I chose a fireclay sink over a stainless one. I am almost certain a stainless sink was the saner choice, but I have wanted a white, apron front, fireclay sink since the early 80s and with this latest kitchen, I cannot resist.

As a rule though I am incapable of looking at something that is dysfunctional and considering it beautiful. I am not a minimalist, I appreciate things that are strictly ornamental, but if something has a function and does not do its job properly for the sake of its appearance then the thing cannot be seen as attractive- at best it can be a folly.

Agree with you on open shelves. I love the look, but I have a big dog and already have to dust a lot.

I like to think I'm form over function, but I did do inset cabinets in my kitchen and cabinet latches on some of the doors, which were definitely only aesthetic.

Layouts seem to drive the most form over function controversy on GW. To me nearly any layout can look beautiful for minimal functional trade-offs. Often seems like new posters get stuck on a disfunctional but beautiful inspiration pic and don't want to make any aesthetic trade-off for huge functional improvements. Even though the more functional option would look nearly as good as the inspiration.

take it from me, you will resent it in the long run if you choose beauty over function. if you have a good enough designer, it's possible to have both.

example 1: when I was younger, I used to insist on hardwood floors in my apartments - in spite of the fact that hearing neighbors' footsteps drives me bananas. when I finally moved into a building that had carpet on all floors, I loved it so much I wound up staying for over 7 years. I was able to figure out how to make the place beautiful IMO (it helped that the carpet was really nice). it is possible to have both form and function.

example 2: when we bought our house, we were totally blinded by how beautiful it is and failed to notice some functionality flaws. like, our kitchen has a cute-but-weird layout that can't be fixed unless we're willing to do some crazy expensive reno stuff (like moving / resizing windows). I can make it more beautiful with new finishes, but that will not change the fact that the kitchen is difficult to actually use. we got used to it -- I had to get creative with storage solutions -- but it still annoys me. whenever I see pictures of a kitchen that has a good layout, I get pretty envious.

Luckily I found this forum early on, and read many posts and was influenced by people's' advice here. As a result, I tried to be vigilant to avoid form over function when designing my kitchen.

I didn't pick design features before figuring out the floor plan. Maybe that was the easier path, seeing as my BF and I hadn't found a compromise between our opposing styles for many months. As advised on here, I inventoried all our kitchen items and created a spreadsheet that assigned each item to a location. Everytime I changed a cabinet I reshuffled things in the spreadsheet.

I did a few things that some, including beachem, consider too much monkey bother, like shelves. I have two chunky shelves that are purely there for aesthetics and glass shelves for the bar. Open shelves do add more work to the housekeeping, but for me the effort is worth it because I really like it.

Another unessential design: I put two upper cabinets with glass doors on each side of the range hood.

I really didn't need these cabinets; they hold non-essential items - vases, candy dishes, etc., that were my mother's, plus a few serving dishes. I'm not really a fan of the look now that we have it. They were necessary, because I really wanted an appliance garage and therefore needed to bridge the gap between the range hood and the cabinet with the appliance garage. I guess having them there creates continuity for the range wall. Yay?

I tell myself, that maybe someday if I really grow tired of it that I can put different inserts in the doors, perhaps frosted glass, and use them for more practical things. But, I don't really have a need, so it's unlikely that'll happen.

My other idea was to turn the appliance garage cabinet so it would be on the clean-up sink wall to the right of the window, with an upper cabinet with drawers down to the counter on the other side of the window. Doing that would have made the range hood look uncentered and others thought that would be jarring.

I guess what I learned in the process is that the space designs itself once you determine what your needs are and what will work in the space you have.

BTW, I really wanted a white kitchen (this house doesn't let in much light with its deep soffits and I wanted a lighter workspace) and my BF shot that down. He wanted light maple and I shot that down. We settled on walnut and I was over the moon about that, and then the budget shot that down. Compromises were made, but it was always form and not function that we gutted.

My kitchen starts in a 1926 house, was expanded in the early 1980's and then again in the late 1990's. I have 3 different ceiling heights ranging from 6 1/2 feet to 9 feet and my outside wall has a 12" jog at the 2/3 mark. It's never going to look like the magazine photos without tearing out the 2 additions and starting over. I wasn't prepared to spend that kind of $$$$ to get a "pretty kitchen" which everyone knows will be dated in a few years anyway! I built what I thought would function well for me and splurged on appliances. My "form" is my soapstone. I smile every time I walk into the kitchen, and DH loves that he is getting more (and better) home cooked meals than he's ever had.

I'm not a fan of "form over function" in any area of my life, let alone my kitchen!

