Off-the-shelf blenders and toasters can be useful, but as products they aren't often all that inspired.
For people who want to take their kitchens into a more stylized realm, the International Design Excellence Awards, put on by IDSA, are a good place to start.
The awards showcase dozens of products that have achieved feats of design, including consumer gadgets, industrial tools, children's toys, and more. Only a fraction of those won top honors for their ingenuity and beauty at this year's show in August.
Here are a handful of the kitchen accessories IDSA considered worthy.
SEE ALSO: The best designed products of 2017
Tupperware's MicroPro Grill lets users bake, grill, and sauté foods directly inside the microwave. Technology inside the grill turns microwaves into direct or convection heating devices.
The Ember mug gives coffee drinkers ultimate control by letting them determine the exact temperature of their beverage. Twisting the dial can make it colder or hotter by as small as one degree.
Breville Oracle Touch is an automatic espresso machine that handles grinding, dosing, tamping, and milk texturing — all from a handy color touch screen. The walk-thru guides are meant to help novice home baristas hone their skills.
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