There was new energy and excitement at this year’s International Home Builder Show (IBS) in Las Vegas thanks to its joint presentation with the National Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS). Collaboration and cross-branding were the order of the day. Indeed, the 3-day event is now called Design and Construction Week and is the start of a three-year association. This means that where there was trade show pain due to the Recessions, there is new potential. And it seems an overdue connection, since kitchens and baths tend to be popular features of most homes — one wonders why someone didn’t think of this before!
For the first time since 2007 exhibits seemed to be expanding and the convention floor felt crowded with customers. And companies have discovered the usefulness of social media sites like Pinterest — Kohler seems to be the early adopter here, with new products tagged as the most liked on Pinterest. Below are the kitchen innovations that caught my eye, with more to come for other rooms in future posts.
The Once and Future Kitchen
The major German appliance manufacturer Bosch with its American subsidiary,Thermador, is launching more than a hundred new kitchen products, including ranges with built-in lava rock grills (shown here with the grill top removed to reveal the rocks below it) to tall, narrow, high-capacity refrigerators. I was especially impressed by the Freedom Induction Cooktop, which was first developed in Europe by Bosch's other company, Gaggenau.
You can place any size pot or pan anywhere on the surface and it will draw the heat (the surface remains cool to non-metallic objects like hands, of course). Notice that the induction rings are not visible on the black surface. Thermador's illustration below shows how the embedded circuity extends everywhere.
I also saw the cooktop at the 2014 New American Home show house in Henderson, Nevada. And flexibility is the idea behind the innovative high-end Mick De Giulio sinks by Kallista (part of the Bosch and Thermador displays and a good example of co-branding -- Kallista is a Kohler company), with the slide-over cutting board and colander support frame -- for washing lettuce and vegetables.
Multi-functional and cool. Kallista sinks were also in the displays of several other companies.
To continue reading click here.
For the first time since 2007 exhibits seemed to be expanding and the convention floor felt crowded with customers. And companies have discovered the usefulness of social media sites like Pinterest — Kohler seems to be the early adopter here, with new products tagged as the most liked on Pinterest. Below are the kitchen innovations that caught my eye, with more to come for other rooms in future posts.
The Once and Future Kitchen
The major German appliance manufacturer Bosch with its American subsidiary,Thermador, is launching more than a hundred new kitchen products, including ranges with built-in lava rock grills (shown here with the grill top removed to reveal the rocks below it) to tall, narrow, high-capacity refrigerators. I was especially impressed by the Freedom Induction Cooktop, which was first developed in Europe by Bosch's other company, Gaggenau.
You can place any size pot or pan anywhere on the surface and it will draw the heat (the surface remains cool to non-metallic objects like hands, of course). Notice that the induction rings are not visible on the black surface. Thermador's illustration below shows how the embedded circuity extends everywhere.
I also saw the cooktop at the 2014 New American Home show house in Henderson, Nevada. And flexibility is the idea behind the innovative high-end Mick De Giulio sinks by Kallista (part of the Bosch and Thermador displays and a good example of co-branding -- Kallista is a Kohler company), with the slide-over cutting board and colander support frame -- for washing lettuce and vegetables.
Multi-functional and cool. Kallista sinks were also in the displays of several other companies.
To continue reading click here.
