• It can be easy to miss the mark when trying to make your kitchen look luxurious.
• Interior designers said dull color schemes and the wrong lighting can make your kitchen look cheap.
• It's also important to pay attention to details like cabinet handles.

If you've ever watched a home improvement show, you know kitchens can make or break the luxury feel of a house.

It can be easy to miss the mark when trying to create a luxury kitchen, so Business Insider spoke to a couple of interior designers about common ways people make their kitchens look cheap.

Here's what they had to say.

Dull colors and lighting

The neutral colors many people gravitate toward for modern kitchens can look cheap, according to experts.

Charlotte Eustace, an interior designer based in the UK and the founder of Eustace Studio, told BI she especially dislikes millennial gray kitchens.

"It just looks so cheap," she said, as gray can look "cold" in a kitchen. Harsh lighting can create the same impact.

"If your lighting is very cold or if you're doing all neutral but everything feels very cold and has a cold undertone, I think that can really cheapen it," she said. "Generally, the spaces that feel the most luxurious and welcoming are warmer spaces."

Juliana Ghani, an interior designer from Minneapolis, tries to avoid too much gray, black, white, or "anything that looks sterile" in kitchens. She said LED light bulbs are a huge no-no for her in particular.

"It looks like an operating room when you have those blue LED lights on your island," she said, adding that warm lighting is "the easiest way to make your kitchen look richer and homey."

If you want to bring more color into your kitchen, Ghani said darker tones, like aubergine, olive green, and burgundy, are trending for 2025.

The design is in the details

As Ghani told BI, luxury kitchens are designed to be aesthetically pleasing, whereas a more basic kitchen makes the appliances the focal point of the room.

"I think a mistake people make when designing a kitchen, especially an open-concept kitchen, is that they let the appliances dominate the space," Ghani said. "In a luxury kitchen, we would have paneled appliances, integrated hardware, or even different finishes on the actual appliances that kind of hide them in a way."

"A row of stainless steel appliances, pretty much, is not giving luxury," she said.

Eustace agreed, saying that the details of a kitchen can make a big difference to how your eye perceives the overall space. For instance, the handles you choose for your cabinets, the stone you select for your countertops, or even the outlet panels you use can make the space feel less luxurious.

"A kitchen can be really nice, and then if I see cup handles or something, immediately I'm just like, 'Oh gosh, that really just cheapens the whole feel of it,'" Eustace said, referring to curved handles that don't look high-end.

Upgrading your hardware is an easy way to give your kitchen a luxurious feel, though. Ghani recommends brushed chrome, brushed nickel, or lacquered brass.

Too much on the counters

Ghani said that too many items on your counters can look "messy" or "cluttered."

On the flip side, cookbooks or appliances you use daily on your countertops can help a space look lived in. Eustace agreed, saying you don't want your kitchen to look uninviting.

"I think there's an obsession these days with having everything hidden, as if it's like a showroom the whole time and no one lives there," Eustace said. "I don't think people should be afraid to have things out or, you know, have a little bit of mess or clutter."

"Things that you're actually using every day, and just signs of life, don't make it look cheap," she added, though she said microwaves sitting on a counter aren't aesthetically pleasing in her opinion.

"It has to make sense for you," Ghani agreed about what sits on your countertops. "It would be obnoxious if you eat toast every day and you have to take out your toaster."

"If you're doing a custom kitchen or you're remodeling, a lot of times we try to fit in a butler's pantry or a walk-in pantry where you can put in a lot of those countertop appliances, your sugar, and your salt and pepper," Ghani added.

Most importantly, both designers advised people not to be afraid to bring their own personality to their spaces, as a homey kitchen is the best kitchen.

• I visited Epic Universe, Universal's newest Orlando theme park with five immersive worlds.
• The park only has 11 rides, but this felt like enough for me, and I enjoyed the ones I went on.
• Overall, the immersiveness and theming of the worlds blew me away and made my ticket a great value.

Universal has officially added another theme park to its Orlando repertoire — and it may be one of its best yet.

Epic Universe officially opened to the public on Thursday, and it's the first major theme park to debut in Orlando in over 20 years.

It was first officially announced in 2015 and is located a few miles away from Universal's other Florida parks: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay.

I've been impressed by Universal's other parks for years and even used to be a season passholder, so I was thrilled to see Epic Universe for myself.

I visited the weekend before the park's official opening date and paid $164 for a preview ticket. It came with the caveat that some experiences would not be available since the park was still putting the final touches in place before its grand opening.

