Last week I was in Portland and got to visit one of my favorite stores, Canoe, for the first time. Since I was on vacation, I splurged and bought myself a Health Ceramic mug ($34). Like many of my other favorite home and kitchen stores (Brook Farm General Store, Kaufmann Mercantile, Herriott Grace, to name a few), I found myself eyeing far more than I could afford to buy at that time. Which has me wondering: how do you determine whether or not a kitchen tool or accessory is worth the price? How important is the item's aesthetic appeal and backstory?
The trend in recent years towards handcrafted products and goods definitely hit a sweet spot with me. I believe in supporting artisans. I appreciate knowing where things come from, how they were made, what materials and processes went into it. I think spending more on a higher quality item that will last longer is ultimately the way to go. And I'll admit it: I'm a bit of a sucker for "good ol' manufacturing,' all that Americana stuff that's on the verge of becoming a punchline. (Or already has. Hey, I live in Brooklyn. I get it.)
However, that doesn't mean I can always buy that way. While I would love a hand-carved cutting board, I can't justify $225 when I can buy a $10 board from Target. And while I think that copper tea strainer above is absolutely gorgeous, chances are my current tea strainer works just as well, though it isn't nearly as pretty or well-made. (I'm a new tea drinker, so I could be totally wrong on that. Tea aficionados, feel free to correct me.)
So, like most people, I have to pick and choose what to spend my money on. I don't always go the cheap route or the expensive route. Most times I think I end up in the middle somewhere. The thing that I'm considering now is making sure that what I choose to spend more money on is actually worth more. With all trends, there comes a point when items hitch a ride on the costly popularity train because they can. (See case in point: Fleecing at the Brooklyn Flea.) Commenters had a fit (and probably rightly so) over this $35 cutting board oil in a recent post. Now it seems that all precious things come at a price. But do they have to?
I'm not an artisan or a DIY'er, and I'm not a particularly crafty person. However, I understand the value of time, and I understand that time is money. I also understand that skill is money. So here are a few questions I ask myself when considering an expensive kitchen tool or accessory:
- How much time did it take to make?
- How much skill did it take to make?
- How long will it last?
- How often will I use it?
- What (if anything) does it replace or improve upon in my kitchen?
So, going back to my Canoe purchases, $35 may be a lot of money to spend on a mug. But I love the company, it's a special reminder of my West Coast vacation, and I'm going to use it every day for my morning coffee and tea. Was it a necessary purchase? No. But it's a beautiful thing to hold and it brings me pleasure. And sometimes it's okay to have that trump all.
What do you think? How do you determine what kitchen tools and accessories you'll splurge on, and when you'll save? How do you feel about the current handcrafted/back-to-simplicity trend in kitchen items, and their higher prices? Is it worth it to you, or does it feel too much like a trend gone too far?
Related: Save and Splurge: 5 Places To Put Your Money in a Kitchen Renovation
(Images, clockwise from top left: Canoe; Blackcreek Mercantile; Simple Peace; Herriott Grace; Spartan)
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Some items are just a ripoff. Take the tea strainer: It is copper, which is not very healthy. I have got a few simple brass ones from my local asian store in Hamburg/Germany. They are great, cost me less than 2 Euros. If I need decent pots and pans or a good whisk for example I would spend more. But if I spent 50 or even 80 Dollars I would have a good cutting board. Why should I spend more? And if anybody gave me that overpriced and superfluous spoon I would certainly quit friendship.
I too like Canoe. But they do approach epic levels of precious.
Every example in that picture- too much by a LOT. I'll put money into knives or cookware. Other than that, what a waste.
nice looking stuff, but is it really practical? if you want to see what you really need, walk through a commercial kitchen and see what the real cooks operating under a tight margin use day after day.
I feel like every day items like knives and cutting boards are worth the expense, but for everything else I really think about whether I want it because it's useful or I want it because its cute.
I love my chef knives! Love JK Adams cutting boards well worth the expense. Bottom line, if i use the product its worth the money!
Big splurge items for me would be knives, cutting boards, pans. I've received the first 2 as gifts, so not sure what they originally cost. The Wusthof knives are definitely worth at least $200 to me, if I had to replace them. I'm waiting for the day I have an extra few hundred dollars to splurge on a good set of pots and pans to replace the mismatched, varying degrees of quality collection I've got now.
I've always thought those hand-turned wood spoons were really beautiful and functional, and I'd like a couple. I'm talking maybe $25 per spoon though, any more than that and it kind of turns me off.
agreed - everything in the pictures are stupidly overpriced in my eyes.
some of the things i can justify spending a little extra on;
- dishes. i really love the look of heath ceramic dishes (after seeing them in someone's kitchen on here) and that will probably be my first major kitchen purchase when my lease ends in May. part of that is because i am going to move to open shelving and would obviously appreciate something that is a little nicer to look at, part of it is the good quality. of course, i spent the last 4 years using a dish set that was given to me by my brother that is great quality and looks nice, as well. but i love the look of the heath ceramics, so i wouldn't mind the splurge. TREAT YO SELF. :)
- certain kitchen appliances, such as a blender or juicer. that doesn't mean i will buy a $400 blender, but i would opt for a notch or two above a basic Walmart Hamilton Beach $20 blender. i use a blender and a juicer rather often, and there is a noticeable difference between the cheaper brand and one that is a little bit more expensive. same goes for other things like a food processor and mixer/hand blender.
