I found that when I put mine in a cabinet, I didn't bake. So now it stays on the counter 24/7 (with a lid over the bowl to help keep dust out). It's white and blends with the white cabinets and counter, and I put it in a corner where I don't use the space anyway. It's about the only appliance I feel belongs on the counter all the time - even my toaster gets hidden in a cabinet when not in use. The other exception is the coffee pot. ;)

green, you found if you kept the stand up mixer in the cabinet, you were not baking. So maybe, if I put the fridge in a cabinet, I wouldn't eat much, hmmm ;0(, great idea, light bulb over my head ;0) ?
Now the trick is, to find a cabinet in the kitchen big enough, to hide the fridge in!
Lol

Katie, if you have a dishwasher, you can wash them in it.

i have the red kitchenaid one pictured, its goin in my upcoming garage sale.

LOL! tw123456, that's a genius idea for both of us! ;)

Our white mixer sits on the counter with a cover I made to protect it between uses.

I love them and they come in so many colors for people who want to leave them on the counter

A Must Have in my kitchen. I use it all the time. I have the same one as in the photo above and just gave my daughter one in pale yellow to match her kitchen!

A must-have kitchen small appliance, just not for decorative use. Mine comes out & up from a cabinet.

I love stand mixers. My wife informed me she's ready for an upgrade.

River, you sure she was talking about the mixer? ;-)

I'd love one like the picture… the bowl in glass is a great idea for mixing a sponge and microwaving it in the mixing bowl (xref Houzz Poll on signature dishes: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5598/fastestever-lemon-pudding).

Abso-tutin-lutely!
I knew somebody was going to say that!

For all its use, I don't find it takes up that much space. Either way, like the original poster mentioned, it really can double as an accent piece in the kitchen. Function and beauty!

We received ours for a wedding present 58 years ago and it stills does every thing from mixing cakes to grinding meat. It has several attachments to do other things. It sleeps in a cabinet but may stay out on the counter for days at a time if I know a few projects are coming up. It is a Dormeyer.

I do have one, a pro model in dark blue with a much bigger bowl than the one pictured, and heavier duty. I use it a lot, but it's not necessarily a must have.

I think they're fine if you have the counter space for one.

I should buy one and put it on my kitchen counter to make it appear that I know how to cook :) #BeSeenBeSafe

I have one and use it frequently , keep it in the base cabinet on one of those stainless shelving units designed specifically for stand mixers it pulls out and up and locks .. very easy to use , keeps the counter free and keeps me from hauling it out of the walk in pantry on almost daily basis... one thing a Hand Held has over Any stand unit is the ability to reach the bottom and all sides of the bowl.. ANY and all stand mixers fail at that dramatically, even with the supposed new scrapping blades, You still have to scrape the bottom of the bowl to insure everything is well incorporated.

btw it is excellent for pasta making (every sunday) - grating cheeses, cutting veggies from the garden for freezing and it even makes a fairly decent ice cream! The attachments are key in utilizing this product to its fullest.

Uncovered mine yesterday to start making the holiday cookie doughs!

Are you kidding? Life without a KitchenAid stand mixer? No way. I love that thing and treat it with more love than anything else in my kitchen! It's like a right of passage to adulthood! Mine is Cobalt Blue.

Always did without and used a hand mixer. Finally found a 6 qt. kitchen aid at a good price and splurged. It's heavy and awesome! If you do any kind of baking you will love this. We use it mostly for pizza dough. It has made making cheesecakes and German chocolate cake super easy. I leave it on the counter, it would be to much of a pain to pull out of the cupboard. We have a dark metallic grey and I think it looks cool but I would not buy it for looks.

Moving to a "new house"lol, and when the kitchen gets organized, all our app. are going to be on the counter.

Our kitchen aid is in the basement; took up too much room on the counter for years...and didn't fit under the cabinets....

I've uesd my kitchen aid amost everyday since I got it years ago, I love mine, and I. have a lot of attacments

Moved into the new house, and even though the house is over a 1/3 larger than the previous house, appliances are still in the cabinets.

Mine is a must!!!

Update- Mrs. River got herself a new Kitchen aid professional stand mixer in Espresso for Christmas.

Must have one

Love my KA mixer

Definitely want, especially when I'm kneading dough by hand for 12minutes. ;) I would definitely leave it out. My problem .....I look at the colors and they are all so pretty. But I am liking the red...... and white, copper, stainless, blue .....see, there's my dilemma. :)

it's great if you use all it's applications regularly if not a good hand mixer works just fine. i have one its very heavy. i use it about 4 or 5 times a year

Most certainly not for decorative purposes.

A must!

I don't really need one because I don't bake, but I've seen them displayed in friends' kitchens. They make good conversation starters, like one time when I told my friend that the mixer looked like Snoopy.

Can't decide on the kitchenaid pro series. 7 qt or the Cuisinart 7 qt. I have the Cuisinart 5.5 qt like it a lot but I need bigger. I use the timer on the Cuisinart and the KA doesn't have it. I have a small baking business out of my kitchen . Any advise that might help my decision.

I love my Kitchen Aid heavy-duty. It's very heavy, old and white although I love some of the newer colors too. I keep it on a stand that pops out from a lower cabinet. I think it's very good looking? What would you use a timer for?

I have a 1960ish stand mixer I bought found in an antique store. Works good enough for me when I need to whip up mashed potatoes or make cheese cake. Cakes, breads and cookies are all by hand.

If you bake - you have to have one!

i love these old polls that pop to the top.

stand mixer? of course! and why stop at one?

blue for the vacation house (right rear corner...)

red for at home!

I love my mixer, it is used almost everyday for last 14yrs.!

If a client has an aversion to having on the counter, (and has the room to do it), I usually suggest including a mixer shelf in a base cabinet. I find most people don't want to use up the space, and don't mind it on the counter. Too heavy to lift all the time...I have mine on the counter as I use it all the time. It looks great, there are so many colors to choose from.

As soon as my kitchen is done I'm buying one. I salivate when I see them in the store. I miss mine like a lost limb. It was Gran's maybe forty years old. It died it did.

Have one, wanna get rid of it because it is HUGE and we can do everything it does with other tools/appliances.

A Kitchen Aid stand mixer is a must, especially for making cakes and icing! I know how to decorate cakes and I learned in my classes that the only mixer for beating the icing is a Kitchen Aid and I totally agree!

Yes. I am on my second one. Kitchen aide may or may not be the best. But they are everywhere & both of my stand mixers have been Kitchenaide. I switched to stand mixers after burning out motors on numerous portable mixers. But you can burn out the motor on a stand mixer too, if the batter is too heavy or if the amount of thick batter is too much for the machine. When I bake I often make double batches for work. My next mixer, if I ever get that far, might be a tilt up; just because I think it might be easier to use as I get older.

I have one and I like it. It sits at the end of the counter out of sight (mostly) but when I redo my big laundry room and add shelves it will go in there.

We are getting one as soon as our new kitchen is sorted. Our new daughter in law is a professional pastry chef and we thought it would be in our best interest to have a mixer for when she comes to visit....

Definitely yes. Always, especially for my mother who loves baking all kinds of desserts. I use mine mainly for making whipped cream so, I don't own a really expensive stand mixer. I add some strawberries to the whipped cream to pretend that it's healthy.