Before and after: see how savvy couple created this beautiful outdoor kitchen and pergola for £150

The start of summer has many of us digging out our recliners and dusting off the barbecue, but if you fancy looking for outdoor kitchen ideas to take your alfresco dining one step further this year, then take a look at this homeowner’s DIY outdoor kitchen and pergola.

Having scoured Pinterest for some inspiration, Instagrammer Frances from @100yearsinthemaking decided to create her own stylish outdoor kitchen along with an overhead pergola. You’d be forgiven for assuming this nifty structure was a pricey bespoke buy, but incredibly Frances and her husband made it all themselves with materials they already had.

Before

What was once an unused space in the garden became a labour of love for the pair, who completed it during the first lockdown. ‘We both really enjoy DIY and have learnt a lot while we’ve been doing it,’ Frances says.

After

The couple loves to incorporate old and new, along with natural materials and made their outdoor kitchen mainly from items they already had lying around. For more advice on how to design an outdoor kitchen take a look at our guide.

‘We had the slats, door, and concrete slab, so that determined the size of the space in some ways,’ says Frances. ‘We also needed to fit our barbecue into the design, so we put it into position before we decided the size of that section.’ 

Using 4x4 and 3x2 posts for the structure, the couple used slats from an old shed, along with an existing tongue-and-groove door for the outside, which they painted with Bedec’s Barn paint in matt black. 

While the couple already had a barbecue, if you are in the market for a new one to take your outdoor kitchen to the next level explore our guide to the best BBQ.

The barbecue sits on top of a sturdy paving slab that was leftover from the couple’s pathway and have even made their own micro-cement recently for the worktops. 

‘It’s difficult to know exactly how much it cost us as a lot of the materials were cobbled together from bits we already had from other projects,’ says Frances. ‘The wood on its own cost about £150 in total, though.’

Overhead, the pergola frame offers an open canopy and the ideal spot to weave some bistro lights through for when the sun goes down. Read our festoon light ideas for more inspiration. 

Storage shelves for cooking utensils, pots of herbs and a built-in log store are all part of the finished design.

What do you think of this design and would it inspire you to incorporate an outdoor kitchen in your home?