An outdoor kitchen is a wonderful way to make the backyard a more appealing place to entertain. Why spend your parties stuck inside, preparing food in your regular kitchen, when you can be outside, chatting with your guests, serving drinks, grilling hamburgers, and even making pizzas without ever leaving the part? If you have a backyard swimming pool or spa, an outdoor kitchen is a perfect addition. And if you're thinking about selling your home one day, a well-built backyard entertaining area can only increase the value of your home. Today, dedicated outdoor living spaces are growing more and more popular with homeowners (and more potential home buyers are putting them on their want lists).

There are all sorts of features you can build into an outdoor kitchen. Examples include fire pits, pizza ovens, refrigerators, ice makers, granite countertops, deluxe gas barbecues, trash compacters, wok burners, and gas or electric stoves. Basically, anything you can do indoors you can do outdoors these days. The only limits are your creativity and your budget.

Before you run down to the home improvement store and charge up a big order, stop to think about what you want in your outdoor kitchen. Here are some of the questions you should ask while you're still in the planning stages:

--Do you want to be able to cook complete meals, or will a charcoal or gas barbecue suffice?

--Is your food preparation area going to include a sink? If so, you'll have to run a water line to your outdoor kitchen.

--Do you want a refrigerator, ice maker, or other appliances that will require electricity be run to them? Are you prepared to hire an electrician to handle the wiring?

--Do you like to smoke meat or dehydrate jerky? Rotisserie ovens, dehydrators, and meat smokers are good choices for outdoor kitchens, since the long cook times can make the smells overpowering indoors. Outdoors, no one is going to mind.

--Do you want to entertain right by the house or would a detached island be better, perhaps as a poolside bar? Take note that the farther away your outdoor kitchen is from existing electrical and water lines, the more expensive it will be to install.

--What's the climate like where you live? Will you need to have a roof over your kitchen? If you don't want to install a roof, you'll need to order special waterproof appliances, which can cost more.

--Where do the prevailing winds come from in your yard? You don't want to have your food and wrappers being blown away all the time. If possible, maybe you can build up a wall or use an existing wall to protect the area.

As you can see, there are quite a few things to consider. Outdoor kitchens can be simple or very complex. Either way, a well thought outdoor kitchen can be a wonderful addition to a home.

Hopefully, these questions have given you an idea of some of the decisions you should make before you actually start spending money on your new kitchen. As with all home improvement projects, it's a good idea to spend a lot of time planning before you actually break ground.