This challenge comes from my sister-in-law Shirim, who is redoing her kitchen and wonders why most standard items for that room are so ugly. She is not wrong; this was a challenging post to put together. But because I love Shirim, I forged ahead, and bring you, for starters, this very chic bread bin.

I like this utensil holder so much I might have to order it.

Nothing like a classic Wesco trash can.

Shirim specifically asked for me to find a good-looking toaster oven, but I am not convinced such a thing exists. Also, toaster ovens never toast to my satisfaction, so I’m going old school on this one.

I mostly like this paper towel holder because it pretty much disappears.

Shirim is having a vexing time finding a dish rack that isn’t too awful to look at, and I have to say, this was the single toughest item to find. This one from Williams-Sonoma wins, mostly because it is less ugly than most, and is compact, which is good for your average New York apartment.

It wasn’t that easy to find a good-looking coffee maker either, but I did like the look of this one.

Shirim wanted an automatic coffee maker, but my choice for most stylish coffee maker of all time is this timeless drip version from Chemex.

Recently, my friend Will told me that my apartment doesn’t feel like the person who’s living there is very settled. Mostly he’s referring to my supernatural ability to attract clutter, and my extra bedroom, which basically functions as a storage facility. His theory is that this puts guys off when I bring them home, a topic we were on because I was somewhat recently dumped by a man I had only been seeing briefly but liked a lot, and was entirely mystified as to why. I’m pretty much over the getting dumped part, but Will’s criticism stuck: I love and feel perfectly settled in my place, but the truth is that it is absent some of the kind of finishing touches that make a house feel like a home, like say throw pillows for the sofa. So I’ve been looking for some nice bright ones, cause my sectional is a lovely but somewhat boring grey. This one is from Liberty—it’s their Ianthe print, which is one of my favorites, and I think the colors are fantastic.

This is kind of retroish and cute.

Another rather retroish choice: it reminds me of the kitchen in the house where I spent my early childhood.

I like the geometric print here, and the unexpected mix of colors.

This one is so damn cheery.

Just a lot of nice reds.

I’m really digging the combination of army green and pink here, and of course it’s hard for me to resist including a leopard print.

A pricey but oh-so-beautiful choice from Missoni.

And here’s a not-especially-bright but very fun Marimekko print.

And finally: this is just lunacy, but I love it so much.