Architect's TOP 10 Most Hated Home Products (and what to buy instead) 

The opposite of what you said about "Organic Bins" works better. Not larger bins to dry out, but Small bins that need to be emptied once a day. This reduces stench of decaying organic waste by not accumulating too much before having to be emptied. Also, Having a separate composting setup, where you can empty the small bin every day is the best solution that works.

in my country we always put our trash bins under the sink. you can go to any apartment in my city and find trash bin in a second - in the kitchen cabinet under the sink.

Being 82 years old, I appreciate the carpet in my home because of falls. I agree with your other recommendations, though.

Personally if your cooker hood doesn't actualyl vent anywhere it's a complete waste.

Carpets have one massive advantage over hard floors, and that's noise. Not only does a semi decent carpet (& underlay) reduce noise echo in the room, it also massively reduces noise transfer to the room(s) below. Yes, a decent rug atop a hard floor can reduce the sound issue, but with how much of the floor needs to be covered to achieve this, you might as well just fully carpet the bedroom.

@14:20 - Carpet: I think a lot of people would dismiss out-of-hand installing an "industrial grade" carpet in their home (the sort made for commercial settings like shops and restaurants), but we did just that and have no regrets. It has a canvas-like surface, which is comfortable enough underfoot (and subjectively "warmer" than most other flooring options). Liquid spills tend to pool on the surface rather than absorbing into the pile. We've had ours for almost twenty years, we chose a neutral colour, and it looks as good now as it did the day it was installed.

While I do agree that the trash can is not really a pleasant thing to look at, putting them in a drawer doesn't really go well with my flow when preparing food. I really need them to be easily accessible all the time with hand wet and full of trash 😂

Although I agree with your thoughts about range hoods, the performance of the range hood is one of the most important parts. Extraction efficiency has a lot to do with the area of the range hood and trying to cover the range or cooktop completely. The other thing that increases capture efficiency is the depth of the range hood, i.e. making a big bowl or funnel above the range. There are range hoods that fit in an upper cabinet and have a pullout feature that increases the surface area, i.e. the capture efficiency. I have used these in some projects, but they aren't as good at removing pollutants as a true larger range hood. Cooking can be one of the most significant factors for indoor air quality in a home if not dealt with properly.

Rough surface stone in kitchen as backslash is the most bizarre thing, have seen many of renovation shows. It looks nice, but ideal for kitchen where no cooking is done.

Yes to the lower cabinet drawers! 100% agree. I still rent but my sister did exactly that when she bought her home and it's soooooo much more practical!

Range hoods actually function differently than vent hoods! The bulkier vent hoods that take up precious storage space are actually extracting the smelly/greasy cooking air and expelling it outside. Range hoods are redistributing that smelly gross cooking air in your kitchen. As vent hoods are more costly, there might be some fake range hoods masquerading as vent hoods! But if a client has the funds, I would strongly recommend a proper vent hood!!

I agree with all buy one: draining rack in your upper cabinet is a really BAD idea. I will show you my experience, that led me to uninstall the expensive item with pleasure. First of all, when you're lifting up wet cup and dishes water flows down to your elbows. Second, it's impossible to pour out drained water from the tray underneath the draining rack without spilling it. And the last one, if you think that drained water will dry up, you are so mistaken - the dishes are wet, there is constantly water in the tray and the whole cupboard is wet so can't even close the doors, because they are swollen. I hope it will help

I really appreciate the points you've given as I am a stickler for common sense function and then joined with esthetics. One of your examples, though, I will challenge: The microwave oven placed above the cook top is unervingly senseless. The microwave's venting fan merely circulates the air within the home instead of venting to the outside. It's what lazy builders do to save money and take advantage of what they may believe to be ignorant home buyers not realizing this. We've retrofitted a few kitchens to solve this issue. We got a very strong vent, placed the vent high enough above the cooktop so we don't hit our heads on it, custom built cabinets around the flue for more useable storage, and the cooktop has added venting. We then we got an in-cabinet microwave which looks great and is more functional. I often believe too many builders do not actually cook in their own kitchens to fully understand the actual function that is needed!

I live in a house built in 1910; it has large cast iron radiators. You're right about them taking up space but, after living with it for the past 11 years, I will always prefer radiator heated homes.

