35 Bad Design Choices That Are Unnecessarily Hard to Clean

This article was originally published on Travellergazette.com

There are moments when we look at something and think, “That’s gorgeous! What a great idea!” Unfortunately, sometimes, something might be good on paper, but when you go ahead and execute it, you end up with a design that’s so impractical that it’s almost not worth the effort at all. To inspire and potentially warn you against ending up in a similar situation, we’ve compiled a list of 35 uncleanable things that may look good but certainly don’t feel good to own or maintain.

#1: Of Dirty Mice and Men

At first glance, this design pattern on an LED gaming mouse looks super cool. As the picture shows, however, it’s not the best idea to have many small, complicated holes with many corners on a non-removable surface that’s constantly being touched with your hands, especially when your hands might be lightly dusted with Dorito seasoning.

It looks like it would take hours to scrub this mouse out by hand, and that’s without even worrying if using too much cleaner might make the electronic components stop working completely. These specialized gaming accessories tend to be expensive and hard to replace, so maybe a printed hex design would be better.

#2: Rock Solid Design Choice

Rocky floors in bathrooms have become a major design trend in recent years; it’s apparently supposed to give your space a pretty, rustic appeal, like a cabin in the mountains or a hidden spring. Unfortunately, there might not be a worse place to put a craggy, many-faceted floor than a moisture-rich environment like a bathroom.

Just the idea of scrubbing out the crevices of the floor here to prevent the buildup of mildew or mold makes us shake our heads in disapproval. Also, wouldn’t this be super uncomfortable to stand on? What if you need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and you’re barefoot?

#3: Holes Are Not a Good Design Choice

If you’re asking us, the countertops and cupboard shelves in your kitchen should be practical first and design second. This use of pegboard-style metal shelving is just not ideal; spills of small grains like sugar, flour, rice, and coffee would be impossible to remove without individually scraping out the holes with a pick.

This kind of shelving might be perfect for a garage, but for a kitchen? We’ll pass, thanks. It’s just not that appealing to look at even when clean, and when it’s not? Well, we like not attracting roaches into the house.

#4: Taking Shwoers for Granite

What’s up with people decorating their bathrooms with rocks? Is that a trend we’re not aware of? This time, it’s this person’s shower covered with rock, which might be even worse than rocky floors. Forget about the practicality for a second – we’ll get to that later – but do people want to feel like they’re in a cave or out in nature when taking a shower? Is that a thing?

And now, for the practicality issue, how exactly are you supposed to scrub out the crevices in the rock? And where’s the shelving? Where are you supposed to put your shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, or loofah? This also seems to be flush with the exterior walls and floor, which is another hazard in its own right.