Tell your brother he has horrible taste and to quit watching such trashy TV shows!

If a house doesn’t work for living in, it isn’t actually beautiful to me, even if it has super fancy finishes. Houses have a job to do.

I wouldn't choose form over function, but there is a limit of how much I'm willing to minimize the importance of looks......There will be some things that I find so unpleasant to look at that I don't want them around, no matter how functional they are (like Birkenstocks - I don't care how comfortable they are, I don't want to ever see them on my feet!). But I can't imagine the opposite - something I love the look of so much that I must have it, even if it would create a lot of work, trouble, or conflict.

In fact, I never would have done a kitchen reno if it was just for aesthetic reasons -- I needed to get more space and functionality from the work (and from my money). Getting something that was just better looking just wasn't worth the cost or trouble to me.

Don't misunderstand - I don't mind having beautiful things that don't have a purpose other than to look beautiful, but only if they don't add to my workload or get in my way. Art and jewelry fall into that category, but those aren't the issues in kitchen remodels.

Good question. I'm in the majority here in saying that I value function ... but I think we're all planning a couple items where we've chosen looks over function. For our upcoming build, I can think of a few:

- We're going to have a few (just a few) kitchen cabinet uppers with glass fronts. Solid wood front would be the more practical choice: Solids don't require finished insides and don't require as much upkeep.

- We're going to have a cathedral ceiling with beams in the great room, even though those beams will require occasional dusting.

- We're including a fireplace, even though fireplaces are expensive and are less efficient than HVAC heating. It's such a focal point, and I can't imagine leaving it out.

- We're building a relatively large front porch, even though it's really just for looks -- the back porch will get real use.

If I were to think really hard, I'd probably come up with a couple more. I'm perfectly happy saying that my house will be MOSTLY function-first.

OT it's funny how what some people consider status enhancing like copying the Kardashians or some "Real", others consider status damaging. It's a drama that plays itself out to great comic effect in my extended family. One person's snobbism is another person's trash.

@Mrs Pete - it doesn’t sound like any of those things inhibit function, though. So in a way they are acting more as ‘jewelry’ for the function of the house. Especially things like glass fronted cabinets - which do have their own utility in that they let you display items without the items getting dirty and dusty all the time. (I like glass fronted also for things I want to be easy to find. If my layout allowed it, I’d have tea and coffee supplies in nice containers in a glass front cabinet right by my kettle, so there was a hot drink station very easy to find for guests, but that I didn’t need to dust often.)

I would say that I will sacrifice some function for Form, but not for Fashion.

I like a certain amount of symmetry and balance, and I like to have reasonable focal points. On the other hand there are a lot of fashionable things that I would never do in kitchen or bath design. I would never use a natural stone in either that absorbed a lot of water or stain. (If I lived in a certain style or age of house I might use marble on kitchen counters and live with the staining).

I wanted coved corners on the floor (and then decided to cove the walls vertically, too; so I ended up using unfashionable tile because the cove tiles are available in the old basics and not in many newer styles.

In the main bath, I built the toe kick area of the vanity to the floor and tiled it and put a cabinet with no integral toe kick on top of that. I will do the same in the kitchen, build the toe kicks run the flooring up on the toe kicks and put the cabinets on top of that. I know it leads to a completely fixed layout, but I would move before I remodeled the kitchen twice in the same house.

I did shorter integrated, coved (Corian) backsplashes and side splashes in two of the bathrooms, one very short so I could place tile on top, the other 4-1/4" to match the rest of the tile height.

The kitchen will probably have a short backsplash again because I want integrated and I am thinking stainless.

The "form" part will probably be the hood which goes in front of a window, (which put the cooktop in a better place "function"

And the big "form" thing is the Copper oven and Cooktop which need to be restored and then will also require a little more care than a stainless or enamel surface, and the elaborate automobile-badge like label on the cooktop and oven that I can see myself cleaning out with toothpicks.

Sometimes (and that is sometimes) form over function means flashier, but not better. You can have lots of something cheaper quality wise. Or fewer things that are a better quality. Working on our remodel now and have tried to select materials that I will like 10 - 15 years down the road and that save on cleaning. I'd rather head to the beach. :)

When I say "function over form", I mean how a room/kitchen WORKS, not whether it might have some higher upkeep items in it. I hardly find glass doors on a few cabinets, a difficult task (but then I don't have toddlers with sticky fingers climbing up on my counters). I'm talking about whether a room "works" or not - does it easily fulfill the functions for which it was designed?

