Outdoor kitchen cabinets
The short answer
An outdoor kitchen cabinet is a waterproof box that holds a sink, a fridge or a gas bottle — and it has to survive being wet, not just being outside.
That single requirement rules out most of what is sold as a kitchen cabinet. Chipboard and MDF swell once water reaches the core. Timber moves. Plastic goes brittle in the sun. What is left is a small group of materials, and the choice between them comes down to how exposed your site is rather than which one is best in absolute terms. The cabinets on this page are 304 stainless steel over an aluminium honeycomb core, 900 mm high and 656 mm deep, in widths from 400 to 1182 mm, standing on levelling castors and bolted to each other.
Six ways to build one
What makes outdoor kitchen cabinets waterproof
Almost every failure we are asked about traces back to the carcass material, not the doors. Here is what each option does when it gets wet.
| Material | Cost | What happens when it gets wet | Where it makes sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melamine / MDF "indoor cabinet" |
Lowest | Swelling starts at the cut edges and screw holes. Board does not return to its original thickness after it dries, so doors stop closing squarely and hinges work loose. | Nowhere outdoors. Under a fully enclosed, permanently dry roof it will last a few seasons, but that is not a specification, it is luck. |
| Marine-grade ply waterproof glue line |
Low–mid | Holds together when wet, because the glue line is waterproof. The face veneer still lifts at exposed edges and needs sealing at every cut. | Covered alfresco, inland, budget-driven. Needs a repaint or reseal every few years. |
| PVC / plastic foamed or extruded |
Mid | Does not rot or absorb water. UV makes it chalk and go brittle, and it expands more than metal, so joints open and closes over a hot summer. | Rented or temporary setups, or a pool area where the units will be hosed constantly. |
| Aluminium powder-coated |
Mid | Will not rust. Dents at corners and the coating chips on impact; a chip on a salt-exposed site becomes a corrosion pit. | Coastal apartments where weight matters — a balcony with a load limit. |
| Concrete / masonry rendered or tiled |
Highest to build | Permanently unaffected by water. Not a cabinet, though — it is a structure, and it cannot be moved, re-plumbed or re-laid out. | Built-in kitchens on a slab, where the layout is already final and will never change. |
| 304 stainless over aluminium honeycomb |
Mid–high | No core to absorb water. The 0.45 mm skins are faced on both sides, so a spill inside the cabinet does not reach anything that can swell. | Coastal, uncovered, or anywhere the kitchen will still be there in ten years. 316 is the upgrade where salt spray actually reaches the panels. |
Why the range is built in modules
One height, one depth, twelve modules
A run of cabinets is a row of boxes that have to line up. If every box is a different height or depth, the joins are visible and the benchtop has to be scribed on site. Fixing two of the three dimensions turns the problem into simple addition.
Every cabinet in the range is 900 mm to the top of the body and 656 mm deep. Only the width changes, across twelve modules from 400 mm to 1182 mm. Two modules bolted together form a continuous face; add a third and it still reads as one piece of furniture rather than three boxes.
This is also what makes the benchtop straightforward. Because the height is constant, a single flat benchtop sits across the whole run without packers. Because the depth is constant — except the wide grill cabinet, which is 643 mm so its fascia sits back and a grill lid can open past the counter edge — the front edge is one straight line.
The consequence for you is that the footprint of your kitchen is simply the widths added up. A 2400 mm wall takes an 800 mm sink unit, an 800 mm gas unit and an 800 mm storage unit — that wall is then exactly filled, face to face. End panels are only needed where a side of the run is left exposed, and each one adds 18 mm, so allow for it when you measure. There is no custom carcass, no joinery on site, and no reason to wait for a drawing to be approved before the cabinets can be made.
- Castors, not a plinth
Each unit stands on 2.5 inch levelling castors. The castors do two jobs: they take up an uneven deck or paver without a packer, and they lift the carcass off the ground so water runs under it rather than into it. A fixed plinth traps debris and holds moisture against the bottom rail.
- Bolted, not built in
Modules bolt to each other at the side panels. That is the whole assembly. It means the run can be dismantled and re-laid out later — when a fridge is added, or when the kitchen moves house with you.
- Shipped assembled
Every module leaves the factory with its carcass built, doors hung, hinge holes drilled and its own castors fitted — the whole run is trial-assembled before it is packed. Nothing arrives needing to be put together. Assembled modules take more container space than flat packs, and that freight is already in your quote instead of being paid for in an evening with a screwdriver.