I think drainboards are highly functional and underrated. Sure, they might not be the best looking of kit but they are truly a good solution for drying out dishes

1 0:22 Glass Tables 2 1:42 Kitchen Bins 3 4:21 Stone Veneer Cladding 4 6:22 Cooker Hoods 5 8:12 Drainboards 6 9:59 Cheap Handles & Switches 7 11:30 Radiators & Baseboard Heaters 8 12:44 Kitchen Cupboards 9 14:19 Carpets (Says Kitchen Cupboards again lol) 10 15:34 Vertical Blinds

My Mother had a porcelain enamel sink/drain board attached to a painted steel base, typical of kitchens up to the 1950’s. My daughter-in-law really liked it. When we were going through Mom&Dad’s house after their passing, we paid a plumber to disconnect the plumbing and install the replacement base cabinet/countertop/sink. Son&DIL cleaned and repainted the base a light Royal blue, and installed the unit into their house. It looks so good there.

Drawers! My number one favorite kitchen hack. I lived in a house about 40 years ago where the previous owner had remodeled her kitchen this way. It made the house hard to sell because it was "strange" to most people but I loved it even tho I was still young and agile. Now that I'm old and less agile, I live with standard cupboards and it's miserable although she did put in a couple of drawers and one cupboard has roll out basket drawers concealed inside. Also, being short, I detest upper cabinets. I can usually only reach the first shelf without a step stool.

We redid our kitchen last year and ticked off every bit of advice you gave in this video. I adore not having bins on display, our heavy duty lower drawers, the luxury vinyl floors, the hidden hood, the stone top dining table and the gorgeous sheer curtains that make the room airy and soft. I think my favourite part is the big but hidden bins.

I’m so glad you started with glass tables! I hate glass tables/surfaces. The worst is glass shelves. So bad. Wood tables are the best

Totally agree with you 💯. I live in Northern Portugal and traditional homes are made of granite slabs or of slate, but that's because it's the materials that are readily available in the region. And usually the whole house is made out of the same material. Not fake cladding. I remodelled our kitchen 2 years ago and we installed a concealed extractor hood, we bought the largest and most powerful version on the market to insure proper ventilation, but I think that people forget that opening a window will really help with getting rid of cooking smells and moisture 😊. And besides if you don't want to smell your own cooking maybe you should improve your cooking skills 😂😂😂😂😂😂.

This channel helped me design a small but very functional kitchen that can fit 3 people working at the same time. I am forever grateful for the principles, tips and ideas shared by Daniel. 6 months living in this new space, I don't see anything that could have been done better and it is all thanks to this channel! Keep up the great work!

Having built in cooker hood in the cupboard above just means that you end up with all that sticky oil etc. on the doors and under the other cupboards. I think having a separate cooker hood makes sense just for this reason alone.

Good list. I especially like the notes about the stone cladding... that is a pet peeve of mine: the floating stone or brick! I try to be sure clients don't fall prey to contractors doing this even when the design clearly shows the material going to grade. And for the record, I refuse to use compost bins in the house! They either have to go in the garage, or the material goes directly into the laneway bin. Underfloor heating is still somewhat prohibitively expensive for the average homeowner, but it certainly has advantages. In hotter climates, the need for air-conditioning can subvert the tidiness of the system, as it still requires ducting and a central system for generating the cooling, thus the use of conventional forced air tends to be the default. Over-the-range microwaves are sleek, but from a practical point, they tend to be higher maintenance due to the proximity to steam and grease build-up, plus they often do not have adequate exhaust to keep up with the demands of the cooktop. I cook a lot and I have had one for many years, in several houses, and I am still not sold on them. I totally agree on having large drawers rather than lower cupboards! Even pull out shelves can be cumbersome, with the swinging door always being an issue. If you get a say in your hardware, be sure to get the best you can afford and get full-extension, soft-close glides. You can thank me later!

I recommend a fridge or freezer bin for organics. It greatly slows (fridge) or completely stops (freezer) any decomposition. I love my freezer bin. organic waste tends to ‘shrivel up’ as it freezes and so falls neatly out when I’m dumping the contents into the main bin before emptying that.

As to extractor vent hoods, while yes, having them built in is a lovely aesthetic choice, I would only recommend having one the same size of the cabinets _if you don't actually cook._ For an extractor hood to do its job properly, it should extend to cover the same area as the range. You can still add shelving inside the area taken up by the vent of the extractor in a cabinet surround built for it. Turn on the extractor just prior to cooking and it will help to minimize cleanup by removing aerosolized oil and food particles from the air.

