Hello!

Firstly I'll start by saying I'm very much a newbie to fancy knives. I've been browsing and lurking this subreddit for a while, but by no means feel all that knowledgeable. So I've come here to ask for some aid.

My daily drivers at the moment is a Victorinox Fibrox petty and santoku. They're by all means decent, but I'd like to upgrade into something a little fancier (and something that looks nicer on my kitchen wall 😏). I also own a Gesshin 240mm gyuto stainless steel that I got as a gift from a friend, which is really great, but I have a small apartment with a small kitchen, so it's a little too cumbersome for most of my daily use.

I'm looking for one or two knives for daily use. Likely a combination of either gyoto/santoku/petty/nakiri. ideally nothing super delicate or chippy. Low or easy maintenance is definitely a huge bonus. Budget €200-300 or so.

I mainly cook pretty basic stuff, so it'll be used for cutting, chopping and dicing veggies, mushrooms, onions, chicken and meats. Not really anything with bones or fish.

For looks I'm partial to octagonal wa handles of darker woods, but I'd say that is not a dealbreaker at all.

I'm open to any kinds of input and recommendations, both stainless and carbon. I've never owned or used any carbon knives before however.

I also have a shapton pro 1000 which I'm not great at yet, and definitely a work in progress 🥲 I'd love some recs for strop/homing rod as well if you think that is something I should be looking for.

Any input very much appreciated!