10 Kitchen Design Decisions Designers Say No To (Starting with Kitchen Pot Fillers)
Hot takes from an interior designer on the trends everyone's getting wrong
You're mid-renovation and decisions are coming fast. 😵💫
Someone mentions a pot filler. Your contractor suggests crown molding to the ceiling. Your partner wants trendy tile everywhere. Suddenly there are a hundred choices that all sound reasonable until a designer points out what actually happens when you install them.
Here are ten design decisions I say no to, every time. This is what interior designers do differently. Some might surprise you. Some you might be defending right now. But good design isn't about adding more. It's about choosing better.
No #1: Kitchen Pot Fillers
Kitchen pot fillers seem appealing at first glance.
Convenience. A luxury look. Water fills directly where you need it. Then you actually use one and realize what interior designers know: the reality doesn't match the fantasy.
Here's what happens with kitchen pot fillers: mold grows behind the wall because the fixture isn't used constantly like your sink faucet. Plumbing maintenance becomes complicated when something goes wrong. The water splashes everywhere because the pot is sitting on a hot burner. People rarely use them as much as they think they will.
Instead, invest in a well-placed, high-quality faucet at your sink. That budget goes much further toward something you'll actually use every single day.
No #2: Tiny Pantries Instead of Smart Cabinetry
There's something romantic about the idea of a pantry.
A little walk-in space for all your dry goods. It feels special and organized. Then you build one and realize a cramped walk-in pantry often provides less usable storage than well-planned floor-to-ceiling pantry cabinets in the same footprint.
What interior designers do instead: maximize the square footage with smart cabinet storage. Pull-outs. Deep drawers. Adjustable shelving designed around what you actually store. Floor-to-ceiling pantry cabinets that work harder and look better integrated into your kitchen design.
The cabinetry approach gives you more flexibility and actually works for how people cook.
📖 RELATED: Read Your Cabinets Will Be in Your Kitchen for 20+ Years. Here's How to Make Sure You Still Love Them to understand what interior designers think about when planning cabinet layout, storage, and quality.
No #3: Trendy Tile Everywhere
You find a pattern you love.
Zellige. Encaustic. Handmade glazed tile. It's beautiful and you want it everywhere. In the backsplash. On the walls. On the floor. All of it.
This is what interior designers know: overwhelming a space with one trendy pattern dates it fast and loses its impact. That tile you're obsessed with becomes the thing people notice first about your kitchen, then the thing that dates it to this specific era.
Instead, pick one focal spot for your trendy tile. A backsplash. A shower floor. An accent wall. Let it shine there. The rest of your kitchen breathes with timeless, classic finishes.
No #4: Microwave Over the Range as the Default
This is what builders do by default, so we all assume it’s the only way.
But a microwave mounted over your range blocks your sightline. It creates an awkward reach height when you're trying to grab something. It wastes prime real estate above the range where you could have open space or something more purposeful.
What interior designers do: get creative with placement. A microwave drawer built into the island. Tucked into a lower cabinet that pulls out smoothly. Hidden in a pantry. These solutions take slightly more planning but work infinitely better in real kitchens.
No #5: Matching Every Metal Finish
There's a fear that if your faucet is brushed nickel, everything must be brushed nickel.
Your cabinet hardware. Your light fixtures. Your drawer pulls. Your towel bars. All brushed nickel, room after room, forever.
What interior designers understand: matching everything makes a home feel flat and monotonous. Each room should have its own personality. A brass faucet with stainless hardware. Unlacquered brass fixtures with nickel details. The intentional mixing creates visual interest instead of sterile uniformity.
Let each space breathe with its own finish story.
No #6: Cabinets to Ceiling With Oversized Crown Molding
You want cabinets higher. You want to reach the ceiling. You don't want the gap that naturally happens between standard cabinet height and your ceiling.
So you add a 14-inch crown molding to bridge it.
This is what interior designers say no to: forcing cabinets to ceiling height with a massive crown molding just to close the gap looks forced and heavy. It's trying to fake something instead of designing it properly.
Instead, plan from the beginning. True ceiling-height cabinetry designed into your layout. A proper soffit. Or intentionally leave the space open and let the wall breathe. Any of these work better than oversized crown molding trying to hide a planning mistake.
📖 RELATED:5 Kitchen Remodel Design Mistakes That Make Your Renovation Look Amateur
No #7: Barn Doors
The farmhouse trend made barn doors seem essential.
Space-saving. Charming. Sliding instead of swinging. Then you live with one and realize what interior designers know: barn doors have significant issues. Sound travels through the gaps. Privacy is compromised. There's visible light leaking around the edges. And as the trend fades, they look dated fast.
What to do instead: pocket doors that slide fully into the wall. Well-planned swing doors. These take more design work upfront but actually solve the problem instead of creating new ones.
No #8: Too Many Can Lights
Your new build came standard with can lights everywhere.
Forty-seven recessed lights throughout the kitchen seemed like a good idea until you turn them all on and realize what interior designers know: flat, shadowless lighting feels commercial and harsh, not warm and layered.
What interior designers do: layer lighting intentionally. Pendants over the island. Sconces on either side of the sink. Under-cabinet task lighting. Fewer, more purposeful recessed cans. This combination creates warmth and visual interest instead of that fluorescent-mall feeling.
No #9: Luxury Vinyl in a Luxury Property
Luxury vinyl is durable. It's cost-effective. It installs easily.
And if you're investing in a high-end kitchen renovation, it undercuts everything else you're building. That quality cabinetry, those beautiful finishes, that intentional design. And then the floor says "budget conscious."
What interior designers choose instead: real hardwood. Engineered wood. Natural stone or tile appropriate to the home's price point. These materials actually age beautifully in a luxury space and protect your overall investment.
No #10: Design by Committee
This is where most renovations go off the rails.
Everyone in the household wants a say. Your partner has opinions. Your mom has opinions. Your best friend has opinions. Your contractor casually suggests something. Suddenly you're trying to please six people instead of having one clear vision.
What interior designers do: identify one decision-maker per project and empower them to choose. This is actually a huge part of what interior designers do on every project. Guide the process so one clear vision wins out instead of getting diluted by too many voices.
One decision-maker. That's the difference between a cohesive kitchen and a kitchen that feels like a compromise.
The Bottom Line: Choose Intentionally, Not Popularly
Don't kill me for this list. These are just my no's, built from years of watching these choices play out in real homes.
Good is about being intentional. Choosing where to spend, where to save, and where to simplify.
So before you sign off on that kitchen pot filler, decide to run cabinets to ceiling without a plan, or loop in six opinions on your paint color, ask yourself: is this actually the right choice, or just the popular one?
Your Next FREE Step: Decisions Are Just the Beginning
Before you make any renovation choices, make sure you're thinking strategically about everything.
This free guide walks through the 7 renovation mistakes that happen before you even think about these design details. You'll learn:
✔️ Why intentional design beats trendy design every time✔️ How to make choices that actually age beautifully✔️ What matters more than whether you skip the barn door
⚡ Grab the FREE guide here→ Before You Renovate: Every Homeowner Should Know the Top 7 Mistakes to Avoid
About Taylor Ferrell: San Luis Obispo Interior Design
Taylor Ferrell is the designer behind SALT Design Co. She designs kitchens, bathrooms, and entire homes for people who are tired of choosing between beautiful and functional. Spoiler: you don't have to choose. Book a 30-minute Zoom if you want to talk through your space.