The range
Twelve outdoor kitchen cabinet modules
Everything in the range exists because a working kitchen needs it. The widths are fixed by tooling, so choose the module that suits the run rather than expecting a cabinet to be cut down.
| Code | Module | Width | Depth | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HW-01 | Sink cabinet | 800 | 656 | Sink, tap and waste; trap void behind the bowl |
| HW-02 | Double-door gas cabinet | 800 | 656 | Cylinder storage, vented at the base, up to a 10 L bottle |
| HW-03 | Grill cabinet, widest | 1182 | 643 | Widest module; opening cut to your grill, vented through the door |
| HW-04 | Double-door storage | 800 | 656 | Two doors, stainless shelf, adjustable |
| HW-05 | Drawer cabinet | 800 | 656 | Low drawer over doors; utensils, tools, grill accessories |
| HW-06 | Side burner cabinet | 800 | 656 | One side burner set into the worktop; the bay below is left open |
| HW-07 | Fridge cabinet | 900 | 656 | Bay for a built-in outdoor fridge, vented top and bottom |
| HW-08 | Corner cabinet, left | 1075 | 656 | Turns the run through 90°; false door on the left panel |
| HW-09 | Corner cabinet, right | 1075 | 656 | Same unit mirrored; false door on the right panel |
| HW-10 | Single-door storage | 400 / 450 / 500 | 656 | Narrow fill, one door and a shelf |
| HW-11 | Left sight panel | 656 | 18 | End panel for an exposed left-hand side |
| HW-12 | Right sight panel | 656 | 18 | End panel for an exposed right-hand side |
| — | Benchtop | to order | 676 | Either integrated 304 stainless or an outdoor quartz / porcelain slab |
Choosing by job
Start from what the kitchen has to do
Most people start from a photo and then discover the layout does not hold what they need. Start the other way round: list the jobs, then pick the modules.
The grill cabinet is the one module that is made to your appliance rather than to a standard. Send the model and we cut the opening and the vent to suit. If the grill is not chosen yet, that decision comes before the layout, not after.
Grill fitting and cut-outs 02 · Water Washing upA sink unit carries the bowl, the tap and the waste, with the trap void behind the bowl so the drawer space in front stays usable. Drainage has to fall, so the sink position is decided by where the waste can go, not by what looks balanced.
Sink cabinet 03 · Cold Drinks and cold storageAn outdoor fridge needs air. The cabinet is vented top and bottom so heat leaves the bay instead of building up behind the appliance — the single most common reason an outdoor fridge fails early.
Fridge cabinet 04 · Kit Tools and utensilsTongs, trays, foil, lighters, cleaning gear. A drawer at 450 mm deep over a pair of doors gives you the shallow storage that a shelf cannot, and keeps small items where you can see them.
Drawer cabinet 05 · Fuel Gas bottlesA gas cabinet holds a bottle up to 10 L, vented at the base so any leak falls out and disperses at ground level rather than collecting inside the cabinet. This venting is a safety requirement, not an optional extra.
Gas cabinet 06 · Shape Turning a cornerA corner unit is the most expensive module per usable litre, so use as few as the layout allows. On a small block, two straight runs meeting at one corner usually beats an L with two corners and a dead space between them.
Corner cabinetsFinish and hardware
What you touch every day, and what fails first
The steel is not what lets a kitchen down in year three. Hinges, runners and seals are. These are the decisions worth spending attention on.
Colour
Three standard finishes
The standard range is brushed natural stainless, space grey and white. Brushed natural hides fingerprints and fine scratches better than any coated finish, which is why it is the default on commercial and rental work. A custom colour is possible and carries a one-off colour-matching charge of CNY 5,000 per order, because the coating line has to be set up for a colour that is not already running.
Render
Render
Render
Benchtop
Two benchtops, two different problems
An integrated 304 stainless top is one continuous surface with the cabinets: no joint to leak, nothing to seal, and it takes a hot pan without marking. It also scratches, and it is loud when something metal lands on it.
An outdoor quartz or porcelain slab looks like an indoor kitchen and is quieter. It needs a substrate, the joints need sealing, and a dark colour in full sun gets genuinely hot to touch. Both are quoted as a separate line, so you can see what each one costs before choosing.
Hardware
Hardware on our outdoor kitchen cabinets
- Stainless hinges, not plated steel
A plated hinge on a coastal site shows rust at the knuckle within a season, and the rust runs down the door. All exposed hardware is stainless. Hardware carries the component supplier's warranty rather than ours, which is the honest position: we do not make hinges.
- Levelling castors, 2.5 inch
Every unit stands on castors with a levelling foot. This is what removes the need for a perfectly flat slab, and it lifts the carcass clear of standing water.
- Vented doors on gas and grill units
Any cabinet that holds a flame or a fuel bottle is vented — at the base on the gas unit, through the door face on the grill unit. Vents are cut at the factory, not drilled on site, so the edges stay sealed.
