My Quest for Beautiful Countertop Appliances You Donât Need to Hide
Welcome to Someone Buy This!, a monthly shopping column featuring the fun, the frivolous, and the practical from a very discerning shopper.
Whether youâre living in a small apartment or sprawling suburban home, countertop space is precious. Anything living on the counter full-time should be both functional and beautiful, or at the very least, cute. Iâve spent years acquiring counter top appliances that check these boxes. Here are my favorites.
Better with bubbles
The Aarke sparkling water maker is my most prized possession. I use this thing so much and legitimately miss it when I travel. Sure, itâs functionally the same thing as a less-expensive Sodastream but itâs infinitely more beautiful, and thatâs what this column is about! The Aarke is slim and doesnât need to be plugged in, so you can stick it anywhere you want. I recommend getting two big bottles to use on rotation and a smaller one when you need seltzer to go or a smaller batch for a cocktail. The brand makes cocktail syrups that you mix in with sparkling water, including one that makes tonic, which has been a great addition to our bar cabinet.
When you must have your java
Coffee and design-nerd favorite Moccamaster is the newest addition to our countertop, because it looks great and brews a great cup of coffee. In fact, I didnât realize how bad our previous coffee maker was until we used the Moccamaster for the first time. We have the KGBV Select, which has a glass carafe and a hot plateâa divisive choice, but thereâs also a model with an insulated carafe. We generally brew and consume our coffee within the span of an hour or two. The hot plate stays on for 90 minutes and so far it has not burned the coffee. (If you need to keep coffee hot for a longer period of time, the insulated carafe may be a better choice for you.) Not only is the Moccamaster aesthetically pleasing and good at its coffee-brewing job, itâs also extremely easy to clean.
The Moccamaster is the star of our morning and Fellowâs Opus coffee grinder is its strong opening act. The grinder makes our coffee station look like a laboratory, in a good way and is the quietest coffee grinder Iâve ever usedâSo quiet that I donât wake up when my boyfriend uses it every morning at 6 A.M.. Impressive considering we donât have walls! The Opus has over 40 settings, ensuring a perfect grind no matter how we choose to brew coffee (on weekends we sometimes do pour over or French press). Like the Moccamaster, itâs cool-looking, unpretentious, and very good at its job.
I couldnât write this column without including an option for espresso heads. Iâve had my Nespresso Pixie for 7 years and itâs still going strong. Even though itâs not a daily use item (the Moccamaster is our main source of caffeine) the Nespresso still lives on the counter top because itâs a cutie and extremely small. If youâre looking for something a bit more design-forward, the CitiZ is just as compact but with an edgier look. Donât forget the pods!
Itâs tea time!
I bought the Fellow kettle during a rare sale a few years ago and was so excited to give it a permanent home on the countertop. After a long internal debate over which color to get, I chose blue and never looked back. I love the long, delicate-looking goose neck and its sturdy wood handle. The kettle heats up super fast to the exact temperature you choose and holds that temperature for as long as you need.
I love a tiny toaster
So far, all of the recommendations Iâve made have been drink-related. Weâre switching to solids and weâre talking about toaster ovens, specifically tiny toaster ovens. This Panasonic toaster has lived on my counter top for nearly a decade and is a kitchen non-negotiable for me. It can heat up to 500 degrees and requires no pre-heat. Youâre reading correctly! You set the temp and bam, sheâs ready. Iâve described this toaster as "Benjamin Button-looking" because it looks a little futuristic but also, oddly, like a vintage appliance.
If you want more from your toaster oven and youâre a convection girlie, I recommend Our Placeâs Wonder Oven. I will admit that, aesthetically, itâs giving Easy-Bake Oven. (Hilariously when I googled "Easy-Bake Oven" to make sure I was using the correct name, the first result was the Wonder Oven.) The oven is surprisingly spacious for its small size. You can, as advertised, roast a chicken in it. Itâs also the only nice-looking air fryer Iâve ever seen, which, to me, is its most appealing quality. Air fryers are generally ugly (sorry!) and if Iâm going to indulge in some perfectly crispy Totinoâs pizza rolls I want some part of the experience to be cute. Is that too much to ask? Not anymore!
Related Reading:
Hereâs What You Need to Make the Jump to Loft Living Seamless
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