They are really common elements of kitchen photo shoots.

Here you go:

Northside Residence · More Info

So funny. When my "designer" came to take pictures of my kitchen she brought all three of those elements. The other thing she brought that cracked me up was a topiary tree for my window sill. I thought to myself "Now it's official, my kitchen is being photographed. Bring on the topiary!"

Wow, not easy to do! But I found one:

White & Wonderful · More Info

Too funny, beanpiele!

LOL thanks for playing! Yes the Le Creuset is the exception to the rule. Oh man now I need a topiary! Hilarious :-)

To be fair, I actually like these elements in a kitchen - I think every kitchen needs some evidence of "life lived" and pops of colour, so I see why designers do it. They are really focal points that give the eye somewhere to go, as evidenced by the pics above, that seem a little too static.

I think I will be keeping a small plant in the kitchen, just for the "greeniness", I always have a bowl of fruit. And maybe I need to indulge in flowers more often?

LoL I never noticed those items as staged. Our kitchen always has a teapot and fruit bowl. Summer always have flowers from our garden.

Busted! A tea kettle was the very first thing I bought for kitchen. Thought tea might be better to deal with the stressors than alprazolam/Xanax or wine - especially in the middle of the day when workers were still around!

mdln tea works, but chocolate works better!

I do pretty much always have a bowl of fruit in the ktichen, though mine is seldom as pretty as those in photo shoots.

I think we should all have flowers more often! One of my favorite things in this house is the hydrangea bushes that pre-date me and have obviously found the water table because they are thriving without any watering in the CA drought. They provide flowers for my living room for months.

I must confess I never look at Houzz pictures but I was intrigued and decided to look for the first time at Houzz pics and what I found was, well, too many pics to even post in this thread!

I narrowed my search perimeters to dark wood, as that is what I have in my kitchen. What I found was relatively few kitchens with this accoutrements. Then I decided to narrow the search to just orange kitchens (a rarer color in decorating schemes) and found the same thing.

I think, though I could be wrong here, that bursts of color from fruit, flowers and tea kettles is needed in the ubiquitous white kitchen otherwise it looks cold and sterile.

In kitchens which already have plenty of color, these items become less pertinent.

Funny! Like beachem, I've usually have 2 or 3 of 'em in mine; and the dog!

I'll play.

Oh, darn! Missed the apples by the range. I got zip.

Kitchens · More Info

Just checked my idea book and found this one:

Spring Valley Kitchen remodel · More Info

I used to always have a tea kettle on the stove and for sure a bowl of fruit or vegetables in my kitchen. Once I have an instant hot water tap, I guess I won't have the tea kettle on the stove anymore.

crl_, you are so lucky to have such thriving hydrangeas, I love them, but I've never had much luck growing them.

Here is a few I came across in my search.

Do (possibly herbs?!?) count?

As for my personal kitchen, I almost always have fruit, does a healthier and better tasty snack exist than fruit?!?

Flowers; if its a special occasion then I have them, otherwise no.

Tea kettle, do people actually still use those? Growing up my mom always had one on the stove, it also had to be replaced multiple times due to her forgetting it was on and letting the kettle burn dry. The smell was horrendous!!

I've never had instant hot water; but I've got a microwave which has always fulfilled any function I might get from the old timey kettle.

In my entire adult life I've never owned a tea kettle and the only time I have a regret is once a year when I'm canning my homemade jelly and I need to fill the simmering pot of canning water with "boiling water".

Somehow, I've managed for close to 15 years without a kettle on the ONE day out of 365 that I might actually have a use for it.

Yep, not getting a kettle that will only be used one day a year.

Your mom needs a whistling tea kettle.

I have all three in my kitchen though not necessarily all 3 all the time. If you use the items all the time, are they still contrived decor? I think not.

Great observation steph! I'll play. And I would add, this is one where if you click on the other view to this kitchen there isn't anything listed either. Some pics that don't show anything on the main search page will have other shots included that do. ;)

warmington north · More Info

This one came up when I searched 'vintage kitchen' which is my area of interest. It looks as if no one lives there yet, and it could have used a little tlc staging.

In my kitchen I have 1, 2, and 3-- if you count a hoya in a pot above the sink.

Kitchen Remodel ~ Alexandria, VA · More Info

Here's one. It took me forever to figure out how to attach a houzz picture.

Kitchen with Indigo Subway Tile · More Info

Texas_Gem those are some interesting points - it's true because I am doing a white kitchen I have been focusing on those, and it's true they need pops of color to add personality and energy. I also noticed that a lot of examples you posted are "modern" style...wondering if that particular type of kitchen stylists keep clear and sleek because that is the aesthetic of modern, large expanses of sleek material and unbroken sightlines? Thoughts?

Re: the kettle - I bought one because I like them and I wanted something that whistles, it's like a ritual to put on the teakettle and wait for that sound. Also DH loves orange and it was a way to get some pops of colour into the room. I always have cut flowers laying around my house as I have a huge garden (love hydrangeas- but I suck at growing them!) . And the fruit is just practical, so my kids will eat it.

mama_goose I agree, the classic kitchen pics without these elements do look like the owner has vacated the premises. Except the modern spaces, in those I picture someone in the next room doing something enviably cool, like drinking saki and alphabetizing their vinyl collection. The pics that do have these elements in them, in my mind I hear children playing outside, or conversation drifting in from the family room. These are just my own projections I put onto a room lol....

Viva la fruit bowl!

mama_goose, I have a hoya on my windowsill above the sink too!

Oh, and here's one from one of my Ideabooks without flowers, tea kettle, or fruit.