- cookware such as pots and pans. i would dish out a little bit extra for nice cookware that is safe than the $15 combo pot and pan set from Target (which I used for 3 years in college and liked - it is a great set - but I do recognize I will be upgrading as soon as I'm out of college)
what i cannot justify spending more on;
- a cutting board, in terms of a $50 maple board versus that $200+ one. a good, solid wood board is important and worth paying a little more than a $5 plastic one, but it's not worth much more than $50 to me.
- knives. while i think it is important to have great quality knives, i've found many knives that do a fantastic job at less than $15 a piece. when i see a santoku knife for $80-$150, i cannot understand that.
- gizmos and gadgets. you can easily make fantastic coffee in a press, pour over, or aeropress, or moka pot - for less than $30. there is no need for $100+ coffee makers. tea and coffee accessories, in general, are overpriced. i drink tea and coffee regularly and know a lot about them both. a tea sachet/tea ball/strainer is all you need - $3 or so at plenty of places. fancy garlic peelers, fruit zesters, whatever seeders and pitters, etc. not worth the extra cash. if you want to use those things, no problem. but there is no need to spend an extra $20-$30 on something more cute with more bells and whistles.
I think it partially depends on how a given item makes you feel when you use it, and how frequently you use it.
For example, I have a gorgeous blue pottery bowl, hand-thrown by the woman who owns the local orchard near my in-laws, which I use for every salad I make (so, 5-6 times/week, easy). It's gorgeous, it makes me happy, and it was so worth the 50$ price tag on it (also, buying outside of urban centers and directly from the artisan is a huge cost-cutter - the bowl would have cost 2-3 times as much in a store near my house).
Similarly, I have a hand-carved wooden spoon I got as a present, which I love using. I have a gorgeous garlic keeper and butter crock (https://ny-image1.etsy.com/000/0/5465763/il_fullxfull.196113745.jpg) that I enjoy seeing so much, and that definitely makes it worth the price to me.
Anything easily damaged, delicate, or not frequently used is not worth it, in my opinion. I'd be perpetually worried about knife gouges on a 200$ cutting board. I use re-usable tea bags made from cloth for my tea, as they're portable AND don't taste metallic, which I loathe. And if something isn't frequently used, I generally prefer to find a way around it rather than clutter up the kitchen any more...
That said, at a certain point, I tell myself that I'm paying for the "art" rather than for the item itself, and my art of choice is pottery. :)
$34 is not a bad price for a good quality mug. You'd easily pay that for a piece from any number of quality brands . The other examples are just wacky - the cutting board and the pastry crimper especially. Unless it's a rare and expensive wood, a standard size handmade cutting board should be in the $50 range. They really don't take that long to make. My dad would charge you $10-$20 for the pastry crimper handle, again depending on the wood used (he makes replacement parts for musical instruments and does very fine wood turning).
Time is money but there seems to be a misconception that anything handmade must have taken hours of backbreaking labor. There certainly are items that fall into that category but many pieces can be made fairly efficiently.
Yep, like everyone else says, I'd rather put my money toward knives, good cook/bakeware, and one-time appliance purchases that will last for years.
I can't even fathom justifying a $200 cutting board purchase; I don't have any hard feelings for people that can, but for myself that would be several months of saving and scraping for something that is going to get the full force of daily cooking and baking and will wear down just as fast as a $20 option. Same thing with wooden spoons and stuff - yeah, they feel great in-hand, but stuff in my kitchen gets used, and used A LOT. There just isn't room to buy pretty things for the sake of buying pretty things. Someday, I hope, if the economy ever turns around.
I walk by Canoe everyday on my way to work and am drawn in sometimes. I would say their decor stuff is nice and may warrant the price. But kitchenware is meant to be used and abused. I can think of a reason to pay so much because it is so twee, but not anymore (probably less) useful and sturdy as a restaurant supply brand.
We splurged on knives (which we REALLY splurged on, but many, they are amazing and they make prep so much faster), a cutting board (~50 bucks) and good quality pots and pans - some things I bought after saving and hoarding bloomingdale gift cards, some other big ticket items were gifts.
That said, anything that's gizmo-y, I'll spend enough money that it works if its important (i.e. my whisk) but I'll only buy it at a place like Target, i don't need a precious whisk I just need a working whisk...
I am happy to pay a lot of money for staple kitchen pieces if I'm getting the best quality on the market. My husband and I are slowly collecting Le Creuset pots and pans. We have the best Kitchenaid mixer. We bought these because they're supposed to last forever - the fact that they're pretty is just a bonus. But for stuff that is just cute, I shop at Goodwill, World Market, and clearance at Target.
Wow, the most I've ever paid anything was $25 for an Art Deco tureen. I don't understand buying an expensive cutting board but then I make heavy use of mine, they're not for decorating. The most beautiful one I have I got on eBay for $10 and refinished it.
Only thing I would ever splurge on one day if I could is a Staub Dutch oven and possibly a food processor but I've managed to cook and bake for 20 years without any of these. Most of what I have come from Target, IKEA, flea markets and eBay. I do own a couple of expensive Victorinox knives that were a gift from a friend of my mother after he closed his cutlery store.
I don't know but if I have to splurge in the kitchen on something, I buy good quality food and spices, rather than waste money on, er, accessory holders or fancy gadgets.
I splurged on a bench scraper with a gorgeous wood handle on it. Even though I still have my all-metal version next to it, it's still worth feeling the wood as I clean up after rolling dough or spread frosting using it.
Whenever I desire something that is precious and comes with a price, I ask myself whether I could a) make it for less or b) find it second-hand. Usually I end up with great pieces, with unique stories, at an affordable price...even if it takes a bit longer.