Crowds converged on the Las Vegas Convention Center for Design Week and the combined Kitchen and Bath Industry Show and International Builders Show February 25-27.

Thousands thronged to exhibits ranging from sophisticated appliances, lighting, and hardware to cabinets from around the world and a host of building products. No official attendance numbers were immediately available, but most observers agreed the crowds were at least as big as two years ago when attendance was put at over 200,000.

Here’s a quick look at some of the standouts we saw at the show.

Cabinet trends
The biggest trend in cabinets at the show had little to do with the cabinets but more to do with where they were coming from. A host of new companies exhibited cabinets from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Ghana. Obviously, these were attempts to offer imported cabinets without tariffs targeted at China, but many skeptics claimed most these newcomers were Chinese-funded or even Chinese-pass-through operations.

There were also strong entries from Germany (Nobilia, Hacker). International pavilions from Germany, the U.K., Brazil, Italy, and Japan were on display, but not all offered cabinet firms. For those concerned about the trend of declining North American cabinet exhibitors, there were some returning companies, such as Plain & Fancy, joining stalwarts such as Wellborn Cabinet, DeWils Industries, and Fabuwood, which is now combining internationally sourced components with a major assembly and custom manufacturing facility in New Jersey.

Drinking the mocha
For those interested in kitchen cabinet trends, it sure seemed like most of the companies were drinking up Pantone’s Color of the Year Mocha Mousse. An unscientific survey of cabinet displays showed a significant number emphasizing midrange to lighter browns, both in wood and paint finishes, and not nearly so many white kitchens.

There was lots of white oak, almost all riftsawn and with clear or light stain finishes. There was walnut, but not as much as in previous years. There were lots of black, charcoal, and slate finishes, too.

Thin Shaker-style doors were in strong evidence in lots of booths and company representatives universally said that demand is high for the style, whether done as painted or foiled MDF or fabricated as a true five-piece door.

 

Bronze is back
Speaking of color trends, bronze has made a big comeback in decorative hardware. Led by prestige companies such as Keeler Brass, many booths were showing new bronze hardware collections. Whereas glossy gold was big a year ago, a more understated bronze look, often with accents such as knurling and hammer finishes, were more common this year. There were also antique pewter finishes showing up more commonly. Matte black is still out there, but not as dominant as it once was.

Hardware on the move
Clever hardware that allows doors and cabinet components to move in innovative ways was on display in several booths. Hettich showed off its Furnspin hardware that facilitates making a cabinet or furniture component to rotate in place and rest in two different positions. Visualize a cabinet outside corner that can rotate with a snap to reveal shelves inside. Or think of a furniture tower displaying decorative panels that spins to a new position to reveal objects of art inside.

Another kind of motion was on display in the Plain & Fancy booth with a folding pantry pass-through door that folds and retracts like a pocket door with a touch and then closes in similar fashion.

Murphy Door added to their line of concealed doors with a door that uses a book as a lock and trigger. The book, which sits anywhere on the shelf just like a normal book, controls the door by tilting. Pick the book up from the shelf and tilt it to start the bookcase door opening. Tilt it again to close the door.

That’s just a hint of what was on display. We’ll be sharing more of what we saw in coming weeks.