Guide to Kitchen & Bath Fabricating and Surfacing: Surface Appeal

When it comes to unique applications of laminate, Buch notes that she's seen people "filling the gap between appliances, or any kind of gap, with matching laminate." She notes one installation where "there was a big, stainless steel overhead lighting fixture, and there was a gap between the ceiling and the stainless steel, and it was filled in with laminate."

In the bath, Hytry believes that, "The traditional vanity sitting on a box is giving way to more creative use of materials, and people are embracing pedestal lavatories, which means people need more creative applications of countertop storage."

When it comes to experimenting, though, "It's the fabricator who really drives innovation," Ballard believes. "We give fabricators guidelines, but they're the ones out there dealing with new and different applications. On a daily basis, the fabricator is pushing the envelope to see how a product can be used differently, and more creatively," he concludes. KBDN