Sensible Style:: The 7 Most Overrated Kitchen Products

You see them everywhere! On HGTV, newsstand magazines and model homes. These are the must-have kitchen products du jour. Some, like stainless steel appliances, have shown lasting appeal.

Most of the others come and go, dating your home in the process. Why do some last? Because they embody Sensible Style. In other words, they work well and look great. The ones that fade away most often look good for a while, but ultimately their lack of practicality or comfort or durability or even just their sheer overexposure doom them to passing status.

Here are seven, in my opinion, of the most overrated kitchen products today. Feel free to add to the list by commenting below. Have I slammed one of your favorites? Give it your best defense.


Like a rock

Polished granite became the must-have countertop material for high-end homes a number of years ago. In the height of the housing boom a few years back, homeowners were throwing away perfectly good alternates to get them and builders wouldn't dare put anything else in. Ultimately, many clients, particularly those with active young children, found that they disliked the daily and periodic maintenance, worried about the porosity and mostly overblown radon risks, and even found from time to time that their much-vaunted heat resistance and durability was overstated when they scorched a pot ring next to the stove or chipped the edge with a heavy skillet.

Hard surface, hard to live with, too

Photo credit: Flooring and Ceramic Warehouse

Losing your marbles

Travertine floors also gained wide popularity among high-end projects during the recent housing boom. They epitomized a luxury kitchen for many builders and homeowners. You could say they gained traction among this group, except that they offer absolutely no traction at all. They are a broken hip waiting to happen, in my opinion. Kitchens are notoriously wet areas and slick marble only gets slicker with water on it. Travertine is also extremely hard underfoot, creating leg, foot, hip and back discomfort for the homeowner who actually likes to use her kitchen, not just look at it. Finally, as a natural stone, travertine needs to be kept sealed or will easily stain - not the ideal choice for a heavily-used work space.

Save it for the entry hall!

Photo credit: ServiceMagic.com

Backlash

Another stone-cold trend has been the tumbled marble backsplash. They showed up especially often in Tuscan-style kitchens, designers and homeowners both equating Italianate design with Italianate material. Here's what Kitchen and Residential Design blog editor Paul Anater says about tumbled marble: "[It's] made from marble and travertine that's not of sufficient quality to be used without the tumbled finish. In other words, it's made from the reject pile... People think of it as being some kind of classy addition to their homes but it's anything but. It's a spongy, soft material that sucks up whatever liquid gets near it. That's why it makes a good coaster but a really lousy back splash."

High style from the marble reject pile

Photo credit: SouthernLiving.com

Faux pro

Another trendy look has been, and still is, the pro-style gas range. They're clunky, heavy, hard to maintain and extremely expensive, to boot. For most folks, they're the equivalent of swapping your minivan for a Humvee. You just don't need that kind of fire power. You also don't need to be spending your time cleaning those heavy grates soiled by 15,000 BTUs of burnt-on food.

How much firepower do you need for your frozen dinner?
Photo credit: Thermador.com

French Miss

One of the most popular refrigerator configurations of recent years is the French Door fridge. The built-in versions look great when paneled to resemble an armoire. French Doors also work great for catering trays, given their double-wide fresh food section. Other than those two very specific instances, I can see no real raison d'etre for this refrigerator style. They look dreadfully off-kilter with the popular through-the-door water dispenser convenience. They also force you to bend in half or do deep knee bends to see or remove anything in the freezer. Give me a side-by-side any day of the week!

The French can keep this style!
Photo credit: Whirlpool

Spouting nonsense

I have to admit a personal design bias against those towering restaurant-style faucets that look like a construction rig wrapped in a slinky. Do you really have pots so large as to require industrial scope cleaning? They work in restaurants because restaurant kitchens are all about function, not form. Form is for the dining room, not the kitchen staff. Presumably, form was a strong consideration when you were planning your kitchen. This trend can't end soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.

Construction zone meets toy box?
Photo credit: Jado USA

Over it!

I'm not sure who invented the over-the-range microwave, but it probably seemed like a good space-saver at the time. Doubly good is the OTR microwave with built-in convection oven, which gives the homeowner a double oven without the space requirements of a standard model. Granted, too, OTR microwaves are sometimes the only solution for a super-small kitchen. They just have some fatal flaws, in my opinion. One, their vent fans are noisy and underpowered. Two, mounting an oven over a cooktop can mean a risky reach across a hot burner or pot. Three, they're dangerous for children or the height-challenged, owing to flaw number two. Four, they rob you of a prime focal point opportunity in your kitchen.

A not so hot idea?
Photo credit: GE Appliances