Drainboards next to sinks are routinely used for hot pots, e.g. when you cook pasta, apart from being for, you know, the drying of dishes.

I agree with everything except Drainboards…I think I am getting one of those with a minimalistic drainboard. I am currently having a simple sink and using those textile mats to dry my handwashed dishes. However, I find it not as practical because if I have a lot of handwashing to do (I don’t have a dishwasher yet), those mats barely get dry ever and I feel that they might be a hygene hazard if you don’t change them often and wash them properly. The mats also get cluttered… I’d rather have a surface that is getting dry easily and I can sanitize easily with a substance without worrying about potential bacteria. Anyway…this is debatable… but so far, I’ve prefered the drainboards whenever I had one in an Airbnb or at someone else’s house. I also don’t like the drying racks in closet because I don’t like the idea of enclosed humidity and I also think they are harder to clean.

It's really difficult to find a drain board sink in Canada. It is easy to find stone veneer cladding. Those Finnish drainage cabinets are amazing if you have a wall but don't have a window above the sink. Underfloor heating makes your feet feel warm but don't make the space warm. Floor coverings reduce their efficacy. I need my body to be warm, my fingers to not be stuff with cold.

Here in the uk our kitchens are small, no pantry, not all properties have space for a utility. Bins often have to sit on biew

Oh my god I love how you called out the quartz matte black drainboard sink. My flat in Germany has one and it's the bane of my existence. As in, I've literally considered finding a new flat and cancelling my rental contract because I hate it so much. Having said that, how does a cupboard drainage rack improve of things? Doesn't that just give you a damp, dark environment for mould to breed?

The acoustic dampening, thermal and light regulating properties of curtains can't be beaten. I've gradually been upgrading my window treatments with fully lined and weighted curtains, and the whole house feels quieter and less echoey. I also endorse updating the hardware for power outlets, light switches and door furniture - it is not cheap - but what a difference they have made to the feel of solidity and durability of the entire house.

I’m with you generally; however, I’m not so precious that seeing my compost container will bother me. Many of us in the UK live in older homes where space is limited. My non-recyclables and recyclables under the sink (single sink and no room for a double unless I renovate the kitchen). Glass is a separate collection and has it’s own bin on the bottom shelf of a cabinet. Yep, that compost container is going to sit on the counter. One thing one can do is find the most attractive one that goes with the kitchen and practice not looking at it. In my last home I had a double sink and the dish rack was in the 2nd sink. If I renovated, the drainboard would be gone in a second. I loved having a double sink.

Engineered flooring with thin wood veneer is my most hated home product because the veneers are too thin to repair and they are often improperly installed so they click when you walk on them and slide around leaving little gaps. If you look at the manufacturers' warranties, these floors are not warranted for sanding and refinishing whereas solid wood floors are. Also, pet spills or other liquids that seep between the cracks cannot be removed without removing the flooring. Water leaks can also cause unrepairable warp damage. The cost of replacing sections regularly outweighs the cost of investing in solid wood flooring in the first place.

Glass tables are also so loud! Anything hitting them even lightly, like putting down your glass or cutlery, makes far more noise than on a regular table. I have a relative who always hosts a big Christmas get-together around their’s and I always have to escape part way through the meal because I can’t take how loud that room gets with the sound bouncing off the walls and that hard glass table 😣

I have the garbage under the sink, very common here in Sweden, however, I heard that some have it in a drawer not under the sink, which is much more ergonomic, as you usually use the trash in when using the sink for dishes etc. I want that in the future!

We have had a glass table for over twenty years. It looks georgeous and we have had not problems whatsoever. Very easily cleaned and very chique.

Storing a small compost bin in the freezer means you avoid fruit flies and smells.

The apartment I recently moved in (in Stockholm), has an organic bin in a cabinet under the sink. Whoever designed this apartment building had the great idea of putting the dishwasher next to it. So whenever I wash dishes, the organic bin is getting really warm and "sweaty"...

With drainage boards inside a cabinet you can easily get mold to form (in time) on the drain board/drip tray if you consistently close the cabinet before things are dry…the board is likely to stay damp, regardless of its material and in a closed, dark cabinet without air circulating you eventually can see mold form. If you clean and dry the drain board/drip tray regularly, it may not ever happen. But from my experience (renting places while on vacation, for example) I’d avoid that approach like the plague. Drain mats are probably the best option offered here.