- Locks, if you ask early
Keyed locks are available on the door units. They need to be specified with the layout, because the lock body sits inside an 18 mm carcass and the door needs a matching cut-out. After production it is a replacement door, not a fitting.
Price
Five things move the number, and four of them are your choices
We do not publish a price list, because the same six modules can come out 40% apart depending on these five variables. What we can do is tell you what each one costs you.
- The grade of stainless
316 rather than 304 roughly doubles the material cost of the steel. On a coastal site that is usually worth it for the units nearest the spray, and unnecessary for the ones under cover. We quote both so you can see the difference rather than decide blind.
- How many modules the run needs
Cost tracks the module count almost linearly, because a run is genuinely a row of boxes. Two corners instead of one adds two modules plus the dead space between them — the most common place a budget goes wrong.
- Benchtop material and cut-outs
Integrated stainless and a porcelain slab are different products with different suppliers. Sink, tap and grill openings are cut in the top; each opening is a machining step, and a tap hole through 20 mm of slab is not the same job as one through 1 mm of steel.
- Grill-specific fabrication
A cut-out to a standard grill is straightforward. A cut-out to an appliance we have not built for before needs a drawing check and, sometimes, a prototype frame. Send the model early — it is the one variable that can add a week.
- Freight, which is quoted separately
Freight is third-party and depends on destination and volume, so it is quoted per order and is never included in the product price. A full kitchen flat-packs into a fraction of the volume of an assembled one, which is the main reason freight on a set is manageable at all.
Straight answers
The questions people ask before they commit
Including the one we get asked most: whether an indoor cabinet can be used outside.
Can you use indoor kitchen cabinets outside?
No, not for long. Standard indoor cabinets are particleboard or MDF with a melamine or veneer face. Chipboard swells once water reaches the core and does not return to its original thickness; the fixings then pull out of the swollen board and the doors stop closing squarely. A covered alfresco might get two or three seasons. The carcass has to be waterproof, not water-resistant — those are not the same claim.
Is 304 or 316 the right grade?
304 for most Australian homes, including covered alfresco and inland sites. 316 adds molybdenum, which resists chloride, so it is the safer choice within roughly a kilometre of the coast, on a boat, or where the cabinets will be washed down with pool or bore water. It costs roughly twice as much in material, so it is usually spent on the units that take the most spray rather than the whole run.
Do the cabinets need a roof?
Not to function. A roof changes the maintenance rather than the specification: covered units dry between rain events, so water sits for hours instead of days. Uncovered units need a top that falls to a drain or an edge, and the grill needs a cover that vents — a sealed cover traps condensation underneath and keeps the inside wet.
Do they need a concrete slab?
No. Each unit stands on levelling castors, so the surface has to be firm rather than perfectly flat. Decking, pavers, concrete and compacted gravel all work. What matters is that the castors do not sink: over mulch or loose sand, put a bearer under the run.
What is actually tested, and what is not?
The coating has been tested by a third party — report STD-20240413-017SC1, from an accredited laboratory — through 1500 hours of artificial weathering to GB/T 1865 and 1500 hours of salt spray to GB/T 1771, with no blistering, rust, cracking, chalking or colour change. That is a test of the coating system, not of a whole assembled cabinet in the sea. We state it that way because the difference matters.
How long is the lead time?
A made-to-order kitchen is 35–40 days, depending on complexity. If you are ordering unit cabinets only, from stock sizes, it is 20–25 days. Orders that include doors, end panels or a benchtop are quoted separately, because those three are made to order rather than held in stock.
What happens if something arrives damaged?
Every set is trial-assembled at the factory before dispatch, so a unit that is wrong does not leave. Damage that happens in transit is covered by the freight insurance: we send replacement parts first so the build can continue, then we claim against the carrier and the insurer. You are not asked to wait for that process to finish.
Can I see one before ordering a whole kitchen?
Yes. There is a sample cabinet programme: order one or two units, look at the panel, the edge, the hinge and the finish, then order the rest. Physical samples can be sent, charged according to what is sent, with the freight paid by you and credited against the order if you proceed.
Send us the space, the grill, and one photo
Three things is all we need to come back with a module combination and a layout: the wall length you have, the grill model you own or intend to buy, and a phone photo of the space. If you do not have the grill yet, tell us that instead — it changes the order we do things in.
Read next
Three pages that go deeper
The full grid plus the five readings to take before choosing a layout.
Open Grill fitting Will my grill fit?Send the model; we check the cut-out, the venting and the lid clearance.
Open Quality What is tested, what is notMaterials, the third-party report, and the claims we do not make.
OpenPage last updated · Reviewed by the BOGEQI technical team, Foshan Bogeqi Cabinetry Co., Ltd.
