Monday, April 30, 2012

...KBIS IN CHICAGO.....

I had been talking quite a bit about going to the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show 2012 in Chicago. I have now been and am here to express my thoughts.
I am not a kitchen/bath designer per se....but as a decorator/designer,  I certainly have a huge interest in kitchen and bath design. Visiting Chicago for the first time and attending KBIS last week was a kill several birds with one stone kinda trip. Let me just say, that visiting The Windy City.... that toddlin' town....Chi-Town was a wonderful adventure. I could, and may still, write a post on my time in this fabulous city...so stay tuned.

The show was presented at McCormick Place.....MONSTROUS....with 2.6 million ( yes, I just wrote million ) sq ft in total, of exhibition halls.  KBIS did not utilize nearly that much space...300,000+ net sq ft. was more befitting ...but still, if you were not wearing comfortable shoes, guaranteed you would have been blistered and limping by the end of the day. I spent the better part of Wednesday at the show, but could have gone back Thursday, if flying home had not been a priority.

Because I have never attended a trade show specifically geared toward only kitchen and bath design, I may appear somewhat excited and a little over the top emotionally at times ..... but this is my take.

1. There was an inordinate number of booths featuring vessel sinks. In terms of function, I am not a huge fan of the vessel sink myself. I have heard this expressed by other designers, but according to the variety of booths featuring vessel sinks at KBIS, we might be in the minority. However, there was one booth LENOVA which I visited twice. I quite enjoyed some of these unique, low-to-the-counter vessel sinks, shown below. And although not a vessel sink, the bottom right sink is worthy of a second peek, if only due to the anticipation of the cascading rhythm of water as it fills this sink.




2. Copper was everywhere, I mean everywhere. The booth that caught my eye was Premier Copper Products ....I loved their booth display and took some photos...sorry they're kind of wonky...but you get the idea. This company boasts products that are hand crafted by artisans, manufactured using recycled and reclaimed copper wire, and as a bonus, copper is naturally antibacterial and antimicrobial. Take a look at the hammered copper range hood, paired with a hammered copper sink below. Gorgeous.
An observation: warm metals are making a comeback, which is curious to me when the decor colour trend is moving away from beige to grey. Thoughts?




3. This next booth was a "be still my heart" booth. It got quite the traffic flow and no wonder. The bamboo vanities showcased at Native Trails were beautifully designed and executed. The lines, the curves the details are AWE worthy indeed. Their website is equally lovely. 

photos Native Trails


4. Special Products Division LLC was for me another 'stop in my tracks and take another look at' booth. 
This kitchen cabinet counter vignette features uppers and lowers made from exotic pomelle sapelle wood and the counter is constructed from paperstone. This company excels at constructing modern cabinets and furniture while maintaining, functionality, elegance and craftsmanship.




5.  Poggenpohl.....what can I say. WOWEEE!!!. Modern, integrated, space saving, luxuriousness... and take a look inside this drawer. I could live in this drawer it is so organized...a place for everything and at my house everything would be in its place. What a dream. 



6. Hafele...two words FUNCTION ADORATION! Talk about integration and specifically designed hardware that will make even the smallest space that much more functional. I cannot do this booth justice with mere photos...instead, watch their KBIS video on their Hafele Blog. You will have functional, sensory overload, guaranteed.

Honestly, there was so much to see at KBIS that one post cannot do the show justice. Keep your eyes open for other KBIS posts from your favourite bloggers who were at the show. I heard KBIS will be in New Orleans next year. I am saving my pennies now. 

Would love to hear your thoughts......


posted by Maureen @ Modecor @ Monday, April 30, 2012   7 Comments

7 Comments:

At April 30, 2012 at 9:12 PM , Blogger DTTD imagine.design.create said...

Wow, lots of cool stuff for the kitchen and bath! I'm not a big fan of vessel sinks either, but those ones from Lenova are pretty fantastic. The "tiered" sink is awesome!

I had a Twitter chat with Mart Taggart & Margot Austin a while back about the return of brass. I think it was Margot who said that often with trends, they make a 180 turn from what the previous trend was. So we're moving from cool brushed nickel to warm metals, and from warm beige walls to cool grey walls. And the combination of warm metals with cool greys just seems to work :-)

Kelly

 
At May 1, 2012 at 1:01 PM , Blogger Building Moxie said...

super job Maureen. I was at McCormick Place last Oct. for the Remodeling Show, hopefully you had a little time for the Mart. Either way super roundup especially the focus on these gorg. cabinets and their organizational features. Not a huge fan of vessels either (though some are dazzling in form) and really you can get me with almost anything made out of copper. Cheers. thanks for posting. ~jb @BuildingMoxie

 
At May 1, 2012 at 10:04 PM , Blogger Maureen @ Modecor said...

