For the past few years, the European tile industry has been buzzing about how digital inkjet technology has transformed the tile industry. If you were at Cersaie in Italy last year, you would have already seen the new introductions of tile that looks like marble, limestone and wood, but are actually digital printing on porcelain tile.

This year at Coverings in Florida, the photo imagery tile was on display in full force.

While we in North America may prefer to specify natural products, Europeans are facing a short supply and are very conscious of cradle-to-grave sustainability.

For those of us in the kitchen and bath industry, this will provide some really strong applications for us. How many of us have directed a busy young family away from wood in the kitchen or marble in a child’s bathroom because of the maintenance and wearing issues? With digital imagery on porcelain, we’ll now have the option of the look with the durability and easy care of porcelain.

Here are some of the examples I saw at Coverings:

Until next time,
Kelly

Even if you’ve been to Eurocucina once before, as I have back in 2006, the show can still be overwhelming. I think the trick is to go to each and every one—which means every other year—to get a better sense of the evolution of trends. Otherwise, after seeing a gazillion beautifully presented kitchens, fondling their countertops and opening their cabinet doors and drawers, your vision and your memory get a little blurry and you’re still not sure what it is you saw.

First, you must understand that the show is huge. Even though regulars, such as Maxine Laauer, founder and CEO of Sphere Trending—with whom I had the great pleasure of having dinner on my first night in Milan—noted that many of the companies have reduced their booth size this year, Eurocucina still occupied four halls. And because the majority of the floor space is dedicated to cabinet manufacturers, the booths each house multiple fully appointed vignettes, which means there is a lot to look at, touch and feel. One moment you could be marveling at the finish on a cabinet door or wondering if a cool texture on a countertop might be a pain to clean and the next you’re distracted by a cluster of pendants made from—whoa!—odd-sized pots and pans

or by the dozens of brown eggs artistically placed in the center of a dining table or the fleet of cute birdhouses adorning the entrance to a booth or the super-tall ladders being used as a towel rack.

And then there was all the greenery displayed throughout the show, be it in pots placed on a shelf or in the rear of a countertop or in oversized planters and more inspirational arrangements to lend the booth a more back-to-nature feel.

In fact, Mother Nature seemed to be enjoying a fair bit of attention and celebration at the show but perhaps this is but a continuation from the last edition of Eurocucina. Regardless, one could boil this love down to two messages: Respect nature because its resources are limited and therefore precious, and, well, respect nature because it is good, healthful and wholesome.

Hopefully after some time, I’ll be better able to process all the images in my head and on the press CDs I collected and come up with a coherent article. In the meantime, here are some photos I snapped on the show floor. I apologize for them being so out of order (there are two albums—one for April 18 and another for April 19).

If you didn’t attend the International Builder’s Show or the Architectural Digest Home Design Show, then you have most likely missed the new hoods from the Best Sorpresa Collection.

Best is calling this new batch of hoods Generation II. The Sun, Sphera, Intrigue and Fusion will round out the first nine hoods to bring the total collection to 13 pieces of “functional art.” Their official release will be this June and not at KBIS as you might expect.

I tried to take photographs of the hoods but they did not turn out well at all so I am using stock photography from Best.

The Sun is a wall mounted range hood that can be ducted or non-ducted. The Sun has perimeter induction technology that Best states allows the hood to better collect smoke and odors. The Sun features a round polished stainless disk (the sun) and comes with a white or black glass backdrop. An optional stainless flue is available for ducted applications but I think it looks better without it.

The Sphera is a recirculating hood that looks like a kitchen light. It is offered in either black or white. An optional remote control is available with this island hood. This hood is ideal for remodeling, and two hoods installed side by side can increase the exhaust functionality while looking stylish instead of toobcommercial.

The Intrigue is another wall-mounted hood that can be ducted or non-ducted. However, the ability to paint this hood makes it quite unique. The top portion (flue to chimney) can be painted allowing it to blend into the wall or pop if that is your preferred aesthetic. I like that this hood has a shelf-like appearance.

The Fusion hood has a yin-yang connection and is a balanced hood of brushed stainless steel and mirror glass. This wall hood can also be ducted with the option flue, like the Sun. In my opinion, this hood looks good both ducted and non-ducted.

The Best website has a useful tool called the Sorpresa Visualizer that lets you envision your hood selection in a range of kitchen styles from Arts and Crafts to European.

—Ann Porter

A morning meeting with Ann Sacks today just confirmed one of the things I enjoy about being in the kitchen and bath industry, which is seeing new surfacing and tile products. Sounds a little geeky, right? But it’s true. Ann Sacks has some incredible products it will be showing at KBIS, and as soon as I get my hands on some images, I’ll post them, because they’re so very lovely.

In the meantime, I wanted to post some more photos I took at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show. First up is Artistic Tile, whose booth had much to ogle. Interestingly, some of what I saw ties up quite nicely with the products I saw this morning in terms of trends. Metallics and mirrored looks seem to be acquiring a bit of a following and are a elegant way to add excitement for those who are still color shy. Besides, there’s something rather honest and substantial about contrasts in materials and finish; no doubt they’re also much more enduring in appeal. The first image shows a metal and glass design and the second is of mirrored glass series.

Texture, as we have been hearing for while now, is still quite prevalent and offers yet another strategy for spicing up a kitchen or bath with a muted color palette.

A company I didn’t know prior to the show, Manhattan Forest Products showed some beautiful wood options, all reclaimed from local historic buildings and landmarks, such as the Coney Island Boardwalk and factories in Brooklyn, or old barns and houses in Appalachia.

The show had little in the way of plumbing, but this kitchen faucet caught my eye because I usually associate Franke with more streamlined contemporary designs, but that’s just me being ignorant. This one has a transitional bent, which will no doubt appeal to the U.S. market. Available in chrome, Old World bronze, polished nickel and satin nickel, the line also includes a faucet with a more traditional-style spout, as well as coordinating potfillers and a soap dispenser.

These last few images aren’t kitchen- or bath-related, but are of products that make a show like this interesting and fun—so much so that I toyed with the idea of driving into the city over the weekend and spending another day looking at the non-k-and-b booths (but I didn’t). The first two show furniture by Bart Niswonger and the last shows some bird decoration that I happened to see on my way out.