Smeg Retro Toaster

Smeg's 2-slice toaster costs $170 and makes toast about as well as a $25 toaster from Target. On the counter, the steel body with chrome accents and the rounded 1950s silhouette looks good unlike cheap appliances do. I want 1 because I like the idea of a kitchen where every object was chosen deliberately rather than grabbed off a shelf because it was the cheapest option. Available in pale blue, matte cream, and a retro red that coordinates with the Smeg mixer and kettle. The color range signals that small kitchen appliances are visible all day long and function as furniture even when they aren't in use. Toast quality is fine, 6 browning levels and slightly wider slots for thick bread, but nobody buys a Smeg for the toast. Against it the practical argument is obvious: the markup pays for aesthetics, not performance. Still, I spend 3 hours a day in my kitchen and looking at a beautiful object on the counter isn't nothing. Build quality is genuinely better than cheap toasters, heavier steel, smoother lever action, and the power cord wraps around pegs on the bottom for clean storage. At $170 for 2 slots of bread, the price is hard to justify when I am also paying rent. But If I ever have a kitchen I plan to keep for more than a year, this is the toaster I want.