Pros say outdoor kitchens are popular additions.
Outdoor living has come a long way since throwing a blanket down for a family picnic. Advances in exterior features have made al fresco relaxation as much a part of everyday life as spending time in your kitchen or living room — meaning you have more options than ever before to bring indoor comforts to the outdoors.
On top of that, we’ve all been staying home a lot more lately. That triggers inspiration to brighten up our backyards. But even as people regain a sense of normalcy, that interest in outdoor living isn’t slowing down this year. Here are six trends pros say are on the top of homeowners’ to-do lists in 2022.
1. Working from (an expanded) home
Once we got over the shock of having all our meetings in “Brady Bunch”-style Zoom boxes, work-from-homers started carving out unique spaces for themselves, including plenty of patios-turned-workstations. Outdoor pavilions with shade structures create ideal havens for working outdoors. (You may want to invest in a Wi-Fi extender while you’re at it.)
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2. Bringing the indoors out
Outdoor offices are only the beginning. You can replicate indoor amenities in an open-air environment with the right design. For example, retaining walls, fire pits and seating create permanent outdoor entertaining areas. With enough overhead protection, you can build an outdoor kitchen that rivals anything you’ll see indoors. Pros say hardscapes and outdoor living areas are here to stay.
3. Building creative hardscapes
If you’ve ever watched a kid play with building blocks, you know they can create countless combinations from a few essential pieces. The same goes for building outdoors with bricks and pavers — the options are limited only by imagination and budget. Homeowners are investing in retaining walls, steps, and structures to enhance their lawns, and pros say they’re seeing more and more creative designs develop.
4. Following winding paths
If your yard sees a lot of activity without many built-in pathways, foot traffic will create them for you — and they won’t be pretty. You can add structure to your yard (and get rid of unsightly lines of trampled grass) by building walkways that guide people through the space and define connections around the yard.
But that much hardscaping can cut into the budget for that dreamy hot tub or must-have pergola. Luckily, you can get as many pathways as a “Pac-Man” game screen at a fraction of the cost by using alternatives such as gravel, mulch, or stepping stones.
5. Installing hassle-free water features
Nothing instills luxury and a sense of outdoor calm like a sparkling fountain. However, a koi pond or extensive water feature adds both cost and ongoing. Instead, pros suggest low-intensity water features that don’t take much work after installation.
Ask for a pond-less system, which filters the water and holds it underground, so there’s no standing water.
6. Wiring the yard
Who says electrical, heating and gas are only for indoors? By bringing a home’s interior perks to the exterior, you can boost your comfort and use your space later in the evenings and deeper into cold weather. Heaters and extra outdoor lighting can extend your social time later into the evenings, and TVs mounted into safe outdoor spaces with overhead covers can help entertain.
Get your grill ready for summer barbecues: A guide to cleaning it
For the grill of it
Nothing tastes quite as good as vegetables and meat cooked over an open-propane flame or the red-hot briquettes of a barbecue grill.
But achieving the perfect sear on your food requires more than just paying attention to the heat source and temperature. Having a clean grill reduces annoying flare-ups, allowing you to have more success when grilling.
Grills with bits of leftover food stuck to the grates or with grease and food bits in the lower section of the grill can reduce the longevity of the grill and can affect the taste of the food you are grilling. Here’s a guide to cleaning your grill to get it ready for summer:
Cleaning your grill’s grates
Any cleaning process with a barbecue grill should start by cleaning the grates (the surface where the food sits while cooking).
Just be sure to allow the grill and grates to cool down for an hour or more before starting the cleaning process, because you may need to touch the parts of the grill.
Grates collect food particles and grease over time. As you cook, leaving the particles in place, they will burn to a black residue, some of which will remain stuck to the grates and some of which will stick to the food that you cook in the future.
Fortunately, cleaning the grates is not as difficult as it sounds.
Scraping and brushing the grates
Use a tool to scrape food particles off the grates on the grill to start the cleaning process.
If you haven’t cleaned the grates for a while, a scraper tool is the best option. The scraper should have notches in it to match the size and shape of your grates. Metal scraper tools usually work best, although some people prefer wood scraper tools.
After scraping the majority of the grime off the grates, then use a brush for a finer cleaning process. There are three primary designs in grill-cleaning brushes:
- Metal bristles: A metal bristle grill brush will give you the most thorough cleaning, as the metal bristles are stiff and durable. However, metal bristles may pop loose from the brush and stick to the grates, meaning they could end up on food, creating a serious health hazard if someone ingests a bristle.
- Nylon bristles: A nylon bristle grill brush will be safer to use on the grill, especially one with light-colored bristles that are easy to see if they stick to the grates. However, nylon bristles don’t quite remove food as effectively as metal bristles.
- Bristle-free: Some people prefer a bristle-free grill brush to eliminate the possibility of loose bristles ending up in food. These work more like scraper tools, but they are a little easier to use for general cleaning over a larger space than the scraper covers.
Add gentle dish soap and warm water to the grates before using the brushes. After removing the particles of food with the brushes, you may want to use a paper towel soaked in warm water and dish soap to finish wiping down the grates.
Cleaning grill’s grates after each use
To simplify the process of thoroughly cleaning the grates a few times per year, you will want to quickly clean the grates after each use. You can perform this cleaning step while the grates on the grill are still warm.
Apply a degreaser spray to the grates first. Then use a grill-cleaning brick, scrubbing back and forth across the grates to remove the loose food particles stuck to the grates.
After cleaning, apply warm water to the grates, and scrub again with the clean side of the brick.
Cleaning the interior
You’ll want to clean out the interior section of the grill, as well, removing bits of food and grease that fall into the bowl of the grill to prevent flare-ups.
Cleaning a gas-grill interior
The burners inside the gas grill eventually may become covered in grime, so you should run a brush over them to pop grime out of the holes where the flame appears.
If the burners have a flame shield over them to distribute heat, you should be able to pull the shields out and wash them separately with dish soap.
Scrape the interior of the grill to loosen and remove any buildup of grime and food particles.
Cleaning a charcoal-grill interior
Clean the ash and remaining briquettes out of the bowl of the charcoal grill after every one to three uses. If you can tip the grill to pour out the ash, this is the best method.
Scrape the interior of the grill bowl to loosen and clean out any remaining residue. You can use mild dish soap with warm water or a degreasing spray to finish cleaning the interior of the grill.
Cleaning the exterior
The exterior of the grill will not become as grimy and soiled as the interior of the grill, but you will want to give it a quick cleaning a few times a year. Just use a bit of degreaser spray or dish soap and a sponge to wipe down the exterior of the grill.
Heat up the grill after cleaning
After giving the grill a thorough cleaning, you will want to run the heat on a gas grill for at least 10 minutes to burn off any residue that remains from the cleaning process.
For a charcoal grill, you will want to allow the lit briquettes to thoroughly heat the interior of the grill before adding the food the next time you use it. In other words, wait a few minutes longer than normal after the briquettes heat up before placing food on the grates.
Preventive cleaning tips
To keep your grill clean year-round, which will lengthen its lifespan, try these suggestions:
- Store the grill inside a garage or shed to keep it out of the elements, especially in the winter.
- Use a water-resistant grill cover that protects the entire unit, draping nearly all the way to the ground.
- Use a grill mat over the top of the grates on the grill, especially when cooking messy food, which keeps the grates from accumulating grease and bits of food.
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