Here's what my experience was like.

The dog's protective instincts have delighted TikTok users, as one person commented: "The cutest nurse I have ever seen!"

Intercontinental ballistic missiles are an essential component of U.S. and Russian nuclear capabilities.

Tens of millions are expected to travel more than 50 miles over the holiday weekend.

The U.S. is reinforcing its military presence on Diego Garcia amid rising nuclear tensions with Iran ahead of a scheduled meeting.

"We're watching probably like one of the sickest things that's ever happened," Von said in the viral video.

The CIA gates are closed "until further notice" after the security incident at its headquarters.

• Princess Charlotte turned 10 in May.
• As Prince William and Kate Middleton's second child, she's third in line for the British throne.
• Although her life is mostly private, Charlotte shows peeks of her personality at royal engagements.

The roles of "heir" and "spare" have haunted royal siblings for centuries.

The very existence of secondborn children in the British royal family is tied to a crown they'll ideally never hold, as they serve as backups to the direct heirs to the throne.

Still, spares can play a critical role in the monarchy, as was the case for King George VI, who became monarch in 1936 after his brother abdicated. Even as it adapts to the modern world, the heir and spare dynamic continues to shape the monarchy, as evidenced by the title — and contents — of Prince Harry's 2023 memoir.

In the latest generation of royals, Princess Charlotte is the spare to Prince George's heir. However, at just 10, Charlotte is already breaking the mold she was born into, charting a new path for the royals.

Here's everything to know about Princess Charlotte.

Princess Charlotte joins the royal family

In a press release on September 8, 2014, Kensington Palace announced that Kate Middleton was expecting her and Prince William's second child. The statement also said that Kate had hyperemesis gravidarum, as she did with her first pregnancy, and would be missing an engagement in Oxford that day as a result.

Charlotte was born on May 2, 2015, at 8:34 a.m., at the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in London, just like Prince George, Prince William, and Prince Harry were.

William and Kate debuted their daughter to the world during a photocall on the hospital's steps the same day she was born. Kate posed for photos on the hospital's steps after each of her children's births, following in Princess Diana's footsteps.

Charlotte's full name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, and at the time of her birth, her title was Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.

Charlotte is the feminine version of Charles, her grandfather's name. Her middle names nod to her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and her late grandmother, Princess Diana.

At her birth, Charlotte was fourth in the royal line of succession, behind her grandfather, father, and older brother.

Queen Elizabeth II ensured Charlotte's position in the line wouldn't be affected by her gender through the Succession to the Crown Act in 2013. The act changed a long-standing rule that male siblings superseded their female siblings' position in the line to the throne. If it hadn't been passed, Prince Louis' birth in 2018 would have moved Charlotte down the line of succession.

After Queen Elizabeth died in 2022, King Charles III made William the Prince of Wales, so his daughter's title became Princess Charlotte of Wales. Likewise, she moved up to third in line for the throne after her great-grandmother's death.

Princess Charlotte's royal life

According to the royal family's website, the princess was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham in July 2015. Prince George was photographed peering into her stroller at the ceremony.

Charlotte has five godparents, including Kate's cousin, Adam Middleton.

Kate and William released a few photos of the princess as a baby, but she didn't join her parents on an overseas tour until she was 16 months old, in September 2016, when she went with her family to Canada.

Charlotte and Kate wore color-coordinating outfits throughout the trip, a tradition they've kept up throughout Charlotte's life.

Charlotte became a big sister in 2018 when Prince Louis was born, completing the Wales family. The princess attended Thomas's Battersea school in London from 2019 to 2021, and she began attending the Lambrook School after the Wales family relocated to Windsor full-time in 2022.

William and Kate have balanced their children's royal roles with their privacy as they've grown up, allowing them to attend only a handful of royal engagements each year and releasing photos of them for special occasions, like birthdays or holidays.

Charlotte appears annually at Trooping the Colour and the royal family's Christmas walk at Sandringham. She has also been present for milestone moments for the royals, like Queen Elizabeth's funeral in September 2022 and King Charles' coronation in May 2023.

Charlotte often appears to be the most comfortable of her siblings at royal engagements, speaking with members of the public and even correcting her brothers on royal protocol.

The young princess has also been spotted attending less formal events from time to time, showing off a more authentic side of the royal family in the process.

Kensington Palace shared photos of Charlotte at the Eras Tour in June 2024, smiling with William, George, and Taylor Swift. She also joined her mother at Wimbledon in July 2024, accompanying Kate to the first solo engagement she attended after announcing her cancer diagnosis.

