Artistic & Natural

Vanities as artful pieces of furniture, in new shapes and a mix of natural and high tech were featured by Native Trails. Shown, the Amelie Vanity is part of the company’s Renewal Series, a contemporary collection of bath vanities and mirrors that combines the sustainable properties of bamboo with modern design. This product also won a 2014 GREEN GOOD Design Award, which honors the best in modern green design.

Repositioning Laminates: Surface to Trade Up to

Formica and Wilsonart have added hundreds of designs to their laminate lineups, including digitally customized prints to match wall paper and fabric patterns.

At KBIS, both these surface giants brought their message home with design personalities on board: Danny Seo at WIlsonart (below) and Jonathan Adler at Formica. Adds Adler, “We want to position [the laminate] as the surface you trade up to, not down to.”

Kitchens of the Future

At KBIS, Virginia Tech University Center for Design Research explored integrated electronics in the kitchen, part of a

FutureHAUS research project into manufacturing strategies and the greater integration of technology with architecture, and industrialized production of smart homes.

Virginia Tech formed an interdisciplinary team of students and faculty from industrial design, architecture, interior design, visual communication design, and computer science to envisage the kitchen – and the house – of the future.

Porsche Miter Cabinetry

Poggenpohl showed its new Porsche Design Studio for the first time in the United States at KBIS. It departs from the horizontal lines of conventional kitchens using industrial mitering. The front merges with the cabinet body in the miter to form an engineered, vertical line, wrapped in a stainless steel-look aluminum profile.

Social and Paint Trending

Wellborn Cabinet’s paint palettes, and “Cashing In on Closets,” were just part of the picture as the company also flexed its social media marketing skills, hosting “My Fix It Up Life” stars for a live radio podcast. Co-stars Mark and Theresa Clement can also be seen on Food Network’s show, “Save My Bakery.”

Vertically Organized Cabinetry

Linear design hides organizers in Wood-Mode’s Oceanside. The use of hardware to create stacked organizing systems was seen in products built using hardware from Rev-A-Shelf, Salice, Blum, Häfele, Hardware Resources and more.

Hardware Watch: Coplanar Slides

Bright Wood Work, St. Petersburg, FL, worked with Häfele on this stunning display with super-wide doors that slide up and out over each other, in coplanar tracks. Visitors did a double take, expecting conventional hinges. One advantage of the coplanar slide approach: It provides access to lower cabinets, even if someone is busy preparing a meal on top. The textured surface of the casework adds drama and interest.