It's so easy to fall in love with online photos of gorgeous home decor, because we all want to be surrounded by beauty. However, the look isn't all that matters. Nick Lewis makes videos about the real world implications of home design. Here he plays devil's advocate about the long-term issues surrounding some modern design trends.

I have long been an advocate for practicality over aesthetics, which comes from experience. Over time, I think I've managed to combine them somewhat by adjusting the aesthetics to match real-world usefulness. Here are some notes I have about the topics Lewis covered. White Kitchen: The four biggest things that will undermine your beautiful white kitchen are kids, pets, plants, and cooking. Get rid of all four, and you may as well get rid of the kitchen, too. Minimalism: Simplicity is beautiful, especially if you have plenty of room, but if you have to walk to another part of the house every time you need a book, movie, scissors, blanket, or any of the things you use, it will get old. I'm all for getting rid of things you don't need, but your favorite artworks, family pictures, collections, and electronics have their place in the spaces that you can see them or store them. Open Kitchen Shelving: I collect old glass, and put my cobalt bottles on the mantlepiece, until the cat knocked them all off and broke half of them. Then I put my bottles above the kitchen cabinets, where they are safe but acquired a patina of grease and dust in less time than you'd think. The same would happen to everyday dishes if the cabinet didn't have doors. Besides, as Nick pointed out, the things you use every day aren't all worth showing off. I have no experience with glass tables. I never thought they were a good idea. Lewis mentioned that this is the second part of a series. <a href="https://youtu.be/O4g7us4RD4w">Part one</a> deals with specific trendy furniture items and accessories that won't work out the way you expect. Before you sink a lot of time and money into an aesthetic you fell in love with, I would <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnjhet_jt-oijILXoOzCZjg" class="on">check out more of his videos</a>.&nbsp; #homedecor #homedesign #NickLewis

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