I LOVE LOVE LOVE my goggles that are the kind meant for chopping onions. They're so cute too, being pink. You put those suckers on and will never shed another tear for an onion! :) I also love my mini (Cuisinart?) food chopper. It's like a tiny version of the standard size and is just a heck of a lot easier to use when you're chopping something small enough like nuts or bread (for bread crumb toppings), etc. The one I have was a hand-me-down so pretty old...so any tiny one would do I'm guessing. I love my Zyliss rotary cheese grater, and also my microplane grater/zester for smaller jobs like just grating fresh parm. on some pasta that's already on my plate. It could do some bigger jobs too though as these things work VERY well and fast! I love gigantic tongs (the all-metal kind that pro cooks use).

This is an interesting thread. My favorite kitchens items are large Pyrex measuring cups (4 and 8 cup size)to use as mixing bowels---you have a handle to steady them. Next is the APPLE CORER that cuts the apple into 8 wedges and the center core is separate. These can be bought at the grocery store or Target. Next is a flexible little nozzle you screw onto the end of your kitchen faucet. You can turn it in many angles to direct the water to different areas of your sink. Much handier than pulling out the sprayer. I don't know where my daughter bought it. HD bought one of those onion choppers but the many little square holes are hard to clean. The onion sticks to it--takes longer to clean than to chop the old fashion way.

Summer is no different than any other time. Most gadgets and gimmicks are never very useful past the honeymoon phase of enamourment. A good santoku blade, a decent cutting board, and a 12” multi purpose pan, and I can create just about anything. I do like my smoosh and squeeze citrus juicer though, summer or winter. I hate straining seeds through my fingers if here’s any cuts in them. If you have a heavy duty straw, like for a sippy cup, you can use that as a cherry pitter. But I can’t ever pit enough to do anything with because I’m too busy eating them. Part of the pleasure of some produce is the seasonability. When strawberries became available year round, it sorta diluted that specialness. And their taste.

I personally wouldn't put 2 different kinds of hardwood/wood look flooring next to each other. I like herbflavor's suggestion. LVP is softer and warmer than tile. It's not as durable as tile, but you don't have grout, which is a plus in my book. There are tons of tile-look LVPs out there. With white cabinets I would go with a medium dark to darker LVP to provide some depth and contrast. There are LVPs in a tile look in browns, which I think is what you prefer.