This video is absolutely great. I loved all the explanations and I added these tips to my plan for future flat refurbishment. Please do more videos like these. ❤

Your videos have really helped me to think about multi-function and well designed furniture to save space and reduce waste. Also Bellroy are great, been using their slim wallet for years since they started

Breaking ground on my new house this fall, thanks for the tips. Gave me a few things to think about before finalizing my interior design.

I have a kitchen island with an induction stove (ceramic plate). I have no extraction hood but a lowered ceiling with a ceiling extractor. The lowered ceiling has the same measurements as the kitchen island, just like in the photo at 11:58. It is a very nice solution instead of an ugly hood. Also my kitchen has only handleless heavy duty drawers of 1200mm width, so so handy and neat. On the whole ground floor of my house I have under floor heating with ceramic parquet from Porcelanosa Smart Starwood. It looks like a hardwood floor or parquet floor, but they are tiles. You’ll have to knock on the floor to know it isn’t wood. I really like it. So easy to clean and efficient in radiating and transmitting heat of the under floor heating. For the vertical blinds I have another solution we call in my country top-down bottom-up plisse (pleated?) blinds, they are a fantastic invention. Don’t know the English or American name for them or even if they’re sold over there. You have the ones which only filter the light (I use on the north side of my house) or the variant which blocks all the light and sun (I use on the south side of my house). You can blind the whole window, only the bottom part, the top part or just a stripe in the middle, it is an ideal solution in my opinion.

Nice video, thanks. I would only disagree about USB in mains sockets. Typically, the step down voltage regulator (and or any microcontroller on a logic board than can happen these days with USB C) is always drawing some current, even when no device is attached. Also there's a chance (depending on the quality) that any over current could cause them to overheat and fail in a rather smokey way that is hard to get to.

Drawers in the kitchen are a wonderful thing. When I redid my kitchen, a friend of mine suggested it. It was a great idea and I very much I'm glad I did it.

Watched bc I saw the table on the thumbnail my niece wants 😂 Some of these suggestions are for ppl who are building their homes. Such pricey stuff too, like the heated floors. Thought suggestions would be somewhat affordable. I have the same light switches and I never thought to change them bc of how they look. They do what they’re meant to do, turn lights on and off. I would love the draining sink tho. I find putting something on the counter for the dishes to go on looks cluttered. Having a nice drying dish rack would look better.

Aside from each item's function, you can already imagine the design if it will fit on your home style. This is great! Thank you, Daniel! 👏🏼👏🏼

I love my glass table and clear acrylic chairs that I bought at IKEA a dozen years ago. Before Covid we basically only used it for eating. We wipe it down at night. I love it because we don’t have a dining room, but a small dining area. Being able to see through my table and chairs makes our living area less claustrophobic. And no one has ever hurt themselves with it nor has it ever come close to breaking (and yes I have children). Glass cocktail tables are also great for small spaces. If we’re going to complain about having to clean it, then you should throw out your bathroom mirrors and glass enclosed showers. They also get dirty every time we use them. Interior designers are not infalible.

I'm in a furnished rental, and I HATE the glass tables. Dust shows in a day, and smudges galore. I'd rather have something with storage, so I don't need something dedicated to hiding things AND side and coffee tables!

You are SO correct regarding lower cabinets being awkward. We have 3 large lower drawers, which we use constantly. We will gradually retrofit the other lower cabinets with pull-out hardware. We also have a Lomi composter, which we use daily to turn our nasty organic waste into compost. No smell. Expensive, but convenient. We also have a metal dish rack over a washable pad. Works well and launders to keep clean. Subscribed to your channel.

Yes on the stone cladding!! I would add to that the partial brick cladding that I see so often. Just do the whole thing in vinyl or whatever the siding is.

Agreed with the drainage board. We just use a regular old kitchen towel to leave dishes to dry. Used a drying mat for my first apartment and my cat got up on the counter and peed on it 😂 Don't know why he doesn't on the kitchen towel

We thought the over-the-range microwave was a good idea, but now that we've had two supposedly pretty high-end ones fail far too soon, we've decided they're not such a good idea after all.

