Wednesday was the second and final day at the kitchen and bath show 2019.
If you missed Day one, click here.
It started off quite spectacularly with a beautiful breakfast at the Venetian Hotel, sponsored by Mr. Steam.
After having spent three glorious days in Venice, I can say that The Venetian Hotel is to Venice what a pop tart is to a French Pastry. Alas, this is Vegas.
However, the breakfast was positively scrumptious. Honestly, it is very smart of them to feed us. Very, very smart! :]
Remember last year when I wrote about the dangers of steam therapy? I don’t need to reinvent the wheel. It’s one of my favorite posts which talks of this fabulous product and the history of the steam bath.
But, really.
The best part is watching and listening to the enthusiastic vice president of marketing and sales at Mr. Steam, Martha Orellana– AKA: “Mrs. Steam.” This woman has the happiest, sunniest disposition ever.
If there’s one thing we know… It’s how to make water boil. ~ Martha Orellana, VP of sales and market at Mr. Steam.
And since I was obnoxiously transfixed on her every word, I forgot to take a pic. However, I found numerous images of her and you’ll see that her effervescent smile is perpetual and infectious.
So delightful. And, if I were building a new bathroom, I’d definitely put in a steam system by Mr. Steam.
We have two more sponsors to cover for the kitchen and bath show 2019, but I’m going to save them for another post.
That’s because there are so many things I want to discuss. And I know it’s stuff you would like to know.
Like, are white kitchens still in?
What about stainless steel appliances?
No doubt, I could write at least a dozen posts, if not more.
But, for today, I want to focus on two main themes that were incredibly pervasive throughout the show.
The first one is that in kitchen and bath design, men rule the roost.
Did you know that?
I mean – the designs and prevalent colors and materials are earthy, robust, hunky, chunky, tall, dark and handsome, like a lumber jack in a pine forest. What I’m trying to say is that they are:
Don’t believe me? (yet?)
A random pic taken by me at the Kohler booth at the kitchen and bath show 2019; Kohler’s always the hottest ticket in town. I am counting at least 15 men and maybe 2 or 3 women in this image. Now, it’s true that there is a higher proportion of men in the kitchen and bath end of the business than in the pillow-fluffing end.
But still. Every design hound this year is a female.
And yet, it is clear that there is a dominance of YANG to the YIN in the kitchen and bath industry design.
And the other overwhelming trend is that in addition to copious amounts of black and dark gray is the prevalence of emerald and hunter
Are there other colors, Laurel?
Oh yes and we will get to those in a different post.
Does this mean that white cabinets are passé now?
Okay, it appears that we need a little review; it’s only eight words. But, please listen carefully because I’m only going to say this one time. :]
WHITE CABINETRY IS NEVER GOING TO BE DONE.
At least, that’s what I believe to be true. White cabinetry has been around as long as they have been making white paint.
However, while largely earthy colors reigned here (with the exception of the Italian vendors), the white that I saw was more in the way of appliances than in cabinets.
The rest of the post will be focusing on all of the handsome fittings for kitchens and baths that I found at the kitchen and bath show 2019, in Las Vegas!
After our last stop on the Design Hounds Tour, I found myself chatting with the lovely Christine Kohut of Christine Kohut Interiors. Christine is also a Modenus Design Hound and was on this tour last year.
After a short discussion it was decided that we’d walk around together for a while. Christine is a doll, plus, I figured that I’d learn some new things and I most certainly did. She was shopping for clients and had some specific items she was looking for.
Our first stop was at a company that’s new to me. Lapitec.
They manufacturer a solid surface material that is altogether new and has many unique properties such as super stain, mold and bacteria resistant. You can find out more about this company in the link above.
Here’s Christine Kohut enjoying a bit of bubbly they gave us at Lapitec.
Then, we hit the always fabulous Kohler booth.
One of the most photographed areas of this show is from this jaw-dropping kitchen at Kohler. The tile is by Anne Sacks.
Since Laurel forgot to go in for a close-up, she found one from the wonderful Pulp Design Studio headed by the dynamite team of Beth Dotolo and Carolina V. Gentry.
Please also follow them on instagram.
