11 Fun Kitchen Accessories for Hosting
When you start planning your kitchen remodel, ask yourself one simple question: How can my kitchen work harder, so I don’t have to?
The right accessories can completely change how you cook, host, and enjoy your space. With smart, stylish tools, meal prep becomes easier, entertaining feels effortless, and you’re always ready—whether it’s a cozy wine night or a big holiday celebration.
Of course, every kitchen needs the basics like a great knife set, dinnerware, and charcuterie boards—but at MainStreet Design Build, we love taking it a step further. We’ve curated a list of high-end kitchen accessories that Michigan homeowners rave about for their durability, design, and ability to make hosting even more enjoyable.
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Expert Features That Elevate Your Everyday Living
The accessories below aren’t just about style—they’re about making your kitchen work better for you. From effortless entertaining to everyday convenience, these thoughtful upgrades bring comfort, function, and a touch of luxury to your space.
Kitchen Island Pop-Up Outlet
Tired of cords stretching across your counters? A kitchen island pop-up outlet is a sleek, built-in solution that keeps your space clutter-free. Installed flush with your countertop—usually on the island—it stays hidden until you need it. With a simple push, it pops up to reveal multiple outlets (and often USB ports), giving you easy access to power without interrupting your kitchen’s clean look.
- How It Improves Hosting: With a pop-up outlet, you and your guests can easily charge your phones without searching for a plug, and you can power small appliances—like a Bluetooth speaker or drink mixer—right where the fun’s happening. Plus, no more messy cords or tripping hazards. It keeps your entertaining space looking clean, organized, and ready for anything.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Aesthetics: Maintains a clean, uncluttered countertop look when retracted.
- Convenience: Places power exactly where it’s needed—ideal for prep work and buffet-style serving.
- Safety: Many designs have safety seals to protect against spills and retract when not in use.
- Integrated Design: Seamlessly blends with high-end countertop materials, preserving the luxurious flow of the kitchen design.
- Versatility: Essential for modern cooking and entertaining, accommodating everything from warming trays to portable blenders.
Instant Hot Water Dispenser
They say a watched pot never boils—but why wait at all? With an instant hot water dispenser, you can have near-boiling water ready whenever you need it. This handy feature uses a small under-sink tank that keeps water heated to around 94°C to 99°C (201°F to 210°F)—perfect for making tea, coffee, or quick meals in seconds.
- How It Improves Hosting: An instant hot water dispenser makes entertaining so much easier. You can prep drinks for a crowd in no time—no waiting for the kettle to boil. Guests can help themselves to tea, coffee, or cocoa, and you can quickly fill pots for cooking without missing a beat.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Speed & Efficiency: Delivers near-boiling water instantly, saving time and energy.
- Multi-Purpose: Ideal for hot drinks, quick meal prep (such as soup and pasta), and loosening stubborn grime on pots for easier cleaning.
- Safety: Often includes a locking or spring-loaded mechanism to prevent accidental dispensing.
- Filtered Water Quality: Many luxury models incorporate water filtration, ensuring the best taste for high-end teas and coffees.
- Energy Savings: Heats a small reservoir efficiently, consuming less energy over time than a traditional kettle that requires constant reheating.
Charging Station in Drawer
Everyone keeps their phone nearby these days, but in the kitchen, that can get messy fast. Between spills, crumbs, and limited counter space, it’s not exactly the safest spot. That’s where a built-in drawer charging station comes in handy. Tucked neatly inside a drawer, it includes outlets and USB ports for easy charging, plus a built-in safety feature that automatically shuts off if the outlet gets too warm.
- How It Improves Hosting: It provides a designated, out-of-sight place for guests (and hosts) to charge devices, effectively eliminating the common issue of cord clutter on countertops or kitchen islands.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Clutter Control: Keeps cords and devices completely hidden, maintaining a clean and modern aesthetic.
- Safety: Built-in safety features prevent overheating, ensuring safe charging even when the drawer is closed.
- Organization: Provides a consistent, protected home for electronics, freeing up prime counter space.
- Aesthetic Preservation: Maintains the integrity of your architectural design by discreetly relocating technological clutter out of sight.
- Device Protection: Hides expensive electronics from accidental spills and bumps during busy entertaining moments.
