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  • Stay Tuned
    - Friday February 1, 2008
    The Kitchen & Bath Confidential blog will feature live reports from the 2008 International Builders' Show (IBS) Feb. 13-16 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. Starting the week of Feb. 13 and throughout the show and educational conference, we'll be posting audio, pictures and text, live from the show floor. Check back here each day for show sights and sounds and analysis of the latest IBS product and design trends. And don't forget to check out our Live Events and Top Headlines sections for up-to-the-minute news and event details, all live from the show floor. For instance, the blog, along with the Live Events and Top Headlines sections, will contain details about the show's emphasis on green design and building this...

  • Stop! look and listen...
    - Wednesday July 25, 2007
    We all want to believe that we have our professional act together and we are constantly putting up with others who for one reason or another cannot: send an email; meet a deadline to save themselves; or go the extra distance to actually complete a task that was assigned to them two weeks ago!  I am with you 100 percent. Before you pick up a blunt object let’s take a deep breath and exhale gently.  Most of us who are in the Design and Build industry (including myself) tend to be super control freaks. It made sound harsh, maybe even a tad politically incorrect, but the reality is that we have to work and live with people who either get “it†or don’t get “itâ€!  A moment’s introspection may help...

  • Trio of Experts Offer Tips on Tapping the Ever-Growing Luxury Market
    - Tuesday June 26, 2007
    Kitchen and bath remodeling remains strong, exhibiting residual strength, and even some modest growth. In fact, the National Kitchen & Bath Association offers a “cautiously optimistic†remodeling forecast of 7.55 million kitchen jobs this year, up 1.5% over 2006, with bath jobs rising 1.6%, to 10.48 million units. In addition, at the recent Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association in Lake Tahoe, CA, Wayne Wilbanks, managing principal of Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC, told attendees that manufacturers on the high end of the residential market have been virtually unscathed by the housing slowdown. (For more Industry Barometers click here. For more business articles click here. And don’t forget to sign up...

  • Doing the right thing!
    - Thursday May 31, 2007
    In today’s highly competitive world, the lowest priced merchandise with so called outstanding product delivery and service is advertised on TV, the Internet and newspaper. So why does it take companies several attempts to deliver the goods on time, undamaged and as it was presented to the consumer? Case in point: I ordered a five burner free standing range and a four burner range showed up. I upgraded my office furniture only to discover that the computer desk was damaged upon delivery and the replacement unit was also damaged. Which leads me to my beautiful driveway, made from the most expensive concrete pavers known to mankind. Because of the tumbling process, the concrete pavers developed hairline fractures...

  • Expert Reveals Best Ways to Introduce Clients to Universal Design
    - Tuesday May 29, 2007
    As the American population gets older, and more households become multi-generational, the idea of having a home in which family and friends can access without limitations – no matter what level of ability a person has, or age and physical type a person is – is becoming a topic that kitchen bath dealers and designers can pitch to their prospective clients, regardless of their age. However, to “convert†clients to the thought that having a Universally Designed kitchen, bath and home can prove delicate, especially when most consumers don’t particularly like to admit they are getting older, but still may need products designed specifically geared toward making their lives easier. Enter Drue Lawlor, FASID...

  • K/BIS 2007 Hits Jackpot in Vegas
    - Thursday May 24, 2007
    Held at the Las Vegas Convention Center May 7-10, the 26th annual Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference (K/BIS) hit the jackpot with the wares of its 1,100-plus exhibitors and a full slate of educational seminars, special events, roundtable discussions and networking opportunities attracting 44,154 kitchen and bath designers and dealers and other allied professionals from here and abroad. The latest K/BIS was filled with a bustle of activity throughout its three halls and more than 610,000 sq. ft. of designated exhibit space, with the New Product Pavilion, the NKBA Industry Trends Marketplace and the NKBA Center Stage offering interested design professionals the latest in product innovations and trends. (To see Kitchen & Bath Design...

  • 2007 NextGen Home Gets Automated, Glimpses Digital Future
    - Thursday May 24, 2007
    Popular notion holds that today’s home automation means some lighting and temperature control, while automated appliances remain part of a Jetsons-like future we’ve never quite achieved. However, the future was achieved at this year’s NextGen Demonstration Home, showcased during the 2007 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show & Conference (K/BIS). The entire home was equipped with remote and touch panels that powered a home automation system called Life|ware 2.0 from Exceptional innovation. Life|ware 2.0 controlled everything from the appliances and the lighting to the home’s security, ushering what was termed “a new level of digital living†into the kitchen and throughout the home. It is a digital entertainment...

  • Digital Design Takes Center Stage at 2007 K/BIS
    - Thursday May 24, 2007
    As the kitchen gets greener and cleaner, the kitchen is becoming more digital than ever before. This could be seen in the wide range of products on display at the 2007 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference (K/BIS) in Las Vegas equipped with high-tech or "smart" features that turned the kitchen into the digital control center of the home, including energy-efficient, function-packed appliance suites controlled by intuitive LED touch screens, kitchen and bath cabinetry with soft-close and one-touch-open features, hands-free faucets, feature-rich plumbing fixtures and high-tech lighting systems. Many of these high-tech gadgets and appliances were found in the Digital Entertainment Kitchen presented in the National Kitchen & Bath...

  • Study Sheds Light on Activities in the ‘Ideal’ Kitchen
    - Thursday May 24, 2007
    The Digital Kitchen Study and the resulting Digital Entertainment Kitchen display at this year’s Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference (K/BIS) further shed light on what consumers felt were the most desired kitchen activities. According to the Digital Kitchen Study, a cross-industry collaboration involving leading members of the CABA Internet Home Alliance Research Council, the following are the activities consumers would most like to do – and not do – in their “ideal†kitchen:   Kitchen as control center, not entertainment center. While some who are remodeling their kitchen said they want to watch movies and videos in the kitchen, the vast majority (85%) of homeowners said they don’t see...

  • Digital Features, Space Maximization & Natural Surroundings Mark the 2007 Design Showcase
    - Thursday May 24, 2007
    Like so many other products and displays at this year’s Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference (K/BIS) in Las Vegas, the 2007 Design Showcase, presented by Woman’s Day Special Interest Publications (WDSIPs) and Home magazine, was inspired by the “Digital Age.†Dubbed ‘Digital Dreams,’ it featured forward-thinking ideas, bold use of color and plenty of comfort. Its L-shaped kitchen was highlighted by a mix of colors and contrasts and provided a host of ergonomic features. It had an ergonomic chef center with cabinetry by Armstrong and a two-sided center island with one side made for clean-up and the other made for snacking. Digital features included a Broan-NuTone video monitoring system, a Dell laptop...