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I am writing this on the plane on my way back from IMM Cologne, the Living Kitchen trade fair in Cologne, Germany. I was a guest of Blanco, as were four other bloggers (Paul_Anater, Jamie Goldberg, Cheryl Clenendon and Leslie Clagett) who are also part of the Blanco Design Council. It was an AMAZING trip. Germany is rich, culturally, and visually beautiful, not to mention on top of its game, showcasing innovative kitchen design and that includes Blanco’s line of products which were exactly on the mark for today’s (interestingly, US) consumer.
 So, I think the best approach might be to present my discoveries, impressions, and information in an organized way. I have just spent the last five hours of this flight sorting into categories, one by one, just around 2,360 images, taken over several partial days. THAT is a record for me!
My singular goal at any show is to size up products and displays quickly (for the most part) and be ready to shoot fast, really fast, even as I see people walking into the image I want to shoot. In a nano second, I know that [...]
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Here are a few things that you maybe interested in from my travels around the web recently!
Thom Filicia & Me
First, my interview for Amana with Thom Filicia on kitchen trends. An interviewer asked questions of Thom and me on a variety of topics. I don’t think there is anything that I disagreed with in Thom’s answers. He is quite passionate about the importance of the kitchen in today’s homes. See 2010 Trends
Here are some recent ideabooks I put together and share some tips, on Houzz:
Where To Put The Microwave? 14 Tips Houzz- Kitchen Design, Bathroom Design and More» Home Design and Decorating Ideas: Kitchen Design · Bathroom Design · Living Room Design · Bedroom Design · Dining Room Design · Patio Design · Landscaping Design · Find Home Improvement Professionals- For Example: Los Angeles Architect · Boston Interior Designer · Chicago Contractor · San Francisco Landscaping ·
Let There Be Light! Kitchen Window Ideas Houzz- Kitchen Design, Bathroom Design and More» Home Designs and Pictures: Kitchen Design · Bathroom Design · Living Room Design · [...]
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I’d like to share this piece with you that I wrote for Decorati.com on kitchen trends for 2010 and beyond. I spent much time in December contemplating where I feel we are now, and some “whys” too. I’ve thought about where I think we (many of us) are headed, for those of us who are contemplating changes in the way we live in our kitchens. Maybe these thoughts will ring true for you.
I’d probably add one or two more things. I want to expand on my feeling about many of us wanting as much permanence or longevity in our design and products as we can get. I think that the recent recession, “The Big Recession” as I’m hearing it called, has truly been a wake-up call. I feel that there is a maturity, a sensible way of thinking, that has evolved. Where we can afford it, I feel we want quality.
I feel that we want performance from the products we select over the long term. I definitely see that new clients seem to be more involved in the design process, more serious, and dedicated. They/you understand that this new kitchen truly may be a one time purchase, [...]
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Initially introduced in the United States in 2003 by Cook-N-Dine, the premium stainless steel, teppan cooking surfaces by CDS have been re-examined recently by the scrutinizing eyes of their inventor and patent-holder, Mr. Paul Schacht. To suit the demanding American customer even better, all built-in teppanyaki grill models have received a major technical makeover, resulting in improved heating element size, which led to almost double the actual hot cooking surface. These new models are already rolling out for the Holiday Season 2009.
The intriguing teppanyaki cooking style makes for effortless delicious, healthy eats. The secret is the intense heat of the solid 304 stainless steel surface that seals in all the juices on contact. Paired with its patented sink-down-in-the-center feature when on, a CDS teppanyaki grill can replace bulky pans and woks, and perfectly complements any traditional barbeque grill, while freeing up storage space and doubling as additional work top when not in use for cooking. Main features include:
- Worldwide patented feature: center bows down slightly when on to keep the fine juices in place; reverts back to flat when switched off – Accurate temperature control from gentle 120°F up to 430°F, even [...]
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Ever wonder how that new Whirlpool, Kitchen Aid or Maytag appliance with all the newest technology came to the marketplace? Well, Whirlpool, the parent company has formalized a process to sort through the thousands of ideas that, at any one time, are percolating up from product groups, new business development teams, and i-mentors — employees trained in innovation who have been deployed throughout the organization to identify promising ideas. From that first grab-bag of concepts, managers green-light several hundred for study, giving each a slice of an innovation budget that ballparks at several million dollars for North America this year.
Ultimately, almost half of those flow into its innovation pipeline, which currently numbers close to 1,000 products. On average, 100 are introduced to the marketplace. “Every month we report pipeline size measured by estimated sales, and our goal this year is billion,” says Norena. With Whirlpool’s 2008 revenue totalling .9 billion, that would mean roughly 20% of sales would be from new products.
Beginning Affresh
The process has helped Whirlpool find such innovations as Affresh, a hockey puck-shaped tablet that consumers can toss into front-loading washers for a cleaning cycle. In less than two years, Affresh, which works [...]
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1. Identify a trend: I think many of us are aware that trends are something that we see repeatedly in the marketplace. If that is the case, it is most likely that the trend could have a year attached to it down the road as the hot item of that year. When planning a kitchen, made to last for a couple of decades, take care in identifying trends. Planning several trends into your kitchen design will date the kitchen sooner than later!