Under-Counter Refrigerator Drawers
Serve with style by magically presenting wine and appetizers right from under the counter. Under-counter refrigerator drawers also accommodate food and drinks that need chilling without overcrowding your fridge.
Designed to fit seamlessly into lower cabinetry, it’s often used in kitchen islands or bar areas. They can be configured for general refrigeration, beverages, or wine.
- How It Improves Hosting: They act as a dedicated chilling zone for drinks or appetizers near a gathering area. It also prevents guests from constantly opening the main refrigerator, improving flow and accessibility during an event.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Convenience & Accessibility: Easy to reach and access without bending down, perfect for high-traffic areas.
- Zone Storage: Allows for specialized temperature settings for different items.
- Aesthetics: Blends seamlessly with cabinetry for a custom, integrated look, especially in open-plan spaces.
- Improved Flow: Creates a dedicated beverage station, directing guest traffic away from the central cooking zone for stress-free entertaining.
- Custom Paneling: Can be fully concealed with cabinet panels that match the surrounding millwork for a truly bespoke, integrated feel.
Lazy Susan Pull-Out Shelf
A lazy susan pull-out shelf is a rotating shelf system. It’s typically a circular or kidney-shaped tray, often found in corner base cabinets to maximize their space and function.
- How It Improves Hosting: By utilizing the awkward corner space, it makes large serving platters, bulk ingredients, or lesser-used specialty appliances easily accessible when preparing to host or setting up a buffet. It saves the host from digging into a dark, deep cabinet.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Corner Maximization: Utilizes otherwise wasted corner cabinet space efficiently.
- 360-Degree Access: A simple spin or pull-and-spin brings items from the back of the cabinet right to the front.
- Improved Ergonomics: Reduces the need to bend over and reach far into a cabinet.
- High Weight Capacity: Designed to securely hold heavy serving dishes and bulk pantry items without straining.
- Smooth Operation: High-end hardware ensures the shelf rotates and slides quietly and effortlessly, reflecting quality craftsmanship.
Pot Filler
Cut the task of filling up a pot in the sink and carrying it to the stove. A pot filler is a dedicated faucet mounted directly on the wall or countertop above the stovetop. Its long, articulated, and often double-jointed swing arm allows it to reach pots on different stove top areas to pour water safely.
- How It Improves Hosting: It eliminates the strenuous task of carrying heavy, water-filled pots from the sink to the stove, a huge benefit when cooking large quantities for guests. This increases safety and efficiency during high-volume cooking.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Convenience: Fills pots right where you need them, speeding up meal prep.
- Safety: Significantly reduces the risk of spills, strains, or burns from carrying heavy pots.
- Dual Shut-Off Valves: Most models have a valve at the wall and a valve at the spout for increased protection against leaks.
- Design Statement: Often serves as a high-end visual accent, available in sophisticated finishes that complement the overall kitchen decor.
- Time Efficiency: Saves valuable minutes during complex dinner preparations, ensuring your focus remains on your guests.
Built-In Coffee Machine
No more hiding a coffee machine in an appliance drawer during hosting. Instead, why not incorporate it into your kitchen aesthetic?
A built-in coffee machine is a fully automatic or semi-automatic espresso and coffee maker. Seamlessly integrated into the kitchen cabinetry, it’s typically at eye level in a wall cabinet.
- How It Improves Hosting: It provides a professional, high-end, and self-serve coffee experience for guests. It can make various customized drinks without cluttering the counter, allowing guests to grab a cup while the host focuses on other tasks.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Aesthetics: Frees up counter space and offers a sleek, integrated look that elevates the kitchen design.
- Customization: Allows for personalized drinks with adjustable strength, temperature, and size settings.
- Ease of Use: Fully automated functions mean less labor for the host and a premium beverage experience for guests.
- Appliance Integration: Positions the coffee maker within a sophisticated appliance garage or wall unit, ensuring integration with the kitchen’s aesthetics.
- Gourmet Options: Allows you to serve a full café menu (lattes, cappuccinos, espresso) instantly, adding a touch of luxury to post-dinner entertaining.
Warming Station
When you cook a feast befitting a king (or a super-sized gathering), every platter must be freshly steaming or sizzling, like it just came out of the oven. A warming station is a low-temperature appliance. It’s typically a warming drawer, a built-in warming shelf, or a tray designed to keep cooked food at a safe and hot serving temperature without continuing to cook or dry it out.
