Treat Yo’Self Oven Mitt
Granted, nobody needs a Dutch-made 100 percent full-grain leather oven mitt in an exquisite color. But if you have a sourdough hobby, a regular pizza night, or a grilling habit, you could make a strong case that this high-performing mitt is essential. The rest of us will find our justification in its heirloom quality and stunning good looks.
Hold-Anything Cart
Plant habitat, roving home office, wide-open pantry, bar. This copper-plated rolling cart is whatever you need it to be, making it a must in the hardest-working room in the house. Unlike a lot of carts, this one is relatively petite (only 16 inches wide), so it can slip into tight corners easily.
On-Trend Cabinet Hardware
- Terrazzo Handle (knobs also available), $24
Terrazzo—chips of marble or granite set in concrete—is an Art Deco material that’s making a big comeback now. It’s durable and earthy with a touch of glamour from the stone flecks. Try it out by replacing cabinet knobs or handles with terrazzo versions in a straightforward profile. There’s not a cabinet situation where it wouldn’t look great.
Hanging Fruit Basket
- Large Hanging Ceramic Fruit Basket, from $90
Form meets function in this minimalist-chic ceramic fruit basket. Pile it with snacks, then hang it in an empty corner to liven things up. (These areas are often dead zones in a kitchen, hemmed in by a breakfast table or recycling station.)
Practical Kitchen Runner
Kitchen rugs are notoriously hard to keep clean, but who can say no to color, pattern, and softness underfoot? Take the hassle out of it with an indoor/outdoor runner that can literally be hosed off (or put in the washer on cold). Hide a kitchen mat underneath for ultimate comfort.
Tea Towels with a Sense of Place
Declare your allegiance to our national parks with tea towels celebrating each one. The bold colors and playful map-based illustrations make these worthy of hanging on the wall as art, though the flour-sack material ensures they’re plenty capable of drying hands, too.
Countertop Star
- Wired Utensil Jar, $28
Yes, this is a beautiful place to store wooden spoons, but this wire utensil jar earns its spot on our list for its versatility in and out of the kitchen. Pop a vase in it for a cool, layered look. Roll up cloth napkins and put them inside at your next casual dinner party. It can even house dried seed pods or pine cones and live on a shelf.
Modern Dinner Bell
- Modern Dinner Bells, $60
More civilized than a text, more calming than a yell, the dinner bell has never been more necessary. Crafted from steel bent by hand and finished with a leather loop, this handsome version updates the classic—and looks like modern art when not in use.
Cute Refrigerator Magnets
- Cactus Magnets (set of 8), $7
Our pin boards are full of kitchens with bare refrigerator doors. The look is clean and photo-ready, but real life often requires that prime real estate for schedules and other papers. These cactus magnets do the job and look 1,000 times better than those cheesy souvenir ones. Darling, functional, will make you smile. That’s worth $7, right?
Aerial Kitchen Garden
Only a rookie plants a kitchen garden outside. Make like the pro you are and plant your most-used herbs in this brass hanging planter and install it in front of a kitchen window. It’s convenient and so striking, you’ll come to think of it as the disco ball of your kitchen.