May 31, 2013

Photo taken from Chelsea
High Line in New York. 

When
walking around New York after the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF),
the word “reinvention” came to me as a trend that speaks not only to the city,
but also to the innovations shown at this year’s show. The significance of
standing on the Chelsea High Line in a garden that was once an elevated train
track while looking at an image from 1945 that was re-invented in graffiti, was
not lost on me. It was that “aha” moment.

Translating
“aha” into “ahhh” then became the trend story for ICFF kitchen and bath
products. In the U.S., we tend to keep one foot in what’s comfortable and
traditional while at the same time we yearn for the latest and greatest.
Transitional design is the best of both worlds – the reinventing of tried and
true with something new.

2013 Trends for Kitchen and Bath

The sink that comes out on top

BLANCO’s
MODEX has won numerous design awards for it’s unique raised cubic look and
integrated functionality. It’s made of SILGRANIT II, a durable granite
composite that lets you use the sink as a real workstation to prep, cut, set a
boiling pot atop, etc.

Energy-efficient LED lighting

Big Ass
Fans introduces Haiku with LED lighting. This sleek minimalist ceiling fan was launched
last year at ICFF and has been re-invented with a
patent-pending LED module that is 80 percent more efficient than traditional
bulbs, offers 16 unique brightness settings and will last for years.

Outdoor living, bathing

Connecting
with nature appears to be a growing design niche – even in New York City.
Weltevree presents their award-winning Dutchtub wood-fired
hot tub with a unique look and simple design that lets you take the outdoor
bathing experience with you.

New
traditional design

Victoria+Albert takes the original Victorian
bath and streamlines the look with its Drayton model. This transitional bathtub
and its coordinating basin are made of ENGLISHCAST, which is a glossy white composite
surface that is easy to clean.

Vintage
tile gets skinny

INALCO, a Tile of Spain manufacturer, is one
of the innovators of thin tile – tile that is as mechanically strong as normal
porcelain – but with unique advantages for easy installation with little grout
on walls, counters and floors. This classic vintage look comes in a thin tile
called Handcraft.