Charlotte's comfort in the spotlight, even compared to her older brother, differentiates her from royal "spares" of the past, who are often relegated to the role of wild child in comparison to the heir's steadiness. She seems calm and competent at public events, and she may already be taking after her great-aunt Princess Anne, whose steadfastness is an asset to King Charles.

At only 10, it's clear Princess Charlotte's future in the royal family is bright.

• This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Good morning! President Donald Trump officially accepted a gifted Boeing 747-8 from Qatar. The plane has been controversial over the potential conflict of interest it poses. But what's it like inside? Look at what's set to be the new Air Force One.

In today's big story, talk is swirling that private equity's recruiting cycle is ramping up, and recent grads are on edge.

What's on deck

Markets: A US recession could be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Tech: Internal memos from one of Microsoft's AI leaders show how he plans to transform the tech giant.

Business: Things are not going great for Target.

But first, may the odds be ever in your favor.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

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The big story

Ready, set, PE

While most recent college graduates are getting ready for their new jobs, a select group is considering their next one.

Some private-equity firms are setting up informal, introductory meetings with soon-to-be junior investment bankers before their caps even hit the ground. These so-called "coffee chats" are the precursor to interviews for jobs that won't start for another two years. The process kicking off so early has hopeful financiers on edge, BI's Emmalyse Brownstein, Reed Alexander, and Alex Nicoll write.

Welcome to Wall Street's "Hunger Games."

If the above sounds confusing, I don't blame you. PE's recruiting cycle doesn't make much sense. Before you start working at your first job (investment banking analyst), you're already interviewing for your second job (private-equity associate).

Take a minute to read the last sentence again if you need to.

Still, that's how things often work on Wall Street: always thinking two steps ahead.

The summer internship that leads to the junior-banker job offer is often secured well over a year before it starts. And your best shot at getting one of those is your university's finance club, which you need to start thinking about the second you get on campus.

Speaking of college, you'd better plan on getting into a target school if … well, you get the idea.

PE firms might eventually find themselves flying too close to the sun.

The junior-banker-to-PE pipeline has been mutually beneficial.

Banks don't have to worry about competing with PE firms for young talent. PE firms don't have to worry about training associates on the basics of dealmaking.

But the ever-earlier timeline hasn't gone unnoticed, and at least one high-profile banker has called PE firms on it.

Speaking at Georgetown University last fall, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said junior bankers taking PE jobs before starting as analysts was "unethical."

"I don't like it, and I may eliminate it regardless of what the private-equity guys say," he added.

To be fair, some PE headhunters tried slowing things down with an industry pact. It didn't take long for one headhunter to break it.

Banks are in a similar conundrum. If they ban analysts from pursuing PE jobs too early, they risk losing out on talent.

After all, plenty of aspiring Wall Streeters just view banks as a stepping stone to getting a job in PE. If they start actively preventing that, what purpose do they serve them?

---

3 things in markets

1. Could America be inadvertently pushing itself into a recession? Doug Ramsey, CIO of The Leuthold Group, thinks it might. In a note to clients, Ramsey pointed to a deteriorating consumer sentiment, which poses a major risk to the recession outlook. He's keeping an eye on a handful of sentiment indicators.

2. The bond market is flipping out, but Morgan Stanley isn't fazed. Though US deficit fears triggered a sell-off in the bond market, strategists at the bank warned against hopping on the "Sell America" train. "TINA — 'there is no alternative' — remains a theme for now," they wrote.

3. The stock market is flashing signals that another dip is coming — and investors should buy it, analysts at BoA say. A technical indicator suggests a near-term drop in stock prices is coming, but BoA says the market is still in a broader uptrend.

---

3 things in tech

1. Meta's performance reviews are about to get harder. Managers are being told to put more employees in their "below expectations" rank — the lowest performer bucket — in the coming midyear performance reviews, per an internal memo seen by BI. The move could set the stage for more performance-based layoffs, despite 4,000 low performers being cut months ago.

2. OpenAI just bagged a $6.5 billion acquisition. Sam Altman's company is buying IO, a hardware startup from former Apple exec Jony Ive — the guy who designed the iPhone. It shows the generative AI competition is now about distribution, not technology, writes BI's Alistair Barr.

