Farmhouse Outdoor Living

With school out and nicer weather, 
we are spending more time outside
in our new outdoor living area.

This was last year's BIG (SUPER BIG) project.
It took longer to build than it did
to build our house!  It was worth the wait though.
Want to take a look?


This is the outdoor living area that I've always dreamed of!
It has lots of room to cook.


The stainless steel farmhouse sink
has a commercial faucet that really cleans up.
Across from the sink is a gas power burner
for crab & shrimp boils or anything else that needs lots of heat.
This area was also designed to be used for
processing meat chickens.  (This is a farm, after all!)


Before we built the kitchen, we bought our first Kamado Joe
ceramic charcoal oven. It wasn't long before we decided we wanted two of them.  We love cooking on these! Our favorite thing to make ~ 
"brick oven" pizza for a crowd.


Instead of a traditional gas grill, we opted for an EVO Mongolian grill.
This versatile stove top has the ability to cook everything
from pancakes & bacon, to onion burgers,
 to (yes, you guessed it) Mongolian stir fry. It's our go to grill for quick outdoor cooking.


All of the counter tops are concrete
with rough natural edges sealed and not stained
just like our concrete floors inside the house.

Shining from above are keyless light fixtures
with oversized bulbs also mirroring lighting inside the house.
These lovely lights are on a dimmer
to add just the right amount of glow for any occasion.


There is lots of room for friends and family
to gather around while the meals are being prepared
or to dig in when it's done.


And now we come to the fire pit.
We wanted a centerpiece.
Something that said "modern" & "farmhouse."
Form and function but not fancy.


We decided on concrete walls with the rough edges showing.
Then we topped it with sealed cedar.
We purposefully made the boards wide enough 
to place plates or glasses around them to double as a tabletop.
A long linear gas flame floats down the middle of the red
fire glass beads that match the farmhouse.
It's a true gathering place.



All of the patio furniture is from Berlin Gardens
and made from recycled milk carton material.  
The colorful chairs that we had out back before 
have been scattered around the farm
in the bee garden, in front of the tool shed, 
and in the flower garden.


Last stop on the tour is often our last stop in the evening ~
the hot tub.  We LOVE our Bullfrog Spa!
For our family, a spa just made sense.
Plus, it's helpful with my husband's back.
In the summer, we turn the heat off and it's a cool tub instead.  We
also added more speakers from our whole house sound system.


We had a vault built for the tub to sit in and put a sump pump in the bottom.  We felt like this would put the deck at a good seat height but not so close to the ground where we might be more likely to have snakes and other critters who want to swim.  The center section of the deck is one piece and is removable to access the inner workings of the hot tub and the sump pump.


Of course we wanted a privacy screen
and since we were used to having a shortcut to the backdoor
through here, we thought a disguised gate was in order.  The same barn door hardware that is inside our house was used here too.  Nothing fancy, just Tractor Supply stuff.


All together, we love our farmhouse outdoor living area
and hope to enjoy it for years to come.

Comments

  1. Beautiful and I expected nothing less. Your home is so warm and inviting. I might come for a visit. LOL!

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  2. Wow, very impressive. Certainly something to be proud of, a beautiful area.

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  3. Oh wow Kim very nice, it was so worth the wait.

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  4. Kim,

    OH MY WORD!!!!! Totally amazing and beautiful. All I can think is "outdoor canning"! :-) Okay, so can I just get it out there and admit that I'm super envious?! :-) In a good way. I love it. You did a fantastic job.

    - Dori -

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    Replies
    1. I had not even thought of canning out there! What a good idea. Thanks for the compliments! :)

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    2. It is perfect! A lot of thought went into that. You should be a backyard designer.

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  5. What a fabulous place to gather! Enjoy!

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  6. I'm pea green with envy! Can I just move in?!

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  7. Absolutely beautiful. I'm sure it gets a lot of use.:)

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  8. Kim! I haven't dropped by your blog in a few years and I am so glad to see your darling farmhouse looking so spiffy! Your boys are looking SO old and grown up...I feel like that happened way too fast! All the best to you and your wonderful family! Xoxo, Holly

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  9. Wow! That is amazing and worth the wait I'm sure!

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  10. Replies
    1. Thanks for checking in Carol. Life is changing with our boys growing up and moving out on our own. I just haven't decided whether I am taking a break from blogging or it's time to let it go.

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  11. I miss reading your blog! I check back weekly to see if you're back! I hope you decide to continue at least posting every once in awhile! - Jennifer

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  12. Do you have your floorplans posted? Or do you mind sharing the floorplan you used! I love everything about your house and outdoor areas! - Tona in Bama

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, we do not share or sell our floor plans. Here is a blog post as to why. http://redfarmhouse.blogspot.com/p/farmhouse-floorplan.html

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