Your're going to LOVE your home! PROJECT #4

In true spring fashion, we will talk about getting outside!

Project # 4:  Extend your living areas outdoors. Create an outdoor oasis!

by +Sarah Marrinan - Keller Williams Premier Realty 

The National Outdoor Kitchen and Fireplace Association pegs the average cost of an outdoor kitchen at $12,000 to $15,000 on average – so, if you can cut costs, find appliances on sale or do some of the work yourself, you might just be able to get one in your own backyard for the $10,000 price point.
Elaborate set ups sound like too much for your budget?  Even just a simple paver patio with a BBQ frill and umbrella table will create an extra living space to enjoy!

Outdoor kitchens can be as simple as a table and grill, or as complex as having wood-burning ovens, refrigerators and big-screen televisions.

Whatever route you go, the appliances are likely to be the single most expensive line-item of an outdoor kitchen. If you can tolerate the high-class problem of bringing your food from indoors, you can very cost-effectively create an outdoor living room complete with weather-proof furniture and lighting, in your backyard instead.

The major remodeling return-on-investment indices don’t track the return on outdoor living spaces, but experience tells me that well-executed outdoor kitchen and living rooms are both extremely fun to live with – and extremely desirable to the buyers to whom you will eventually be marketing your home.

Do you have a great outdoor space?  Please share a photo with us!


**Looking for tips on getting your home ready to sell?  Call me at 651-964-0289 for a personal consultation!
Sarah

How do you clean your grill?

Some people are really on their game and they thouroughly clean their grill before they store it away in the fall. Some people open it in the spring to find the whole previous summer's worth of "leftovers" to deal with.  Either way, it needs to get cleaned at some time!

But how?

Very basically, you want the grates to be clean. Once you have removed the debris from your carcoal grill or gas grill, the standard recommendation to clean your grates is to preheat your grill for 10-15 minutes before brushing them with a stainless steel bristle brush. This will clean off any excess debris that may have been left on your grill from prior cooking. 

The rest of your grill will need to be cleaned too... When your gas grill is cool, you can use the grill brush on your gas burner tubes and deflectors. The drip pan and deflectors can be removed and cleaned with warm soapy water (think dish soap - not bubble bath please!) and a non-scratch scouring pads.

For the exterior and inside the lid, most commonly just warm soapy water and a sponge or maybe window cleaner/stainless steel cleaner and a lint free cloth.

But there are always other creative ideas...  I have heard people soaking their grill grates in coffee, coke and countless other cleaning products. 

What has worked best for you?