Kitchen Remodels · More Info

I have a stainless steel whistling kettle - and, as the saying goes, 3 guesses as to why I have one that whistles and the first two guesses don't count.

I have a little plant corner in my kitchen that is in front of my KA mixer. I killed one of them so I was thinking of a replacement. Topiaries - here I come!

Texas_gem - I was wondering whether your chosen kitchens don't have the extra displays is because of the modern design of them.

jdez - I'm glad you took the time to post that picture because I really like that kitchen. Love the wood of the island.

LOL pattisue the tissue box as design! Love it! It's the new topiary, I guess...

bl fenton I am chucking my electric kettle that has no whistle for the same reason, Why do those even exist?

I use my whistling tea kettle every day, in the morning and again in the afternoon, and whenever friends come. I can hear that whistle anywhere in the house and even if I'm outside! I don't drink the "real" coffee, it's a powdered coffee beverage that you make with boiling water and my friends love it. lol I can't see putting it away in a cupboard after each use.

I like a bowl of fruit on the table but don't buy it often enough to use it as decor. This is the time of year I will bring a small bouquet of flowers in to sit on the shelf too. But I know what you mean about the staging in photos. I also wonder about that box of tissues?

LisaA, it took me a minute to figure out WHY that photograph looks "too empty", even if it's a magazine shoot. It's because the upper, all-glass cabinets are empty.

Edible, your picture looks entirely too "real". I mean, FIVE small appliances? No one's allowed to have that many in a photograph.

TexasGem, I also always have a bowl of fruit ... but I keep a variety of fruit; I never have a big bowl of just lemons or just oranges.

Overall comment: These very empty kitchens look GIGANTIC.

Thought I'd mix things up, here's one with all three! lol

And pattisue, I remember that kleenex picture from long ago when I first ran across it. I too was struck they would leave the box in, and YES, the runner clashes big time. :/

Melbourne Beach 1 · More Info

I'm going switch and play Beth's game. This is my kitchen in our former house. Photo was taken for a regional magazine and yes, it has all three items all of which were mine. I think we drank the wine when the photo shoot was done.

Cherry shaker kitchen · More Info

nhbaskets nice kitchen!

OK I'll play

Green on Great Island · More Info

:)

nbaskets, I love your kitchen too, nice!

steph, love that blue door. Yum

On a side note- a like that some people are playing with the concept a bit - like this watermelon

Sarasota Island House · More Info

or check out the cool wood slab and veggies

Rustic Kitchen · More Info

or....whatever these things are....

Palma Plaza · More Info

Vintage kitchen with all three.

Kelly and Abramson Kitchens · More Info

And when you get tired of the plant, toss in the kids and the dog.

Traditional Kitchen · More Info

In Cajun country, those are called mirliton. Y'all might call them chayote. (referring to stephanj's third pic)

Thanks Pattisue!

Mama goose I lurve that white vintage kitchen!

" or check out the cool wood slab and veggies"

Forget the veggies, did you see the lighting fixture?? I hesitate to call it a chandelier. lol And those other green things in the other pic look like mutants...

lol @ kids and dog

mamagoose, LOL!

This one doesn't qualify, but I ran across it looking for a candidate and it amused the heck out of me. Because I always stick my pasta into the pot before I turn on the burner (everyone knows it cooks better that way). No fruit, but veggies and Le Creuset. Second tier choices, but still...

Custom kitchens · More Info

I wonder if they took their Le Creuset to the paint store for a colour match? And yes, beth09, that picture with the wood slab as a chandelier that for me is just a little creepy.

...and did they pair glasses of milk with bowls of garlic bulbs and green onions?!

LOL cawaps! That's how I cook pasta - which is why DH does the cooking....

amck2 - mmmmm.....garlic milk....

Beth09 - OMG I missed that chandelier! Wow I bet it was expensive too....

blfenton I am willing to bet they did use that pot as their colour match!

I'd scream at my kids if they were sitting on the counter feeding the dog lol.

Expensive, yes. It looks like some alien creature coming down out of the ceiling.... lol

Mrs Pete, I totally missed the cabs were empty! The DR looks inviting but the kitchen does look empty.

Ok, I'm switching it up again. The name of this game is, Can you beat this?

I was looking at glass cabinet door pics and this one comes up. I was so struck by these doors, I have never seen anything quite like these. Very unique. So with that, my eyes start taking in the rest of the pic, and then, I came to it. A GIANT bug, right there in the middle under the cabs. Why??? Who puts giant bugs in their kitchen? Looks like a, I dunno, beetle? tic?? Gross. LOL So, can you beat this? :)

Loper home · More Info

I opened my mom's freezer once to find a dead vole in it. She was keeping to show the neighbors what voles look like. Ewwwwww! Does that count?

Oh my gosh, I just laughed SO hard. EWW is right. Funny. Yes, it counts, even though there's no pic. ;)

Eeew, that looks like a tick! Also, we had a counter just like that (courtesy of the PO) when I was in HS. I clicked through to see if their floors were also saltillo tiles and bingo - "artsy" rustic circa 1988 ;)

My entries for the original game:

No flowers, kettle, or fruit, although there is some kind of beverage being offered...

Fulham Traditional Kitchen · More Info

This one doesn't have any of those things, but probably still fails on principle because of the kitchenaid.

Paige & Steve's Kitchen · More Info

funkycamper, I had a dead hamster in the freezer once, but only because I was waiting for my son to come home from school so we could have a burial. I thought it would stay fresher in the freezer. ;-)

pattisue, that is so sweet. In an icky kind of way. lol ;)

LOL Beth 09 ewwwwwwww!

Fishcow- we could have done this whole game based on a kitchenaid lol....