The shiny world of kitchen design is full of temptations. But are each of those high-end kitchen accessories worth their exorbitant costs? Probably not, unless you’re going to get a lot of use out of those pot fillers, in-counter wine chillers, and other single-purpose gadgets of dubious repute. Giving into their lure is actually one of the biggest mistakes you can avoid when setting up a new kitchen.
Rachel Blindauer, principal interior designer at Rachel Blindauer, previously told Chowhound that you need to pause and ask yourself “does this support how I live?” This applies whether you’re putting your kitchen back together after a reorganizing project, moving into a new home, or planning a renovation. It means, in the latter cases, you can relieve yourself of some seldom used items, including those made-for-TV appliances collecting dust. Unless you’re filling pasta pots with water multiple times a day or gathering ’round the kitchen island for happy hour every night, you can allocate your time, money, and space to more useful upgrades.
Common sense answers to an overlooked question
Does designing your kitchen to support how you live mean that delivery platform devotees can skip an oven in favor of a takeout package unwrapping station? On the one hand, it’s your dime. On the other, no, obviously not. Instead, it means you can keep the rosé bottles in the refrigerator and skip the weird well of supposedly cool convenience if you only drink from time to time. Admiring design novelties does not equate to needing them in your own life. A lot of those razzle-dazzle details that make the social media rounds, or even show up in glossy magazines, can actually start to seem pretty dated, pretty fast. Details you actually use are timeless.
On the flip side, if you know your household produces tons of organic scraps for compost, needs an extra-roomy pantry, or simply thrives on the bright coziness that only a breakfast nook can provide, then prioritize a design that supports those behaviors and preferences. For most folks, the kitchen is a work space. It should be an area that actually works for you, not one you have to work around.