The integrated dish drying rack over the sink has been standard practice in Finland for ages - the whole cupboard above the sink is dedicated to this (although becoming less used as dishwasher use increases). It’s amazing,especially for a busy, high-volume kitchen. You can pile away a huge amount of dishes, including pots etc, close the doors and all your things drip dry straight into the sink and out of view. Empty sink and counter, no clutter, no water outside of the sink, and you can even hang your brush or cloth to drip dry over the sink as well. Plus if you don’t have the time/energy/desire later to nicely stack and sort all your dry dishes into different cupboards, just leave them where they are in drying cupboard until you need them. Drying AND storage, and all hidden from view! It was one of many common-sense design features that floored my dad when he first visited Finland in the 80s, and 40 years later the UK is still plodding on with our same old sink-and-draining board conundrum, wondering how to make the heavily-used sink area neat and tidy and clutter-free…🤦‍♀️

Everything you have discussed here have been my pet peeves too. It's like you could read my mind. Thank you so much for this.

Those over the sink draining racks are quite normal in Italy and i would say that they have them in nearly every home. I just bought a new place and need to add some cabinets and was thinking of doing this

I installed a drainage rack above the sink. The problem I get is that whenever I put the plates, water drips along my arm sometimes reaching even my armpits ;)) I would still opt for this solution though. But I would probably find a place somewhere lower :)

I completely agree about drain boards. We have one and it blocks needed counter space.

I love this! Thank you for making me aware of drainboards. I HATE them but I never realised that you didn't have to have them 😭

Daniel, thank you! Looks like I found my next bag :) I was just looking for one, as old one is worn out. I absolutely agree with the point on switches and handles. I moved in this year to new building and I just hate these switches - they are square and look so rigid. And handles are silver and one can see fingerprints on it, which is just doesn't make any sense for a handle.

Great video, however @14:19 - Wrong text used, should say "Carpets"

Growing up, we had an over the range oven that had a built in fan, no hood required. My parents invested in a glass coffee table. They had three kids and were brave with that decision. My mom found my toddler brother riding his bike around on top. Didn't break it though it does have a few scratches that need polishing out by a pro. I never knew that could be done until recently.

Re: underfloor heating: yes, it is brilliant. We have it in all our bathrooms (you really appreciate it on cold Canadian winter mornings). But - it is expensive to purchase the components. It requires a competent, experienced, ie expensive installer who is certified to do the job. If it ever requires repairs / replacement, up comes the floor which is not only time consuming, messy and a hassle but again - expensive. So definitely consider it, check what type of flooring you lay above (in a bathroom you really don’t have a lot of options…) and if you can, go for it. We’ve had radiant floor heat in the bathrooms for 8 years now and it has been worthwhile, but we decided against installing it throughout the entire house.

Agree with everything except the dislike of fitted carpets. Here in northern UK in a 300 year old house full carpets are often the most practical and comfortable floor covering. They are warm, soft and quiet underfoot and help to keep draughts down, especially when a really good underlay is also used. In my opinion rugs, of any size, are quite simply trip hazards.

Totally agree regarding garbage, compost and recycling bins. I've always kept mine out of sight. They're just too ugly.

Thank God I saw this video! 😮 I was about to put wall cladding on the facade of my brand new home, and now I feel powerful knowing where I should put them intentionally! 😃 Thanks!

Thank you for another great video! What do you think about horizontal wooden blinds?

I pretty much agree on all of these. The only one I differ on are vertical blinds. I had always thought they looked ugly until I had some in one of my apts and found out how incredibly easy they are to clean. I had no problem with letting the right amount of light in. And they do an excellent job as black out material. My least favorite are curtains. They get dirty and just add dust to a room. What I really dislike are horizontal blinds. Those get so filthy and difficult to clean. Probably my favorite window coverings are plantation type shutters with super wide planks. They fully block out the sun and the bigger the planks..the less there is to clean.

I agree with (almost) everything, your videos are always so refreshing. About the drainboards though.. I moved out less than three months ago and finally got to use one. I'll never ever go back! At my parents house I had that rack over the sink and it was fine, but my current kitchen (a thrifted Quadrante by Ferruccio Laviani - Dada) didn't allow me to have a decent sized one, due to the cooker hood. Going from a squared super cool sink with no drainboard to a super normal one with rounded angles and a drainboard made my life easier. That being said, I have a dishwasher too and I only wash non stick pans in the sick. For me, this time, functionality wins!

