Make Your Life Easier With These Functional and Stylish Kitchen Upgrades

We ask a lot of our kitchens. Not only do they need to make it easy to get dinner on the table, but they're also a focal point of the home. The kitchen is where the extended family prepares for Thanksgiving, where you bake cookies with your best friend, and where everyone inevitably gathers during parties. Plus, we're all putting our kitchens through their paces now that we're staying home and testing out tons of new recipes each week.

That means the ideal kitchen has to be both stylish and useful. Everything you bring into the kitchen — from your flatware to your small appliances — should strike a balance between form and function. With that approach in mind, we've come up with three overarching rules for decorating your kitchen — and picked out the HomeDepot.com pieces you'll need to make your dream kitchen a reality.

When it comes to your kitchen staples, choose quality over quantity. One top-notch dutch oven or dynamite set of knives will serve you well for years, so it's well worth investing in a reputable brand. Plus, there's something undeniably beautiful about excellent craftsmanship; just look at the sheen of a polished copper pot or the grain of a wooden cutting board to see what we mean.

Though experimenting with trends can be a fun way to infuse your space with style, mixing multiple trends together can be a recipe for disaster. Instead, choose timeless pieces with just a touch of added flair, like a dining set with a subtle swirl pattern or highball glasses tinted charcoal grey.