The Best Kitchen & Bath Finds from Our 2024 Small/Cool Design Awards
When it comes to updating your kitchen or bathroom — without having to do a gut renovation — you may feel somewhat limited in terms of well-designed, not overly expensive decorating options. That’s where we come in: Apartment Therapy just launched the first-ever Small/Cool Design Awards to spotlight 44 of the best home finds for every room, including a handful of surprisingly chic appliances and fixtures.
Whether your windowless rental bathroom could use some love (*raises hand*) or you need a little more color in the kitchen, these winners from our kitchen and bath category have you covered.
Best Kitchen & Bath
- Showerhead: Hai Smart Showerhead (WaterSense)
- Mini Fridge: Rocco The Super Smart Fridge
- Toaster: Bodum Bistro 2-Slice Toaster
- Tile: Zia Tile Gambit 8 Mosaic Zellige
- Faucet: Pfister Winter Park 2-Handle 8″ Widespread Bathroom Faucet
- Shower Curtain: Quiet Town Sun Shower 2×2 in Honey
What Makes Up This Category of Winners
These expert-approved appliances and fixtures — stylish showerheads, tile, faucets, and more — prove your bathroom and kitchen don’t have to skimp on style, especially if you’re a renter. Even a modern new shower curtain or ultra-bright toaster can make all the difference!
How We Picked Our Winners
Of course, there’s so much good design out there, so to compile this list of bests, we first consulted our editorial and commerce teams for the need-to-know products on their radars, plus reviewed a handful of reader-favorite bestsellers. We also welcomed submissions from some of our go-to brands, but to be considered for inclusion, all products must have been released within the past three years and cost under $1,000 (with the exception of sofas).
We tapped a team of in-the-know panelists to share their own design-forward faves as well: Ellen Van Dusen, founder of colorful textile brand Dusen Dusen; Sebastian Brauer, senior vice president of product design at Crate & Barrel and Crate & Kids; Priya Vij, founder of cabinet hardware company Hapny Home; interior and furniture designer Sarah Sherman Samuel; DuVäl, interior designer and Small/Cool pop-up alum; Deirdre Maloney and Minya Quirk, co-founders of online shopping platform Afternoon Light and two of Apartment Therapy’s 2024 Design Changemekers; and Jeremiah Brent, interior designer and Queer Eye star.
2024 Small/Cool Design Awards
Want to see more winners? See here for the full list of winners for the 2024 Small/Cool Design Awards.
All prices were accurate at the time of publishing, but may have changed since then.