KitchenTraditional Kitchen, San Francisco

Getting Rid of Fruit FliesSet traps. Fruit when green doesn’t produce the same odor as ripening fruit. Fruit flies go crazy for ripening bananas, which give off amino acetate. Vinegar and red wine also seem to be strong lures. Some big-box stores, such as Walmart, sell small traps for catching fruit flies, but Jang says there are numerous easier ways to solve the issue based on the three readily available food products mentioned above. Vinegar solution. Jang recommends punching a few holes about two-thirds of the way up a plastic water bottle and adding ⅓ cup of a solution of water with 10 to 20 percent vinegar mixed in. The flies are attracted to the smell of vinegar — hence the name — and will enter the bottle and get trapped in the water and eventually drown.

4. Pssst: You don’t have to like granite. No, really. You don’t. I swear. Do your own research on materials. You might find that quartz or butcher block (shown here) works best for your living needs. “I was told I must get granite counters,” says Darzy. “No, I don’t. I love the uniformity and no maintenance of quartz.”Closet Classics of Andover says the worst advice received was to “get black granite countertops. They are so hard to keep up with and keep looking clean. Even the slightest fingerprint or smudge shows up. I wouldn’t do it again.”Spurfnickety also deflected the peer pressure about granite countertops and was happy to do so. “I have always loved soapstone. We installed soapstone and after seven years have absolutely no regrets.”

Fruit bowl. I keep a bowl on my counter filled with fresh, seasonal fruit to encourage healthy snacking. Browse hundreds of stylish fruit bowls and baskets

Weathered kitchen countertops. More and more of kitchen and bath designer Lance Stratton's clients want countertops that can take the daily wear and tear of family life; there's a move away from show kitchens with precious countertops that clients are afraid to prep on for fear of scratches and dings. "They ask for countertops that already come a bit weathered," he says, "ones that have that banged-up look."

Enid chose a Madrone butcher block for the kitchen island. "When I remember to oil it (which I do not) it has a gorgeous rich, dark finish," she says. "But because we all use it like a giant cutting board — slicing melon, making sandwiches and rolling pie crust — it tends to be somewhat neglected when it comes to religious maintenance."Growing up in a family that covered its refrigerator with report cards, snapshots and other family memorabilia, Enid wanted to do the same. The wood-framed doors are custom made with galvanized metal panels, perfect for hanging family treasures. "I know it may look messy, but that's what makes a kitchen feel like home to me."