Merbau feature wall with vertical garden

[weekenddiyer]

I just finished off a spring project, getting ready for the warmer weather in the coming months.

We have a water tank at the end of our back deck where we put our BBQ, I didn't find it unsightly, however I thought we could do something more with this space. 

I was keen to have some extra storage, bench space for barbecuing and ideally a sink to wash hands etc.

I made the frame slightly higher than the water tank so that we wouldn't see it when finished.  I also left a spot to include a vertical garden in the middle of the wall.

With merbau decking installed, it started to take shape, and just a ply backing where the garden will go as you won't see it. 

And here's the final product...

I considered building an outdoor kitchen cabinetry, however I saw some IKEA outdoor cupboards and thought for the price they weren't bad and would save me a lot of time.  I opted for the ones with the stainless steel top, and then did a hack by cutting a hole for the sink and tap (also from IKEA). 

I also added some deck lighting to the Un-real Boston Fern vertical garden which I was pretty impressed at how easy it was to work with, cutting it to size for the recess in the wall. 

Getting Bunnings to cut the merbau to size for me saved a lot of time and gave me cleaner cuts than I would have been able to achieve.

I'm planning on getting a new Family Weber Q (3200) with a new stand to replace our Weber Baby Q and rickety stand which has seen better days.  (The Baby Q will then be used as our portable / picnic BBQ).

Hopefully this helps with some inspiration for a quick and easy outdoor kitchen area.  I built this over a weekend, so it's pretty achievable, even for a newbie DIYer like me.  Feel free to ask any questions.

[ProjectPete]

Great work @weekenddiyer and I like how you opted for the IKEA cabinetry/hacks. Sometimes the times/cost/effort just isn't worth building from scratch (as rewarding as it always is). Keep it up!

[christo1]

Hey mate have you got any sort of plans for these i would love to build this at my new apartment .. kind regards .. and what costs would I be looking at .. maybe a materials list if you have the time 

[Jason]

Welcome to Workshop @christo1. We're pleased you could join us and trust that you'll get loads of inspiration from our clever and creative community members, as well as plenty of helpful info and advice. 

Let me tag @weekenddiyer so he is alerted to your question about whether he has any plans he could share and an idea of cost. Otherwise, if you'd like to create a new discussion and share some photos of your area, I'm sure members would be happy to assist with creating some plans of your own. 

Thanks,

Jason

[weekenddiyer]

Hey @christo1. Happy to share the chicken scratch plans I did if you can make sense of them.  To be honest the photos in the post would be more helpful.  It's a simple frame made out of 35x70 treated pine (for outdoor use).  I used marine grade plywood for the backing of the recess and gave me something to secure the artificial garden wall to.  Then covered the frame in 140mm Merbau decking.  The deck lights I linked in the post, I also used an outdoor weatherproof box by ARLEC to store the smart switch and powerboard in out of the weather.

The cost of the wall (including framing, decking, artificial garden, lighting, plumbing for sink) was $950. But this also included about $40 of bits I needed like countersink bit for the drill, blade for the jigsaw to cut-through stainless steel, you might be able to save here if you have these things.

The stuff from IKEA (2x cabinets, sink, tap) was about $600. 

So all in around $1500 for the set up.

Best of luck with your project!

[Itai]

Hey @weekenddiyer 

Great looking feature piece. I'm looking to do something similar in future (incl. Building a deck and patio).

Is that window on the left the main entrance of light into the living area? If so, how does the patio affect it?

What are the dimensions of your patio / deck. And what's the distance from the end of your deck to the wall on the right.

Also, do you know the height of the patio roof at the house, and then at the other end of the upward slope?

Thanks

Itai

[weekenddiyer]

Hi @Itai 

Thanks for your feedback.

The window on the left is actually a large 6-stacker sliding doors that is about 6m long that runs the width of the deck.  It's one of the main sources of light, however there is also a set of windows above it that are positioned above the roof of the deck area, so the living room still receives full light without the deck roof being an issue.  Building the merbau wall didn't affect light coming in really as there was a water tank behind the wall already which would have blocked any late afternoon light coming in from that side.

The deck area is about 7m wide by 3m deep.  The wall sits right on one end of the deck.

The height of the roof is about 2.1m at the house end and 2.5m at the end furthest from the house.

Best of luck with your project.

[Itai]

Thanks for the response @weekenddiyer 

Sounds like a pretty awesome Setup!

On my side, we will have a 1.8m door ... probably sliding, not sure it's worth putting bifold in a 1.8m space. Maybe?

We also have another 1.8m window right next to that which we want to convert to a serving window.

My concern is the door and window are the main entrance of light and sun to the Kitchen / Dining area, and are North facing. We have a fence around 3.5m from the window, and looking to put in a 3 x 6m deck with a 3x4m or 3x6m patio, with a 2.4m height. And the boundary fence is 1.9m high. I'm just worried that if I put a roof over, there won't be enough light. We could go clear corrugated plastic, but that's usually an eyesore

Was actually think of using this semi-permanent gazebo structure from bunnings, which has a louvre roof built in so we can allow light through ... if only it was electric!

https://www.bunnings.com.au/mimosa-3-x-4m-white-portsea-louvre-semi-permanent-gazebo_p0124008

We will install that to the floor, so that it is 2.4m high (the overhang of the roof is only 2.45m). And then build the deck around it, but that means we'll probably lose a good 20-30cm under it from a standing height perspective. So need to look into that!

Regards

Itai

[weekenddiyer]

Sounds great @Itai ! If you could go bi-fold with the space it will make it feel more open I guess. Not sure how they compare with stackers in price.

yeah I hear what you’re saying. I guess also you might want to extra shade from the north facing sun when you’re out there in summer too, saves letting even more heat into your living room / kitchen. I reckon you’re into something with the louvres. Electric would be amazing but i reckon would add a lot to the cost also. Just think about how often you’ll use it and whether it’s worth it (it might be, or might not). I put electric roller blinds along the 6m back window (3 of them that all sync up on one remote). My wife said it was a waste of money at the time and then said to me last week she’s so glad I talked her into getting them, she couldn’t imagine pulling the cords up and down twice a day for each of the 3 blinds. It was well worth the $400 or something difference.

[Itai]

Interesting about the roller blinds. The house actually has external aluminimum roller shutters throughout ... though upgrading the 1.8m window to a door and the other 1.8m to serving means I will need to remove the roller shutters. Good point about the heat of the sun though, never thought of that!

[Jay8]

Hi, love the merbau wall but also love the cabinetry. We have a single fridge which we would love to encase or put next to something like what you have there. Can you buy that anywhere?