3-Season Rooms: From Unused Space to Fab Outdoor Kitchen

An empty covered area off this home's patio and pool was going to waste, but now it's a beautiful and functional outdoor kitchen. Interior designer Arlene Lord connected the new kitchen to an existing covered dining room, placing a bar in between them to serve both areas. While the family can use the room from midspring to mid-October already, planned new heaters will let them enjoy at least another month on each end of winter.

Room at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple whose grandchildren visit often
Location: West Linn, Oregon
Construction: BC Custom Construction
Size: 400 square feet

BEFORE: The space was just a blank covered area. The outdoor dining room with fireplace is beyond the wall on the left; the glass door leads into the house.


AFTER: This is the same wall we saw in the before photo; standing here, your back would be to the glass door. Structural work included pouring and scoring a new concrete floor, electrical and plumbing work, building the bar, adding a new cedar ceiling that ties in to the dining room ceiling and extensive venting for the new grill hood. The outdoor kitchen is equipped with an ice maker, a Kegerator, a refrigerator, stainless steel cabinets and a serious grill with a serious hood.

The structural post at the end of the bar is the same one in the before photo. It needed to stay where it was, so Lord had the countertop fabricated around it.

Stainless steel cabinets, grill and hood: Kalamazoo


The room balances clean lines and stainless steel with more traditional elements, like these iron pendant lights and zinc-framed mirrors, which emulate windows. The combination helps to brighten the room. "The husband is on the grill a lot, and the mirrors let him watch things and participate while he's facing the grill," Lord says.

Because of the winds in the area, Lord took the glass out of the lights and had a local lighting shop swap out the chains for rigid stems. Then the stems were powder coated to match the finish on the pendants.

Pendant lights: Lamps Plus; mirrors: Baroque Weathered Zinc, Restoration Hardware


Lord added countertops in Ceasarstone Lagos Blue, which continue up on the backsplash. She matched the height of the backsplash to the height of the closed grill top. "I wanted to keep the lines as clean as possible and also add a flame-resistant surface barrier."





"The dining area already existed but was disconnected from the rest of the patio," Lord says. Now the new kitchen and bar have made it a cohesive covered space adjacent to the patio and pool. The existing fireplace means they can use the room comfortably through most of October, and the heaters the family plans to add soon will extend that time through November.

Dining table, chairs: Restoration Hardware


The bar connects the dining area with its new outdoor kitchen and also serves as a buffet. Lord added the mirror across the room (at right) to reflect the pool and garden.

The countertops are 2½ inches thick and have mitered edges for a seamless look. "There are big, chunky elements in this room, so we needed a substantial edge to go with them," she says.


The Kegerator is always full of a local brew, like one by Widmer Brothers.

Inspired by an iron railing elsewhere on the property, Lord designed the gate you see in the background.


Because the covered rooms open to the pool, a locking gate was required between them and the garden for safety. Unlike the gate that previously covered this opening, this one allows for views to this beautiful garden from the outdoor rooms and the pool area. West-Meyer Fence custom made the gate.





The shelving is a baker's rack the client has had for years; it's starting to rust, but that just adds to its patinated style. Lord grabbed the terra-cotta pots from a closet and filled them with white candles. The arrangement has stayed the same ever since.


"The clients' daughter and grandchildren live nearby, and this is their summer hangout," Lord says. And now they'll be able to extend their time outside much longer.

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