We bought a set of global knives from Costco. They were very expensive but worth every penny AND they came with a knife block.
The knife block was always dusty and awkward to clean. It was nearish to the hob too, so would get oil spatter on it. Annoyance abounds.
In the end we put the knives in a childproofed drawer and gave the knife block to a charity shop, who sold it for a tenner to some more mug who's probably redonated it by now. Happy days all round.
By the way, when the time comes to sharpen your knives, don't use those stick things. You'll remove all the globally goodness and may as well buy a cheap knife.
DH bought these block things that they use in Japan. I can't be faffed using them as it takes ages and causes clay like mess on the counters. What I do is get the blocks, knives etc out and pretend that I'm going to sharpen the knives. Dh usually then gets in a tailspin, screams "noooooo" and sharpens them all himself. Then he puts them in the dishwasher and away in the childproof drawer, so again, happy days all round.
Bloody knife blocks (not literally, obviously).