KBIS: A Look at the Products We Loved
Gone ‘kitchen’ (and bath!)–see you next week!
April 23, 2013Maria Goes to KBIS!
May 7, 2013
Even a week after KBIS we are all still abuzz with excitement over the experience! We will spend the next few weeks sharing some of our favorite KBIS highlights with you, and this week we are focusing on some of our favorite new products. KBIS is so interesting because it really highlights the best, most innovative product design on the market. Two of our favorite products were a long-handled shower squeegee and a $6000, remote-controlled, self-flushing toilet by Toto, which just illustrates that innovations can be found in both luxury items, and in our most basic household gadgets.
From Kohler
We saw several fun fixtures from Kohler, including a showerhead, a tub, and a touchless faucet. The showerhead and tub enhance your bathroom for a more “spa-like” experience, while the touchless faucet contributes to the “chef’s kitchen” concept.
- Moxie Showerhead: A showerhead isn’t “just” a showerhead when it features a Bluetooth wireless speaker.
- VibrAcoustic Tub: This showerhead will stream music, news, podcasts, and more; compatible with smartphones, tablets, and MP3 players. Add a receiver to stream using Bluetooth technology.
- Touchless Faucet: We can’t say enough about everything this faucet has to offer. Speed, efficiency, food-safety—this is an exciting innovation that will enhance any kitchen.
From Cosentino
Two products from Cosentino caught our eye, featuring innovative surfaces.
- Suede by Cosentino: The surface on this new finish by Cosentino is truly astounding—not only does it look beautiful, it guards against stains and other unsightly markings, like fingerprints. Available in more than forty colors, we are sure this “extramatt” finish will be wildly popular with our clients.
- Dekton Ultra-Compact Surfaces: This product is not yet available, but promises to make a splash when it is released this spring. The ultra-compact surface is made with a mix of inorganic materials, can be used inside or out (it resists UV rays!), and will be manufactured in a variety of thicknesses which will give it broad applicability. You can be sure we will be sharing more about Dekton in the near future!
LED Lighting
Ingenious uses of LED lighting were a big trend we saw at KBIS. Running LED lighting around toe-kicks in bathrooms or kitchens increases safety, and is a terrific aging-in-place solution to increase safety in the home. We also loved the use of LED lighting around the edges of glass shelving in a cabinet interior, lighting up the shelf and contributing to both ease-of-use and display enhancement.
Check back with the Cabinets & Designs blog throughout the month of May to get our designers’ perspectives from KBIS, and to read about more innovative products we found during our time in New Orleans!