I agree wholeheartedly about trash bins. My flat/apt is older so doesn't have an area set apart for the trash. And finding a decent looking (and decent working) trash bin is difficult. I don't want my guests seeing my trash bin first thing upon entering, but whoop...there it is. 🙄 Thanks for opening my eyes to some of the more ubiquitous home items that many of us pay little attention to, but simply end up putting up with whatever was installed during the build. Apartments, I have noticed, just chuck in things on the cheap, installing "bottom of the barrel" appliances and fixtures that then easily break up the road (I also DESPISE vertical blinds!!!).

I totally agree with you. In my country, we always keep the bin under the sink. Recently, I renewed my house, and this is exactly what I did. I eliminated (hid) everything that bothered my eyes. Thank you for this video. 😊

Yes, yes, yes to everything you've named! I've lived all my life in NA (now live in Victoria bc). North Americans (particularly Americans) engage in what we called in art school, "arbitrary change of design". Exterior siding changes that make no sense, massive range vents that visually dominate a kitchen, unsightly compost bins left out to be "sightly" and so on. We could really step up our game here!

Agree wholeheartedly with hiding bins. In the late 90s huge bins were marketed as a sexy addition to the kitchen, with adverts showing yuppy couples eyeing each other seductively across the gleaming brushed steel bin which presumably was full of 100 litres of decaying detritus. The public are easily led, and bought these disgusting items in droves, bizarrely trying to outdo their friends by vying to have the largest receptacle for putrefying rubbish.

I agree with everything you said. I do want an over the stove microwave though because I am tall and my microwave currently takes up 1/4 of my counter space. In small kitchens it is a logical use of space.

Perfect list - particularly the stone cladding

I disagree with the cooker hood points. We brought an apartment recently, which had a very ugly built-in extractor hood, with a cabinet that was practically unusable (maybe we could fill it if we had 140 small containers for spices, but the top shelves would have been impossible to reach). So we took out the entire cabinet and the ugly built-in, and got a new, elegant and slim, non built-in version. The space looks so much better now! Instead of having a full wall of cabinets of the same "birch" color, there's now a pop of black metal and white wall in the middle, which allows the kitchen to "breathe". We also incorporated some other black elements in other points of the kitchen: handles, shelves, lights and a kitchen island. We lost an unfunctional storage, but gained a lot visually.

If you’re speccing a new house, sure, go for underfloor heating. Retrofitting it to an existing house without it goes to middle five figures at the smallest, which is hard to swallow.

As a single person glass tables are great for smaller and darker spaces. My glass top dining table was a cost effective move.

As an American that just did a major addition and renovation to my 100yr old home I agree 👍 with just about everything you listed. But also add to it hate the open shelf concept in the kitchen that replaces all or some of the closed upper cabinets with open shelves. Started out as a "Farmhouse esthetic" but then included a Modern Minimalist version for modern design lovers. Some also go all out to create that "Commercial kitchen or professional chef" look with stainless steel and all of your kitchen tools and equipment out on open shelves, hanging on racks & walls, all on open display. Unless you use evey single item hanging up or stacked on those shelves every single day (like a busy restaurant would!) so that everything gets washed every day, ALL areas and items attract cooking vapors and steam leaving oily residue on everything. The open shelves where they stack the dish, glass and decorative wares will need to be washed down every week, item by item to get the oily film off. I compromised by glass-fronting my upper cabinets in the work triangle over working countertop so all that the dish and glassware are visible for easy access but behind a door. Thats only 4 glass doors that get a quick window cleaning and wipe down when I do the stainless steel polishing. All of my other storage & lower cabinets are solid doors. All lower cabinets have pull out extention drawers. I have a walk in butlers pantry for food & small appliance storage with the main counter built at waist height specifically for my heavy Kitchenaid stand mixer. I can slide it out, throw in the attachments I'll be using, carry it to the kitchen island and I'm good to go. Returing it to store is such a game changer. No lifting or bending such a heavy item. Have to disagree on the floor heating. Once lived in an apartment that had floor heating. It had a problem & it was old. No one knew the system well. Maintenence would have to tear out the flooring to investigate, repair or replace it. They opted to put in baseboard heating instead.

Compost bin on the work surface are muuch more practical if you do a lot of cooking! Just change it regularly, get one with a charcoal filter and that is good looking.

In Poland we already install not only floor heating but recently also wall heating instead of conventional wall attached heaters. 😉 It is very practical especially if paired with photovoltaic installation.

YES!! To all of these, each one bothers me too. I notice these very things whenever I am looking for a new home. Great video!

110% agree with the underfloor heating especially when paired with an air or ground source heat pump for very efficient and ecological heating of the home.

