Hot Trends Make a Big Splash at KBIS 2014

As many of you know, the Kitchen and Bath masses gathered in Las Vegas February 4-6 for their annual pilgrimage to KBIS, the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show. This year the event was part of Design & Construction Week, a new concept, merging KBIS with IBS, the International Builder’s Show. As a result, it was bigger and better than ever. Let’s hope that what happened there does NOT stay there !Maybe I should limit that to kitchen and bath industry products and trends ;)   Uber interior design resource Modenus hosted their latest Blogtour group who covered the event in a big way! You can get the entire scoop here.So what is trending, you may ask? Here’s the latest scoop from Kitchen & Bath Design News and KBIS co-sponsors, the National Kitchen & Bath Association:Let there be light.  Yes we’re used to lights in the refrigerator but now we’re adding LED lighting to cabinetry as well.

Make that matte.  Last year I noticed a growing interest in matte finishes and it’s even more so this year.  One such surface is the new Dekton by Cosentino.  It's an ultra compact surface including quartz, porcelain and glass.  This makes it perfect for both indoor and outdoor use, even better than quartz as it's UV resistant and can withstand extreme heat.

Keep it simple.   NKBA President John Petrie, CMKBDT tells us, "while transitional styles are still number one, we see kitchen design trending more contemporary this year, with clean , simple lines: less clutter and little ornamentation".Quartz rocks, especially if it’s patterned!  Homeowners have discovered quartz but they're not willing to give up the pattern and movement found in natural stone products like granite and marble.  New finishes by Cambria let you have the best of both worlds.Cambria's  Waterstone Collection captures the depth and beauty of marble and granite while offering the superior strength and performance of quartz. (Here's something for you "traditionalists", they clearly didn't get the message about contemporary in this kitchen!)Gadgets, gadgets, gadgets, We may like our cabinetry look pared down but gimme the gadgets!  Technology reigns, ie anything  touch operated or digital.The new Temp20 Technology by Delta Faucets boasts a digital temperature display that saves you the shock or injury from water that's not the temperature you were expecting.   When the temperature is less than 80 degrees the LED display will glow blue.  It's magenta from 80-110 and red when it's above that.  You can get this feature on your Delta faucet  this spring.A bath to come home to, trends in the bathroom focus on customization and spa ambiance.  In  the high end markets, free standing tubs are all the rage.  They are functional and sculptural at the same time. We are also understanding the benefits of hydrotherapy as in soaking tubs and steam baths.Additional features you may want to include in your new kitchens and baths include the following:-Induction cooktops (and now ranges too!)-Steam ovens-French-door refrigerators (duh, I think we all know that already!)-Bottom freezer drawers (ditto of above)-Touch activated faucets-Electronic (no touch) faucets-LED lighting-Charging stations-Pet stationsI believe all of the above are here to stay, at least in the foreseeable future, and the technology will only get better.

My New Treasure: In2ition Dual Shower Head

Hold on a minute! I was going to show you an amazing kitchen transformation today and I promise it’s still coming BUT I’m just bursting to tell you about my shower.  We have been doing some renovations around the old homestead.  Life seems to fall into a desperate fight for survival mode when you’re removing popcorn, installing flooring, molding, painting yadda yadda.  SO this special little box sat in my garage for way longer than it should have.  When the hubs finally got to it, we unveiled our beautiful new  In2ition Shower Dual Showerhead by Delta Faucet Company.  It was a generous gift and memento of a beautiful experience with my fellow Brizo Blogger 19 alumni in Memphis back in July.  The folks at Delta /Brizo graciously offered us the In2ition shower head in the style and finish of our choice.Why go for round when you can be square and hip all at the same time? Needless to say I went contemporary and I went chrome.  I learned all about the H20 technology having seen it in action in Memphis.  Click here in case you missed it.The hubs was the first to test it out and he was blown away, by the water pressure (just kidding).   Seriously, he loved it, but I really had no idea until I experienced it myself.  A handy little lever on the side controls the jets and water flow.  You can set your In2ition shower to one of three options: shower head and hand shower combined, shower head only, and hand shower only. The center section pops right out for handheld convenience.  The point of the H20Kinetic Technology is to make less water feel like more and it certainly does. 

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 When I tell you it’s worth its weight in gold I’m not kidding but I don’t want you breaking and entering to get mine when you can find out where to get your very own right here.  Shop around because prices vary a lot.  This shower head comes with a lifetime faucet and finish warranty.  Lucky me ;).   Now I just have to remodel the rest of the bathroom...

Ever Wonder Where a Delta or Brizo Faucet Comes From?

Is this some cutting edge art installation?  Although it's beautiful, it's not!  What you see  is a PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) chamber at the Delta Faucet Plant in Jackson, Tennessee.

Delta's trademark  BRILLIANCE  anti-tarnish finish is applied here, not only adding color but providing heavy duty abrasion resistance to their faucets.This was just one of the things I learned about on day two of the Brizo Blogger 19 Reunion.  (Click here to read about day one at St. Jude's) I always love to visit plants and factories because it gives me so much more information to help my clients make the right choices for there home.

American manufacturing is alive and well at Delta Faucet Company which also produces the luxury line of Brizo Faucets.  The plant, located in Jackson, Tennessee is about midway between Memphis and Nashville.  They employ around 900 workers operating in about 600,000 square feet.

What impressed me was the level of quality control I saw.  Everything was oriented towards helping employees to make the best products as safely and efficiently as possible.  There's a lot of creative machining and engineering going on but it's not all automated.  This factory is very people focussed.  Each faucet is actually hand made and 100% of product is tested before being sent out into the world.Delta and Brizo faucets are also known for their  trademarked DIAMOND SEAL technology.  This is the little mechanism inside that dictates water flow and temperature.  Yes, there are actually diamonds in there!  Diamonds lubricate moving parts without need for lubricants.  This eliminates even trace amounts of  lead.  What this means for the consumer is that a Delta or Brizo faucet is safe and durable lasting up to 5 million uses – up to 10 times longer than the industry standard!Last but not least we can't leave the factory without mentioning what I consider to be the Delta Brizo crowning glory, the trademarked Brizo SMARTTOUCH technology.  In Delta products it's called TOUCH20. All SmartTouch/Touch20 (touch on, touch off ) products undergo extensive testing.  Yes, every single one!  In addition my favorite, the Brizo Odin electronic lavatory faucet now sports SMARTTOUCH PLUS technology which means it can also be used totally hands free.Back at the hotel we were able to preview top secret products in development as well as the new line of Brizo freestanding tub fillers.  We also learned that all "touch technology" is not created equal and were able to experiment with a wide variety of products, many of which use the infrared method that we frequently see in public bathrooms.  In my opinion there was a big difference between how these products function compared to the Delta products which function using the static electricity we carry in our bodies!  The human body conducts electricity.  The surface of the faucet conducts that energy activating a solenoid (on/off switch) under the sink. The result seems to be much more dependable.  I tested Moen, Kholer and Hansgrohe, so basically all price points.  Though none were perfect, to me the most expensive Hansgrohe was the worst!We ended the day with a demonstration of the newest showering phenomenon, H20KINETICS.  Wow!  It's a very wet, very satisfying shower with LESS water.  Check it out.  The H20KINETICS shower on the left as seen with an infrared light vs. a typical sprinkling showerhead.  You can see the strands of water seem turbo charged!I want to thank Brizo for a most amazing experience.  It's always great to connect with people I am proud to call my peers and to learn a great deal in the process.