Hey Kelly, Thanks for the comment. It will be interesting to see how long the warm metals hang around. I never really got rid of mine, I just added brushed nickel to the mix.

 
At May 1, 2012 at 10:10 PM , Blogger Maureen @ Modecor said...

hi JB. Thrilled that you found my blog and left a comment. I did indeed have an opportunity to visit The Mart, but only the tip of the ice burg, which means I will be going back. I'm gaga for organizational solutions, so the companies I mentioned really got me excited. Thank you for popping by.

 
At May 2, 2012 at 9:01 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is one of the best show recaps I've read. Thanks for posting.

 
At May 2, 2012 at 10:20 AM , Blogger Maureen @ Modecor said...

Thank you very much Ann. And thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and leave a comment. Very much appreciated.

 
At May 2, 2012 at 10:23 PM , Blogger Lisa said...

Great to read all about this show. It sure sounds like there was tons of inspiration. I loved visiting the Narive Trails booth at IDS, their products are so beautiful.

 

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Maureen at Modecor Muses: ...KBIS IN CHICAGO.....

...KBIS IN CHICAGO.....

I had been talking quite a bit about going to the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show 2012 in Chicago. I have now been and am here to express my thoughts.
I am not a kitchen/bath designer per se....but as a decorator/designer,  I certainly have a huge interest in kitchen and bath design. Visiting Chicago for the first time and attending KBIS last week was a kill several birds with one stone kinda trip. Let me just say, that visiting The Windy City.... that toddlin' town....Chi-Town was a wonderful adventure. I could, and may still, write a post on my time in this fabulous city...so stay tuned.

The show was presented at McCormick Place.....MONSTROUS....with 2.6 million ( yes, I just wrote million ) sq ft in total, of exhibition halls.  KBIS did not utilize nearly that much space...300,000+ net sq ft. was more befitting ...but still, if you were not wearing comfortable shoes, guaranteed you would have been blistered and limping by the end of the day. I spent the better part of Wednesday at the show, but could have gone back Thursday, if flying home had not been a priority.

Because I have never attended a trade show specifically geared toward only kitchen and bath design, I may appear somewhat excited and a little over the top emotionally at times ..... but this is my take.

1. There was an inordinate number of booths featuring vessel sinks. In terms of function, I am not a huge fan of the vessel sink myself. I have heard this expressed by other designers, but according to the variety of booths featuring vessel sinks at KBIS, we might be in the minority. However, there was one booth LENOVA which I visited twice. I quite enjoyed some of these unique, low-to-the-counter vessel sinks, shown below. And although not a vessel sink, the bottom right sink is worthy of a second peek, if only due to the anticipation of the cascading rhythm of water as it fills this sink.




2. Copper was everywhere, I mean everywhere. The booth that caught my eye was Premier Copper Products ....I loved their booth display and took some photos...sorry they're kind of wonky...but you get the idea. This company boasts products that are hand crafted by artisans, manufactured using recycled and reclaimed copper wire, and as a bonus, copper is naturally antibacterial and antimicrobial. Take a look at the hammered copper range hood, paired with a hammered copper sink below. Gorgeous.
An observation: warm metals are making a comeback, which is curious to me when the decor colour trend is moving away from beige to grey. Thoughts?




3. This next booth was a "be still my heart" booth. It got quite the traffic flow and no wonder. The bamboo vanities showcased at Native Trails were beautifully designed and executed. The lines, the curves the details are AWE worthy indeed. Their website is equally lovely. 

photos Native Trails


4. Special Products Division LLC was for me another 'stop in my tracks and take another look at' booth. 
This kitchen cabinet counter vignette features uppers and lowers made from exotic pomelle sapelle wood and the counter is constructed from paperstone. This company excels at constructing modern cabinets and furniture while maintaining, functionality, elegance and craftsmanship.




5.  Poggenpohl.....what can I say. WOWEEE!!!. Modern, integrated, space saving, luxuriousness... and take a look inside this drawer. I could live in this drawer it is so organized...a place for everything and at my house everything would be in its place. What a dream. 



6. Hafele...two words FUNCTION ADORATION! Talk about integration and specifically designed hardware that will make even the smallest space that much more functional. I cannot do this booth justice with mere photos...instead, watch their KBIS video on their Hafele Blog. You will have functional, sensory overload, guaranteed.

Honestly, there was so much to see at KBIS that one post cannot do the show justice. Keep your eyes open for other KBIS posts from your favourite bloggers who were at the show. I heard KBIS will be in New Orleans next year. I am saving my pennies now. 

Would love to hear your thoughts......