Kohler Tournant semi-professional kitchen sink faucet
The faucet comes in numerous finishes
Christine and I both thought this to be quite handsome. I could see it in a laundry room with navy walls. But, the way they’ve displayed it is quite nice, too.
Kohler handsome bath accessories, toilet, rose gold shower hardware
There is also a LOT of rose gold and copper along with the usual finishes.
For non-designers out there, or newbie designers:
One thing I very much recommend is to get samples of all finishes in your projects. The showroom lights can be so misleading and restocking fees and delays for having to re-order can make for a nightmarish experience.
More brass shower lovelies from Kohler
One more vignette from Kohler. You might recall that we saw the Aerin chandelier at the One King’s Lane store in SoHo when I visited them last November.
Every bathroom should have a fireplace. Don’t you think so?
Next stop was Brizo who make these gorgeous faucets
Vettis Concrete Faucet – via jensennn_lan17 on instagram
Honestly, some things are such a blur, that I can’t recall if I actually saw this at the show or somewhere else, but am including it as it fits so well with the masculine look of things. This is actually a concrete faucet. They only made 500 of them. I imagine that they are probably all sold out.
We saw some other cool Brizo faucets as well.
Christine was looking at one of these as a possibility for her client.
More beautiful Brizo – hardware – and green cabinetry!
one more handsome vanity from Brizo
To see one of the Brizo faucets for sale, click here.
From there, you can do a search for all of the Brizo faucets for kitchens and bathrooms.
Another handsome collection by American Standard is the Town Square S shown above.
We also stopped by the striking booth of True refrigerators.
I love this 30″ white refrigerator by True.
Christine also needed some hardware for her clients and introduced me to this wonderful line, Belwith-Keeler.
Beautiful brushed brass handles from Belwith-Keeler for a classic contemporary look. You can find Belwith-Keeler on Build.com.
After this, Christine and I parted company. Thanks so much, Christine! That was fun!
I was running out of steam (I could’ve truly used a Mr. Steam to replace it!!! haha!) and desperately wanted to find the Bluestar vignette I had seen the day before.
However, two large dudes were oblivious to the fact that I very much needed pics for my blog. haha.
I zeroed in on Frank’s badge.
And see that he’s a first time attendee, so I’ll cut him some slack. ;]
Some of you might recall how in love with the Bluestar brand I am and featured them in this post.
I did finally find the booth and I’ll post more images later on.
During my search, I happened upon this beauty and might have to cheat on my Bluestar ranges. This is a new white matte finish by Cafe a, high-end division of GE. And more GREEN!
See what I mean? Now, I know that some of you love to know the colors and thankfully my dear friend Claire Jefford made a video about her take on the colors she saw at KBIS which you can see here.
Or, if you prefer to read her blog post, click here.
Aren’t you going to tell us the color, Laurel?
Oh, blimey. Thank you for reminding me. ;]
Benjamin Moore True Green 2042-10
Another view of the kitchen and bath show 2019 beautiful kitchen and showing the stunning fridge and dishwasher.
This is reminding me a lot of Melissa Tardiff’s charming green kitchen.
Above is an image of the GE Cafe matte white appliances from their website.
Phew! Hope you enjoyed this sampling of the beautiful products I saw at the kitchen and bath industry show (KBIS) 2019!
Oh, and many of these items can be found on Build.com. In fact, they are having a huge kitchen sale right now. Up to 70% off.
xo,
PS: please check out the newly updated hot sales and grab your promo codes for big savings from some of my favorite home furnishing brands.
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37 Responses
Thank you so much for your blog-I look forward to reading it every day! Did any cabinet manufacturers stand above the crowd? I’m getting ready to reno my kitchen and selecting the cabinet manufacturer has been stressful. I am reading on line so many bad reviews well on “all” of them!
Wellborn Cabinetry always stands out! You can read about them here and there should be a link to their website as well.
From what I was able to find online, it looks like Lapitec has not been out very long – maybe only three or four years?
You are not kidding though. There are definitely too many products to know about!!! 😉
Why have I never heard of this Lapitec material before? It sounds like the most indestructible material ever!
Love the Blue Star appliances and the Cafe ones look very sharp also.
