Design & Construction Week marked the return of several vendors who have been absent from KBIS since the downturn in the economy. Many exhibitors injected fun and history into their booths, and their excitement was contagious. Having KBIS and IBS at the same venue was a bit over-stimulating – I felt like a kid in a humongous candy store. 

Merillat Cabinets showcased a model mid-century kitchen that many of us could have had in our childhood homes. The company kept a supply of red aprons on a coatrack nearby and invited booth visitors to pose for pictures to be featured on their Facebook page. A very smart use of social media to get designers to visit their page and learn what they’re up to.

The following products were particular favorites of mine, and I was pleased to see they made  Best of KBIS.

Merillat’s CoreGuard Sink Base Cabinet features engineered polymer sides, back and floor, which are easy to clean up. The floor is slightly tilted to the front so any puddles will be easy to see. Raised ribs on the cabinet floor help keep the items stored inside dry. If you have ever had an undetected leak slowly turn the floor of your cabinet to mush, you will really appreciate this. A few of the accessory companies offer a covering resembling a giant coaster for the sink base floor, but this seems like a smart choice when replacing the cabinet.

The Glideware cabinet accessory provides a convenient, sliding mechanism from which to hang items. At the booth purses, as well as pots and pans, were on display, demonstrating how you could easily use this accessory in a closet. It is always difficult to organize pots and pans with their matching lids. I love how easily you can slip the lids over the handles, provided you have the right kind of cookware. Using Calphalon pots and pans shows how strong the product is. 

Elmwood Cabinetry obviously works hard at innovation because they always have something new to show at KBIS. This year, the Elmwood booth featured wall-height cascade cabinet doors that you can use to hide entertainment equipment, a desk area, a pantry, a messy kitchen, whatever you like. The doors are customizable to the height you want. With the high ceilings at KBIS, Elmwood chose very tall cabinets to show as many features as possible. For discerning customers who don’t want what everyone else has, Elmwood has something unique and functional to offer.

When I first wrote about the Dacor Discovery Wine Station in the January issue of K+BB, I thought it sounded like a fabulous product. When I found out Dacor was returning to KBIS, I was very excited. The booth was crowded with people when I stopped by, and I could barely get near the Wine Station; I was hoping to get a glass of wine. 

I invited a friend in the building business to attend the show with me, so we split our time between KBIS and IBS. One of our favorite booths at IBS was SeaGull Lighting. The fixtures are well made and very reasonably priced. The two largest lights you see in the display case are from the Sfera Collection, an Energy Star series that would work extremely well in today’s transitional homes.

Another favorite product was Authentic Pine Floors, which featured the new Mondavi Home Collection. This unique flooring is made from wine barrels, so the staining is all natural – from the grapes that made the wine! The booth also featured flooring from their Grandpa Mac and Old Dirty Goat lines. If you stopped by the booth and had your badge scanned, you received an email informing you that a Builders’ Show sample box was available for those who requested it. I can’t wait to get my sample box and see what’s inside!