I didn't, not in the kitchen for sure, but who knows, maybe I would, had I more choice:) more space, more money, etc. What it'd be? Hard to say. Probably a material requiring more maintenance? Like my beloved walnut butcherblock

(no it was before GW...found you guys after the kitchen, towards the end of the bathroom. chronologically speaking lol.)

regarding Kardashians etc..my DD was into them when a teen which was irritating. I guess she likes to look at their wardrobe..I glanced once or twice..gosh what a superboring show. Can't fathom why I'd want to observe their daily life. Meticuously documented. I think every family in my life that I had an opportunity to observe was/is more interesting. I realize is a show, but can't see value in this entertainment. If scripted-I can watch a good movie or series. I can read a book. Don't get it at all. Obviously I didn't stay to look at the screen long enough to see their kitchen, or anything, really. In short if anyone would give me examples of how things look on reality shows I'd think something like "“It's the stupidest tea party I ever was at in all my life!” I don't mean to be harsh at all; I'm just perplexed.

Before we refreshed because of a dead range, the mixer stood on the counter, which I find cute. With our limited counter, It was a pain to always be working around it. I use it enough that I wanted it to stay in the kitchen itself. So, we took it off the counter and stashed it in a mixer lift cabinet. That also ruined what could have been two sets of 30" drawers flanking the range in lovely symmetry.

I hadn't really thought of it before this thread, but I guess no, I wouldn't.

It's always a trade-off. I could have added on a huge rectangle to the house and a perfectly functional kitchen. Instead, I added 5 feet in width and an octagonal bump out that echos the octagons in the front of the house. Those additions blend beautifully with the house, although I do not have a 15 inch overhang on a 36 inch island. We have a 12 inch overhang on a 30 inch island. I chose both form and function.

The entire kitchen functions so much better than it did before that I have no regrets. The house is precivil war and never had a kitchen inside until the 30s! The house wouldn't let us change positions of the fridge (we had to hide a hand hewn beam next to it). I find, although I thought I wanted a different position, I really love where it is now. Maybe what we think is a must for function, is really one of several options.

I have an open shelf for glasses, paper towels and mugs. I LOVE it! From dw to shelf. MIL must drink 3 glasses of water and 2 ensures a day, that we prepare ahead of time. With 4 of us the shelf empties and refills everyday.

So are windows form or function? Function for 1850, form 2018? I paneled my dw, no loss of function.

Now, if only I could get a good answer about the big chill stove I long for...would I lose function or is it like the paneled dw, no loss?

I did sacrifice 5,000 dollar slab marble for large format tile 500. Greener and cheaper!

@april I’ve never watched any of those shows but I am impressed at the Kardashians’ ability to convert absolutely nothing into a financial empire.

I had dinner with friends yesterday and they talked about being on House Hunters International. These reality shows are all fake but wow they are boring for the performers too.

She had to repeat her lines between three to fifteen times for the shoot because they only had one camera but imported the director from Australia and camera man from Japan.

She was also forced to say things that she would never say. She had to pretend to be enthusiastic about a crappy house that was literally falling around them and in a scary neighborhood. The reality is that she has owned a house in Malaysia for five years before the show.

I essentially chose function over looks. There were places I chose price over function, however.... parts of me still wants a 6 burner 36 inch induction cook top, instead of the 4 burner 30 inch induction range... But I'm content.

"Would you trade functionality for looks?"

A well functioning kitchen *is* beautiful. A poorly laid out kitchen, no matter how expensive or how many bells and whistles it includes, will never hold any appeal for me. Kinda like a guy a friend and I met decades ago. He was drop dead gorgeous but as soon as he opened his mouth and spouted ugly things, he wasn't good looking anymore.

PS Joseph, you cracked me up!

Function, function (budget), function. I employed enough form to keep it from looking like a commercial kitchen, but everything has to have a purpose. OK, I guess you could say the tin ceiling isn't practical in the slightest, but it makes me smile. I agree with lisa_a- A well functioning kitchen IS beautiful.

The more you start with a clean sheet the more you can include beauty in addition to function. If you're building new without using one of the existing plans you can create something beautiful that has great function. If you have the talent and patience and skill or the funds to hire those things. . . . .If you're willing to step outside what appears to be the norm you may also succeed at having beauty and function. . . . If you can evaluate suggestions and the ideas of other people without being overwhelmed and so change your mind when appropriate you can end with more.

