In our game, "Lockdown," the general idea is to first model items with an overall 70's vibe/look to them as their core design. After that initial design process, hopefully have enough time to add some futuristic flare to the mix. As a result, I have been trying to figure out kitchen assets for about a week to a half (outside of life duties). I will say that these assets are not necessarily items I would usually model, but I was up to the brief challenge. 

Tip1: When I model from ideas . . . that's how I work. I test out a few different looks as I'm modeling and don't always stick with what initial look is wanted unless I have to. If it works, that's one thing, but if it's better, that's another. I like to think of this mindset as very close to when an artist does color studies. Soon enough, one look wins enough over another.

Tip 2: Also, I recommend treating Meshes/Models like Milestones during modeling. What I mean by that is to keep some lesser refined versions of each model in your modeling program around so that you can work back from those and take them a different route if desired. This new route may work with the same game or maybe for another videogame down the road. You never really know. However, at least you'll have some lesser refined version of a particular model to start from again instead of from scratch if the time arises.

Tip 3: Look to take ideas from your resources, not the whole thing (unless you want that). That's what I usually do. You get more interesting results that way. I often start with the substantial, more obvious modeling parts and work my way to the smaller ones. Yes, it's usually easier to model that way, but you also get a heavier-handed idea of what you're going for this way too.

Considering this mindset, here is what I was able to come up with this week for our game, Lockdown:

Clean Version before dirtied:

Final Version in Unreal 5: