this way, putting emphasis on the windows you have will cause you to take notice of the outdoors more often. Next, look at the colour scheme of your kitchen. This kitchen is accented in a springy green that closely matches the outdoor foliage to magnify its presence. Alternatively, you could call attention to the outdoor scenery by doing your kitchen in a contrasting colour such as red.

Finally, adding some plants into the look will bring the presence of nature most tangibly into the kitchen. You can use this technique in tandem with other tips on this list, or you can incorporate plants as an alternative to some of the more drastic measures. One extra benefit of bringing plants in the kitchen is that you can change them to match the seasons or to fit your own unique preferences. You can even take the plants directly from your garden to heighten the continuity between the kitchen and your yard. Plants will help purify the air and bring vivacity to the atmosphere. They make for lovely decorations and create harmony within the space.

If you found this guide useful, check out this house that is one with the outdoors. Happy decorating!