You got the knife. Nice little stamped Japanese blade. Handle’s wooden, hexagonal too. Fire a pic to the group chat. Caption: smoking that Jiro pack. The response whelms: Three exclamation points, one ‘lfgggg,’ several faces blowing smoke. You’re so happy you slice everything in sight. Now the fridge is empty, trash can’s full. The produce aisle beckons. You grab your keys, wipe the cutting board, throw the knife in the drawer. Wait. A drawer? No, it’ll die in there. What about a block? The Cutco guy doesn’t do fifth floor walkups. Fuck. That’s what you say, after a Google search leads to 12 separate Condé Nast publications informing you of The Right Way to Store Your Knives, According to Chefs. Now you’re back in the apartment, tape measure in hand, praying your stick-on backsplash can support the 12” magnetic knife strip you just bought online.
It happens that fast because it happened that fast. Nobody knows exactly when, but at some point in the last decade, possibly overnight, the magnetic knife strip became integral to signifying You Know (Culinary) Ball. The forces behind its rise also remain vague. Theories, mostly mine, often sprawl into some Pepe Silvia reenactment, where Brad Leone, Korin, guys with keychains, Julia Child, and something titled “TikTok, at large” are all somehow responsible for knives now doubling as decor. But, in the interest of having at least one person read more than half of this article, we’ll “take that offline” and focus on the question that matters: Are you him? As in: Should you too buy a magnetic knife strip? Let’s find out.
Does this even remotely appeal to you?
If the answer’s no, hell yeah—I can’t believe you’re still here. And if the answer’s yes (how could it not be?), let’s touch on the quick and obvious functional perks of mounting knives on your wall. they’re easy to grab, will dull slower than they would in a block, and won’t scratch as easily as they would if they sat uncovered in your junk drawer. If you want an additional 500 words expounding on The Reasons Chefs Love those benefits, search “knife storage Bon Appétit” or something of the sort. Moving on.
Do your knives look like they were made to cut food?
This is the most important question of our exercise. Proudly displaying your knives on the kitchen wall is as much, if not more, of an interior design decision as it is a culinary one (hence the ‘guys with keychains,’ and ’TikTok, at large’ index cards dangling from my basement bulletin board). When guests come over, they’ll notice them. Possibly judge them. In that regard, please be aware: There are knife sets that look and feel like generic Etsy posters. Here’s an example:
If AirBnb Chic is your North Star, you probably love this. For everyone else, these are knives—which to be clear, are wonderfully functional and fully capable of making food better that tastes as good as anything you’ll ever have—best suited for the ‘ole block.
Now, here’s the thing: The other end of the spectrum is probably worse. Not to yuck anyone’s yum, but transforming the room where you make Easy Mac into a Smithsonian exhibit isn’t exactly the warmest vibe.
Which brings us back to the original question: Were your knives made to work? That doesn’t mean flashy, new, or expensive—just purposeful. Because, again, if you’re going to make functionality your “aesthetic,” having tools that actually work is the only way to avoid keychain-ian accusations.
Do you want other people to use your knives?
When your knives are out in the open, people don’t just notice them more—they use them more. Whether it’s slicing limes for cocktails or just seeing how it feels in the hand, a public knife is a busy knife. If, for whatever reason, that irks you, look into a knife roll. Otherwise, we’ve just got one question left.
Do you like cooking?
At this point, not sure how the answer could be anything but yes. So pull the trigger: Buy the magnetic knife strip. It will simply make cooking more enjoyable. Plus, you’ll begin to tap into one life’s great truths: sticking something to a magnet never gets old.
So what strip should you get?
Something covered in wood or leather (sorry not sorry, the all metal ones are dumb as shit—they’ll scratch your knives while looking like they belong in Patrick Bateman’s kitchen) that will never fall off your wall. Viable candidates include: this one from Jonathan Alden, this basic version from Benchcrafted, or any of the heavy hitters from Piotr the Bear.
As far as placing these things, they’ll look great on whatever wall’s closest to your cutting board—and even better if that wall’s covered with pegboard, à la Julia Child.
And, um, yeah. That’s about it.