- How It Improves Hosting: It is essential for staggering meal preparation and serving, ensuring a hot, freshly prepared meal experience for every guest, regardless of timing.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Temperature Control: Maintains food at precise, food-safe temperatures for extended periods.
- Flexibility: Can be used to warm dinner plates, keep bread/rolls warm, or hold entire courses.
- Sleek Integration: Warming drawers are often hidden behind a cabinet panel, maintaining a streamlined kitchen design.
- Professional Finish: Mimics the high-end capability of commercial kitchens, allowing for flawless meal timing and presentation.
- Serving Safety: Keeps food out of the ‘danger zone’ for temperature, providing peace of mind and supporting high standards of hospitality.
Hidden Pantry
A hidden pantry is often a walk-in or large cabinet concealed behind a door. It’s designed to resemble a regular cabinet or even a decorative wall panel that cleverly stores food without making the kitchen appear crowded.
- How It Improves Hosting: It provides massive, readily accessible storage for all the bulky supplies needed for hosting (oversized serving dishes, party goods, extra appliances), all while maintaining a clean, minimalist, and uncluttered kitchen aesthetic.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Aesthetics: Creates a sleek, seamless look that hides potential clutter from view.
- Maximized Storage: Offers significant space to store large and bulky items without sacrificing the central kitchen’s design.
- “Wow” Factor: Provides a unique and memorable design element that guests love to discover.
- Clutter Management: The perfect solution for achieving a minimalist, luxury aesthetic in the main kitchen space.
- Bulk Storage: Ideal for storing catering-sized ingredients and rarely used holiday serving sets, keeping them organized yet instantly accessible.
Climate-Controlled Wine Wall
Your guests no longer have to wait for the wine to chill in an ice bucket. A climate-controlled wine wall is a vertical display system designed for storing and showcasing wine bottles. It features specialized racking and a glass enclosure, designed to maintain optimal wine storage conditions. It turns a wine collection into a striking, decorative focal point.
- How It Improves Hosting: It transforms wine storage into a show-stopping visual feature that impresses guests. The dedicated climate control ensures that the wine is always served at its optimum temperature.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Statement Piece: Elevates the kitchen or dining area with a modern, luxurious design element.
- Optimal Preservation: A climate-controlled environment ensures wines are stored correctly, protecting your investment.
- Showcasing: Displays labels clearly, highlighting prized bottles.
- Personalized Selection: Makes selecting a bottle a ceremonial and engaging part of the evening for guests, reflecting a lifestyle of luxury.
- Custom Lighting: Can incorporate dimmable LED lighting to elegantly highlight the collection and enhance the mood of the entertaining space.
Customized Drawer Organizers
Customized drawer organizers are typically made of wood or high-quality plastic. They’re designed to fit the exact dimensions and contents of a specific drawer. Through their fixed compartments, they create space for cutlery, utensils, or specialized tools tailored to the homeowner’s daily kitchen activities.
- How It Improves Hosting: They enable the host to locate serving implements, specialty tools, or silverware instantly, eliminating the need for rummaging and speeding up preparation and serving. They create a luxurious, organized impression when a guest happens to open a drawer.
- Key Features & Benefits:
- Maximum Efficiency: Every item has a designated, perfectly sized space, maximizing the drawer’s functional capacity.
- Aesthetics & Protection: Provides a high-end, bespoke look and prevents expensive cutlery and utensils from scratching.
- Quick Access: Saves time and frustration by ensuring everything is always where it should be.
- Bespoke Craftsmanship: Reflects precise work, tailor-made to your specific storage needs and utensil collection.
- Elevated Experience: Creates a feeling of organized luxury, making simple tasks like setting the table feel more sophisticated.
Transform Your Kitchen to Elevate Your Cooking and Hosting Style
Having the right kitchen accessories, expertly integrated into your design, can completely change how you cook and entertain. At MainStreet Design Build, we help Michigan homeowners create kitchens that make hosting feel effortless, comfortable, and fun.
Ready to see what’s possible? Let’s transform your kitchen into a space that works beautifully for you. Contact us today to schedule a design consultation and start imagining what we can build together.