Hi Lori,
I had not heard of Lapitec before, either. When one thinks about it, unless you’ve already done 100s of kitchens and baths, learning all there is to know would be akin to getting a PHD in kitchens and baths. For some, it’s a refresher course and for people like me, it’s a little bit here and little bit there. There’s only so much new information my mind can hold in two days.
Oh, I’m so glad that white appliances are coming back in. I really do not like stainless steel, and even though I have a white kitchen I prefer to have white (or black) appliances! Maybe now that they’re “in” on the very high end, they’ll eventually trickle down to those of us who have to buy second-hand on Craigslist. Haha.
I’ve learned so much from your blog, Laurel…I think this is my first time commenting, though. We just remodeled our kitchen and I changed several things from our original plan because I was so taken with your “unkitchen” posts. We live in a little row house with limited space, but things feel so much more elegant AND useful when I look at the kitchen as an extension of my house’s overall design, rather than a totally separate box. Thank you!!!
Hi Rebekah,
I’m so sorry I missed your lovely comment! I’m so glad that whatever I’ve said has been helpful for you.
I read somewhere about a countertop surface that has induction burners integrated into it, but hidden beneath so the surface is not interrupted. Did you happen to see that at the show? Do you know anything about it?
Hi Anne-Marie,
You know, I believe that I did. Christine Kohut and I were talking about it, but we kind of breezed by. I will get more information about it. My recollection is that the counter was a waterfall design and a black marble.
so great to catch up with you at KBIS, even though it was a whirlwind! Thanks for sharing my colour video. I haven’t decided 100% yet, but I might be tired of that green already. I’m seeing it everywhere. LOL.
Hi Claire!
I always love spending time with you too! I love the green but feel that it’s better as more of an accent and it needs LOTS of white. Melissa Tardiff’s kitchen is one that I adore.
Nancy Keyes who’s one of my favorite designers ever helped her with it.
The Brizo line is fabulous! I recently had my bathroom remodeled – my first remodel ever – and my biggest splurge was on Brizo fixtures and hardware. Everything is in a beautiful polished nickel right down to the toilet handle! I am in love with it all. My bathroom is beautiful, by the way, because you helped design it. Everything in my new bathroom was found in, or inspired by, your blog posts, except for the hardware and fixtures, and now here they are! Tada! I also learned to mix metals from you. My daughter often accuses me of being too matchy, matchy and her first comment on my new bathroom was, “I’m so proud of you; you mixed your metals!” My sconces are by Visual Comfort in antique brass and my ceiling light is very similar to the Basil flush mount in antique brass. And, I have a Monet sailboat print hanging above my toilet! Everyone should, right? Hahaha! I never would have thought to put classic art in my bathroom if you hadn’t written about it. It looks beautiful hanging on the wall painted in BM Glass Slipper. 😊 You educate, inspire, and bring joy to so many. I hope you find your work as fulfilling as we find it invaluable! Thank you!
Hi Donna,
Well, thank you for making my day! It always tickles me to no end when something I’ve said or done has been helpful. Thank you so much for sharing that! xoxo
While I may not want to paint all of my cabinets a bold colors, I do love an accent cabinet in a kitchen painted an eye-catching color, My favorite kitchen so far that I lived in had an eggplant accent corner cabinet–wonderful! A relative of mine has deep sapphire-type blue lower cabinets–wonderful! And the green looks very fresh. I could easily love an accent cabinet in this type of green.
Hi De,
Me too!
Thank you for these posts. Please feel free to continue reporting about the show! Even if you repeat some images. Sounds like you have more vendors and stories to share including more big thumbs up or cautionary tales about products and trends.
Kitchens and baths are the areas your readers are most likely to renovate or focus on when purchasing or building a home.
I appreciate that it is not convenient to travel and report while keeping up your blog schedule! I’m glad you had great companions and next time I hope the weather is great, too.
Thank you so much Libby. I always love your kind comments!
I have had a,forest green kitchen for over 25 years and I still love it. The kitchen itself needs a little sprucing up but I am not going to change out the green.
Hi Donna,
Well, I always say that whatever you love is what’s on-trend.