3. How Microsoft is bringing its "age of AI agents" to reality. In January, CEO Satya Nadella tapped Jay Parikh, the ex-head of engineering at Facebook, to lead a new unit called CoreAI, which is crucial to Microsoft's AI ambition. Internal memos from Parikh, and viewed by BI, reveal his plan to get Microsoft focused on the macro, CoreAI's early accomplishments, and more.

---

3 things in business

1. Target reports tumbling sales. In an earnings call, Target said the backlash from reframing its DEI program was one of the many headwinds that had an adverse impact on sales, but the exact amount wasn't quantifiable. Some DEI supporters have claimed partial victory, but many say they're not satisfied — and more protests are coming.

2. Is Musk what Tesla needs right now? BI asked four people who have worked with him, as the CEO steps back from DOGE to focus on Tesla amid falling sales and growing competition. One said Musk was Tesla's "product manager," but questioned whether he's the right person to lead the embattled EV maker.

3. Big Law firms say they're not being bribed by Trump. Nine white-shoe firms doubled down on their deals to provide a collective $940 million in pro- bono work for the Trump administration. In letters to Congress, they flatly rejected allegations that the deals were unethical.

---

In other news

• Remote workers flocked to jobs overseas. Now they're being ordered home.
• Walmart says it's cutting roles to 'remove layers and complexity.'
• What we know about Trump's secretive private dinner for top holders of his memecoin.
• Goldman Sachs shares 20 'rising star' stocks that a growing number of hedge funds are betting on.
• Tesla is now accepting Cybertruck trade-ins. Two owners showed BI how much their vehicles have depreciated.
• Fortnite is the No. 1 game after Apple let it back on the App Store. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney tells BI it's a 'priceless' win.
• Founder of AI tool for cheating in interviews predicts everyone will do it — and technical job interviews are on their way out.
• Disney could get a surprise win from Universal's big bet on Epic Universe.

---

What's happening today

• Trump hosts a gala for the top 220 holders of his memecoin.
• Immigration court hearing on ICE detention of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student who led pro-Palestine protests on campus.

• Universal Orlando Resort opens new theme park, Universal Epic Universe.

  ---

The Business Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Ella Hopkins, associate editor, in London. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago.

• I tried beef hot dogs from Nathan's, Sabrett, Applegate, and Ball Park.
• Ball Park had the thickest frank, but I thought Applegate's organic hot dogs packed the most flavor.
• I didn't think Sabrett's less-than-flavorful hot dogs warranted their higher price tag.

Nothing says summer quite like a crispy, cooked hot dog with just the right amount of snap.

The sausage industry recognizes the months between Memorial Day and Labor Day as hot dog season, the time of year when the most hot dogs are consumed.

The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council reported that Americans consume roughly 7 billion hot dogs during this time and produce roughly $614 million in hot-dog sales.

Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, I decided to try four different kinds of hot dogs to see which one I would choose for my own cookout.

I opted for beef hot dogs from Applegate, Sabrett, Nathan's, and Ball Park. The Sabrett, Nathan's, and Ball Park packages each included eight beef franks, while the Applegate package included six.

I cooked each type of hot dog the same way. Then I tried each one on a Martin's long potato roll, topped with Heinz ketchup and French's classic yellow mustard.

Here's how all four hot-dog brands ranked, from worst to best.

Tiffany Remington told Newsweek how she uses anatomical language when discussing reproductive health with her kids.

The tax and spending bill is the centerpiece of President Donald Trump's domestic agenda.

The VA has announced $52 million in funding is now available for community-based organizations focused on suicide prevention.

Speaker Mike Johnson joked that he was "going to strangle" Andrew Garbarino for apparently falling asleep before the vote.

• I flew with JetBlue from NYC to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in an EvenMore seat.
• JetBlue's EvenMore rows are premium economy seats with extra legroom.
• I booked basic economy and was upgraded for free. I found that the perks went beyond extra space.

When I booked a six-hour JetBlue flight from NYC to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in basic economy, I didn't expect to feel pampered.

I've flown with this budget airline dozens of times to spend as little as possible on airfare, so I know the drill — get my seat assignment at the gate, and board last.

But this time was different. I was lucky enough to get into the EvenMore section, the airline's premium economy seating, for no additional cost.

The perks went beyond having a more spacious seat at the front of the cabin. By the time I landed, I was already planning to dish out more cash to experience the upgrade on another long-haul flight.

• BMW and Mercedes were outsold at the top of China's car market last year by a domestic brand.
• Aito sold 151,000 vehicles, with its M9 SUV proving popular.
• The brand is owned by Seres, which has tripled sales in three years with its pivot to EVs.