I have no shame in admitting that I will sacrifice some function for form. Not to the extent that the result is nonfunctional, or highly irritating. But, for instance, I will avoid having upper cabinets solely for the beauty of it, even though I find it marginally irritating to store glasses in a bottom drawer. But I'm not going to design a nonfunctional kitchen solely for looks. And with a little thought, it's usually possible to functionally incorporate whatever pretty thing you're lusting over. So it's usually not a one-or-the-other situation.

I’d be lying if I said form didn’t play a huge part in designing my kitchen. Yes, it’s extremely functional, but if it comes down to a toss-up, form will win.

(I’m currently contemplating adding more cabinets to a tall wall... I think it will look amazing to do a solid wall of cabinetry all the way to the ceiling, which is 12’ at that point. We have absolutely no need for the storage; they will very likely remain empty.)

Reading others' comments, I wonder if we view function in the same way. For instance, I don't see glass fronted cabinets, open shelving or a lack of upper cabinets as choosing form over function. They all serve a functional purpose. Now if those choices were made at the expense of adequate storage overall or adequate storage in the right places, that's another matter.

Do they make a little more work - dusting, cleaning glass, etc - for the homeowner? Perhaps. But every surface has its trade offs. Stainless steel counters are impervious but they can be scratched and dented. Marble is great for baking but it can stain, chip and etch. Open shelving gives you a place to display treasured items or make it easier to grab oft used items but you need to dust.

I chose to put glass doors and a glass side on my upper next to my window to let me display the silver-plated items I inherited from my mom and my stemware, and to allow light from the window to pass more freely into the room.

That's not putting form over function to me. That's about weighing my options to meet my goals and choosing the one that best suits my needs. Kitchen design is all about compromise of one sort or another. I don't see form versus function as a black and white matter but as a continuum.

Function first but I feel I am getting both in my kitchen. Of course my island doesn't line up with my cooktop and my cabinets don't all line up perfectly, but even though everything is asymmetrical I feel it all works both functionally and beautifully. I am actually looking forward to cooking in my new space.

read mcmansion hell. The kardashians et el are mcmansion hell personified.

Ive always like straight lines and minimal ornamentation. I like mission style furniture shaker style cabinets and modern style architecture.

I think form is second to function, but still very important. For example our old cabinets were quite functional and very high quality custom cabinets, we ripped them out and replaced them so we could have completely new cabinets. the new cabinets are not as high quality (old cabinets were 3/4 plywood all around, new cabinets are 3/4 only in the back and 1/2 on the sides)

No.

Beach, I love your queries, and your choices. Remember that as far as kitchens go we’re your family!

Rita, by your own definition your sink is a folly. I’m glad you love it. I hope it hangs in there for you.

Cali, inset cabinets are less space efficient, but they function perfectly well as cabinets.

BF, I agree with you.

Cheryl, it sounds like most of what you did, you did with function in mind. The results are lovely.

Sherri, I hear you, but just because something’s beautiful doesn’t mean it’ll eventually be dated. I’m glad you love your soapstone.

Anglo, you’re right, you’re often right!

Guys, I can’t read any more without a confession. Remember a few lines back when I said “No”? I swore I wouldn’t move the plumbing to the bathroom above my kitchen because there was no functional reason to do so. Well, I’m delaying moving forward with the reno till I can move the plumbing, replace the beam, and expand the opening to my sunroom. This will improve the function of the space, but it’s mostly an aesthetic move. I’ll share images when it’s done, and I’m over my self loathing...

"Would you trade functionality for looks?" In a heartbeat - unless you follow the kardashians and bethanys of the world. Would you pick your spouse by looks alone?

Dang, missed thread too! I joined GW early in the planning stage, and function over design was my first lesson, gratefully! But I want a lovely kitchen also, and feel both can be accomplished.

We will be installing cabinet feet... that's for looks, and I know I'll be cursing myself at some point, but I do not care, I want them. Early on, and occasionally even now, I debate a lovely counter top on our island disrupted by a large inset butcher block to use for prep. However, I'm sticking with the inset butcher block as it will be used and abused by me, happily : )

I'm reducing the number of upper cabinets, too. Not only do I think it looks nice, I really like prepping without a cabinet in front of me. Each end of the wall will have high cabinets for symmetry, being a pantry and wall ovens. I'm making up for the lack of uppers by adding as many drawer bases as possible.

Instead of open shelves on the wall, I'm thinking of hanging paintings.

When we flooded, a bunch of the junk taking up space in the cabinets was lost. I piled my cookware and cookbooks on the counters and went to other rooms to save some of what I couldn't bare to lose. The forced decluttering will enhance my kitchen's functionality, right there! Junk drawer for DH will be located outside the kitchen and kid activity books/notebooks will be in their room.