Gift Guide for the Design Savvy Kitchen - Amazon Finds For Quick Delivery!

Looking for gifts for that design savvy person on your list who has a beautiful kitchen?

Maybe you need a few ideas to show your family so they can have a list to choose from. Something you can forward to loved ones who aren’t quite as “design savvy” as you?

Today, I’ve gathered up some goodies that would be at home in any design lover’s kitchen. Now you can just send this link and say, “Anything from this list would be awesome!”

My blog contains affiliate links. Any purchases, at no additional charge to you, render me a small percentage, are most appreciated and make this blog possible. :-)

First, a few beautiful kitchens to inspire you…….

Carla Aston, Designer | Colleen Scott, Photographer

Carla Aston, Designer | Colleen Scott, Photographer

Carla Aston, Designer | Colleen Scott, Photographer

Carla Aston, Designer | Colleen Scott, Photographer

Carla Aston, Designer | Tori Aston, Photographer

I love styling a coffee service in my kitchen photo shoots. Nothing too elaborate, but a French press is usually on the tray. Carla Aston, Designer | Colleen Scott, Photographer

Small Kitchen Appliances on Countertops

I know people don’t like Keurig coffee makers because they use these disposable pods, but you can get reusable ones and fill them yourself. I have had lots of coffee makers in the past, I used to use a press religiously, but I got tired of grounds in my coffee. :-)

We had an old looking Keurig, a big black beast, and we always went to it no matter what other coffee maker we had. So, I invested in a new Keurig that we love.

It’s white, so it looks fresh and blends in to my backsplash, and I love the more squared off shape. The handle on the water container is great, it makes it so easy to fill from my fridge water dispenser.

My new white Keurig in my kitchen. I love the white and the more squared off shape of this coffee maker. carlaaston.com

One small appliance I would love to receive myself is this sleek boiler from Stagg. I am seeing these more in design-savvy homes and we used one in an airbnb we stayed in last year. It’s very cool and just has “beautiful design” written all over it. ;-)

You’ve got to love the Smeg kettle too. I bought this for my daughter for Christmas about 3 years ago and she uses it every day. It looks great in her kitchen too. (It wasn’t nearly as expensive then as it is now!)

My New Sink Caddy Makes Me So Happy!

Another helpful item I recently bought for myself (and I’ve stocked up on for gifts) is this nice looking sink caddy for soap by my kitchen sink. It is on sale for Black Friday!

I cannot tell you how annoying and sloppy my soap area has been over the years. I had a little white ceramic tray to set the soap bottles on, but it still got wet, stayed wet and then water sat underneath it constantly.

I was always wiping it down and the minute my husband used the sink, water would be all over and under it again. I tried paper towels under it, but they just remained soggy, of course.

I have a black granite countertop and we have hard water, so there was build-up of those white hard water deposits on my granite due to this moisture.

I saw this sink caddy advertised on Instagram and thought I’d try it out.

It works so well! It keeps the area dry, clean and tidy looking all the time. I’m so pleased with this that I also have two in our bathroom. I bought one for each of my kids too last Christmas. :-)

This sink caddy is keeping my countertop dry and tidy looking all day long. carlaaston.com

I love that they come in gray and white and there are other products like coasters, bathmats and dish drying mats. This stone product absorbs and wicks away the moisture and leaves the area dry and clean.

Here’s the copy from their product info:

“Diomat is a sustainable combination of diatomaceous earth and recycled paper, that dries instantly thanks to its ability to retain and evaporate moisture.”

I not only like how it works, but that is good looking and stylish as well. :-)

Kitchen Styling Tools and Accessories

I don’t like keeping many small appliances out on my kitchen counters. The air fryer and instapot stay in the pantry on a shelf until needed. I do keep a toaster out too, but the kettle and coffee maker are about it.

Instead, I prefer all the pretty things that help give a kitchen some style and warmth that are also useful.

Pretty towels and maybe a big pot on the range, like this Le Creuset Dutch oven I purchased for my daughter last year, look great sitting out on the cooktop and are ready for cooking.

I’ve had these stainless salt and pepper grinders for probably 6-8 years. I love them because you can use them with ONE HAND.

You seriously don’t think about this until you start cooking and realize that a one handed grinder is so convenient. (I’ve never liked those powered ones.)

You hold it with your hand and use your thumb to pump the grinder. They are heavy and this particular brand is stainless on the inside too, which makes it so good.

I bought them at a local restaurant years ago and this past year dropped one on the floor and cracked the clear plastic part where you see the salt and peppercorns.

The one thing I didn’t like about them is that they had a tendency to tip over as they were so slender and weighted kind of at the top. I would also place one down and then put the other somewhere else and not have them both together when I needed them.

I finally found them again recently on Amazon and now they have a lucite holder for these that they fit snugly into. They are easy to grab but now don’t tip over!

And they sit nicely in a tray beside the cooktop and are always right there when I need them.

Highly recommend!

Best Pie Making Tools

I’m a southern girl and we love pie for the holidays.

Last year I really wanted to master my pie making skills so I watched lots of Youtube videos. I watched Claire Saffitz a lot, she did a whole Thanksgiving dinner for the New York Times, start to finish.

I since have been watching her Youtube channel and love the way she teaches. Believe me, you will learn a lot from her.

I bought her cookbook as a gift for a baker in my family. :-)

I did watch several world class pie makers and they seemed to have this pie plate. I have random pie tins that I’ve inherited from my mom and MIL, they weren’t the same sizes and just not that great.

I bought these pie plates on Amazon and they were great! They made yummy pies.

I also bought these accessories, a pie pan that has a hole in it so that you can get that heat to the center of the pie crust underneath. Everyone says you need to put the pie on a pan to cook. It catches the drips.

Those silicone pie crust shields are great to have too. I’ve tried to use foil around the edges and it always falls off. These snapped right into place and worked like a charm.

My pies were the bomb at Thanksgiving last year, y’all! :-)

More Pretty Kitchen Goods

Crocks of wooden utensils and a pretty wooden tray with cooking oils all work well for styling and cooking in a kitchen. I love olive wood for some of these items as they just add warmth. They look earthy and go with any style.

A Le Creuset Dutch oven and some bright kitchen towels dress up this Thermador range in a client project. Carla Aston, Designer | Colleen Scott, Photographer

This mixer, below, is not available on Amazon, but if you have one of those warm toned, moody kitchens and love to bake, a Kitchenaid mixer like this would fit perfectly into your kitchen!

One of the requests I’m seeing a lot of in kitchen design is appliance garages. I think those will be the hot item in kitchens in 2025 as people are looking to hide all those countertop small appliances. The Instapot, the Kitchenaid mixer and that beast of an air fryer!

Here’s one I just designed in a recent kitchen remodel (will be sharing final pics soon!).

For garages like this, a sliding tray works great to pull those heavy appliances out where you can use them.

And now for the goods!

This post was republished from last year, with updated content and fresh links for you to shop in 2024!

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Need some other gift ideas for the home for a design loving friend or family member? I’ve got you covered in this post, below. All the links there are current and up to date for 2024.