Stone Veneer Cladding - In worst cases, it's texture that hasn't loaded yet.

Drawers instead of cabinets is easily the best change/upgrade any kitchen can have.

your advice and education is so welcomed.! everything you have mentioned is what i do not like in a home either. Carpet may be the worst. you gave me insight on the trash can because i dislike seeing a trash can out in the kitchen. i had it is a cabinet but it was too small so i am looking for a bigger cabinet. low cabinetry. i hate them. i use a pantry for all my dishes. thank you for this video. i love it

I have used over the stove microwaves at least 20 years. I"ve never had one fall or even become loose, and nobody has ever walked into an open door. Mine have always vented to the outside so I've found them to be an adequate replacement for a vent. Mounting the unit frees up so much counter space, and it's actually safer too, because little hands cannot reach up to play with it. If you follow the directions, the microwave will likely be installed more securely than your other cabinets. The best kept secret with kitchen cabinets is that you can add pull-out drawers into the area UNDER your base cabinet (where the kick plate is). I added two for storing large items like trays, cookie sheets and my electric griddle. The drawers are recessed, so they are in line with the rest of the kick plate. It is a perfect use of what is normally a dead space.

Most architects like to decorate houses for magazines. Never for real life. But your solutions are fantastic!!!

Dude the amount of ads in your video is making unbearable to watch it, I'm just 6 minutes in and I already saw about four ads which is insane

Everything you have said makes sense. Some I’m already doing, others I will try. Thanks.

I designed the remodel of our kitchen here in the U.S. about 15 years ago, and I specified as many drawers below the counters as I could. The kitchen is tiny, and I wanted no upper cabinets,as I believe they’re just not efficient. The drawers though! 😍 I can see into all of them, all at once if I want. Nothing is ever lost in them. They’re lined with white melamine, which helps see into them. 👍 I have enough storage space in the kitchen. P.S. I also specified the garbage can in front, and the recycling bin in back, of another below-the-counter (and tall) drawer. It’s perfectly hidden, and perfectly accessible. A bonus is that I can just wipe the prep counter and let the crumbs fall into the bin! 😄

Can't believe you didn't mention cooktop extractor systems as an alternative to cooker hoods. An example would be the BORA system, they're quite the hype in The Netherlands rn

Lots of good advice, but I couldn’t disagree with you more about glass tables. They look great and nobody has ever run in to the corners of mine twice 😂

I have a bucket under my sink as a bin, it stops the bread bag we use as a bin falling over. Next to that is the council standard issue indoor food waste caddy - which gets emptied into the large compost bin every few days. We keep a washing up bowl under the sink too - it helps catch leaks under the sink and is useful on occasion. It currently also has a bread bag in it which we put the soft plastics in to take to the supermarket for recycling. Everything else is recycled too- a box for cardboard and a box for the rest as our area mixes glass, plastic & foil. These both live in the bottom of our boiler cupboard. I never have understood the need for a large bin in the house, we rarely put our curbside bin out more than once a month! Surely a large bin would just end up getting stinky, even if you separate types of rubbish.

Not very much I disagree with here. We upgraded all the hardware and switches in our home as soon as we moved in. Vertical blinds covering windows and closets [!!] were immediately torn out. We think that a drainboard is a necessity, but it is NOT built in, as shown in the video. We can put it out of sight if we have company. In that regard, I think having a sink in a kitchen island is a logistical disaster, but we see it all the time in new homes. When you have company, an open floor plan means all the pots, pans, and dirty dishes are all there for everyone's viewing pleasure. No thanks. Our kitchen is open to the dining room, but not to the 'living/entertainment' areas.

I agree that carpets have the drawbacks you mention, but I prefer them to any hard surface flooring, because they absorb sound. A carpeted room is peaceful, while hard floors clatter and bang and wear my ears out!

Great list! People should view this before they update or remodel.

your suggestions for the range heads and the using draws instead of cupboards is so right..I renovated my kitchen a few years back and I installed draws in the lower cupboards for all that heavy stuff and a cupboard around the range head to hold spices and so forth for cooking..we are going to renovate the kitchen in my new home and we will be instigating these items into it..probably also the bins idea..I like the idea of the power points having the built in usb ports..I hope that they do them here in Australia, it would make those points more handy.

Oh dear bellroy has found this youtuber too... they seem to send stuff to every youtuber =(