That show looks amazing! I had a bluestar 36″ range on an off grid property several years ago. It was hard to clean. The burner grids always looked dirty. And the sound it made as it heated and cooled! Loud *POP* sounds from the metal back plate. I did love the burner control, and every inch of that stovetop was usable. The oven was wonderful except for baked goods, which always cooked twice as fast on one side despite convection. They’ve gone up in price so much that I’d choose a La Canche now instead.
Oh, so it’s supposed to cook well too? haha.
Hi Laurel,
I really like the new white Cafe Appliances. I’m curious about your feelings regarding white appliances with white cabinets. Do you choose the cabinet color to as closely match the appliances? Or do you go with a different shade of white to create a contrast?
Or is it a case where it’s personal preference?
That’s a very good question, Mary. Ideally, I think that the color should be fairly close, but it’s not always possible. If you have a bunch of slightly different whites, it can be very pretty, however.
Hi Laurel,
I actually looked at the Cafe White refrigerator – I fell in love with all the photos, and we are installing Cafe appliances in our new home. The texture of the white refrigerator felt kind of weird and did not look high end in person. I felt that maybe I was just so brainwashed by the Stainless Steel….
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
I didn’t actually go and touch it. I guess it’s because I’m more focused on getting a good image. And then I come back and realize that I really don’t know that much about the product. I think that over-all, I’m still in the camp of cladding the fridge with the cabinet material. The fridges with the glass doors are cool, except then one has the sitch where things need to be lovely to look at. ummmm… nice fantasy. haha.
I had to laugh at your “masculine” observation. My husband and I were at the show and that was a running joke between us! By the way, I’m a fan of the Blue Star ranges also, but did find the GE Cafe model quite beautiful. Will have to do more research on both. I’m remodeling our kitchen and your blog has been invaluable. Great info with a refreshing dose of humor. 🙂 Thank you for what you do.
Hi Debbie,
Too funny!
Hi Laurel, thanks for that awesome summary! I haven’t seen much yet about KBIS, and I’ve been very interested. Love the green, but do you think its trendy? I’d be worried that the kitchen would be marked 2019 forever.
Also, what do you think about white appliances? The kitchen industry has been trying to bring them back forever, but when I check with our local appliance stores, they hardly ever sell any. I think they are beautiful!
Thanks again,
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
All great questions. I’ve been seeing green in kitchens for a very long time. I love it in Melissa Tardiff’s antique home in New Jersey. But, she only has it on two walls on the lower cabinets and one of them is interrupted with the range. The kitchen is still predominantly white. I think it largely depends on the kitchen and configuration. But I think that a large all-green kitchen would be over-kill and look dated.
As for white appliances– I LOVE them!!! I’ve been waiting for some great looking ones, however in a more moderate price range. The Cafe collection is quite expensive still. I saw some retail prices around $7,000. That makes it in the same league as a La Cornue or La Canche. I’d have to examine all of the features more closely to see how they compare.
Chris told me y’all were together for a couple of hours checking things out!
Y’all are two of my very favs, and I can only imagine the design knowledge being exchanged between you two!!
xoxo
Hi Elizabeth,
It was a lot of fun and I appreciated learning from Christine as the bulk of my business was not kitchens and baths. I’ve learned a lot since writing this blog, however!
Hi Laurel
A fast question about kitchen cabinet height. My family is redoing a very old country home with low ceilings,less than 8 feet in one area. They aspire to an open airy feeling and are planning on one exterior wall with uppers only Should the cabinets go to the ceiling to provide max storage – or would that make the ceiling seem even lower.
from a big fan in the great white North,
Marg Robb
No, the cabinets should go all the way up to bring the eye up and creating a sense of height.
Thump thump goes my 💚💚💚!
me too!
I miss hunter green! It looks so fresh and awesome with white and grayish tones. So I take it the design gods are swinging the pendulum back to green. Just in time as I’m having a bit of navy fatigue. As for all the men in the kitchen and bath biz – this explains so much. Including why so many cabinets, bath fixtures, appliances, etc. are too high, too big, etc.
Hi Paula,
Actually, I don’t think that it ever left, but has been over-shadowed by navy in recent years. And, we can extend that last sentence to all furnishings. Most furniture designers are men, too. But, they were also men in earlier times when all of the furniture was smaller.