A Chinese electric vehicle brand has overtaken longtime market leaders BMW and Mercedes-Benz at the top of the world's biggest auto market.

Aito, an EV brand launched by Seres Group and tech giant Huawei, topped China's high-end car sales last year with 151,000 units delivered — surpassing BMW's 145,000 and Mercedes-Benz's 127,000, according to data from Shanghai-based consultancy ThinkerCar.

Aito's rise is largely due to the success of its flagship M9, a luxury SUV that went on sale in late 2023.

The M9 quickly proved popular with Chinese drivers thanks to its tech-heavy features, including Huawei's HarmonyOS operating system, a triple-screen dashboard, and premium interior options.

Seres, previously known for low-cost minivans under its DFSK Motor brand, repositioned itself with the Aito brand after forming a strategic partnership with Huawei in 2021.

Since then, rapid growth has resulted. Vehicle sales tripled over three years to about 427,000 units last year, and its stock rose by 120% on the Shanghai exchange over the same period.

Aito's success reflects a major shift in China's premium auto segment, which was once dominated by foreign brands. In 2020, Mercedes-Benz was top with 259,000 sales, followed by BMW on 235,000 and Porsche on 79,000, per ThinkerCar data.

By 2024, Chinese EV makers such as Aito and NIO had broken into the rankings, disrupting what ThinkerCar described as a BMW, Benz, and Audi "monopoly."

Sales of Chinese EVs are also rising outside their home market.

BYD outsold Tesla in Europe for the first time in April, according to JATO Dynamics data released on Thursday.

BYD also outsold Tesla globally in the first three months of the year, selling about 416,000 EVs, compared with Tesla's 336,700 EVs.

• A German brigade has started operations in Lithuania, a NATO state that borders part of Russia.
• It's the first time Germany has put troops in another country on a long-term basis since World War II.
• Both countries describe it as a step to protect Europe and NATO.

Germany has stationed troops abroad on a long-term basis for the first time since World War II, with a new brigade starting operations in Lithuania on Thursday.

The inauguration ceremony for Germany's 45th Armoured Brigade "Lithuania" took place in Vilnius, Lithuania's capital. Lithuania's defense ministry said it marked "the official beginning of this military unit's operations in Lithuania."

The move has been framed by both Lithuania and Germany as one intended to protect Europe and NATO at large, particularly against Russia.

Some have warned that Russia might not stop at Ukraine, and could attack elsewhere in Europe.

Dovilė Šakalienė, Lithuania's defense minister, said in a statement on Thursday that Germany's troops "are here to defend freedom as well as the entire alliance."

She also called Germany's deployment of its troops "a historic example of leadership."

Brig. Gen. Christoph Huber, the commander of the 45th Armored Brigade, said in April that it was being created "for the alliance, for Lithuania, for Europe's security."

The move is a notable one for Germany, which has leaned away from heavy defense actions and spending since World War II.

But Germany's defense spending has grown since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this month that his government will provide resources to make its army the "strongest conventional army in Europe."

Lithuania, a NATO member state that borders the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, as well as Russian ally Belarus, has been one of Ukraine's most vocal allies since Russia launched its invasion.

It is also one of NATO's biggest defense spenders as a proportion of its GDP, and one of the countries warning the loudest about future Russian aggression.

Lithuania's defense ministry said on Thursday that there are already around 500 soldiers from Germany in the country, and that the German brigade will now be permanently relocated to Lithuania, including three manoeuvre battalions and all of its combat support and logistics.

The brigade aims to be at full capacity by the end of 2027, which would mean 5,000 German soldiers and civilians operating there.

Šakalienė said that Lithuania "will continue to do everything to create all the infrastructure on time, to provide the necessary host nation support, and to ensure that the German soldiers feel at home."

US troops are also serving in Lithuania, something Šakalienė told BI in February she hoped would continue, even as President Donald Trump distances himself from longtime allies in Europe.

Šakalienė said her country wanted US troops to stay and said she expected the US could see "eye to eye" with countries that pay enough on defense.

Šakalienė also told BI that Europe "needs to up our defense spending very fast and very significantly," and that Europe's defense production needs to increase to match Russia's.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked a flurry of defense agreements between countries, and a boost in military spending and production across Europe.

Police advised people to avoid the Murphy Canyon neighborhood of San Diego following the plane crash.

The San Diego Padres have one of the best closers in baseball this season in Robert Suarez, but he could walk away in free agency at the end of the year.