Kitchens and bathrooms will share a radiant touch of star power in 2015, according to leading industry experts. Beautiful looks and clever technology will merge seamlessly, proving the rule that form and function should always go hand in hand.
But the coming year will also deliver an array of new products striving to answer the question on the minds of so many coastal homeowners and designers: How can I transform a hard-working kitchen and bathroom into a personalized space and private sanctuary?
IN THE KITCHEN
Thermador
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We are a nation of individualists, and Thermador is saluting that very American concept with its newest products, offering culinary enthusiasts full control to design their dream kitchen.
“The biggest trend we are seeing in the market is the desire to personalize one’s home,” says Zach Elkin, director of brand marketing for BSH Home Appliances, the parent company of Thermador and Bosch.
One example: Thermador’s aptly named Freedom Collection, featuring individual fresh food, freezer, bottom-freezer and wine cooler columns in widths ranging from 18 to 36 inches. Each column is flush mounted and can be fully integrated for home cooks to create custom kitchen layouts with a seamless appearance. thermador.com
Bosch
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The mantra at Bosch today, Elkin says, is about sleek lines coupled with convenience. Bosch’s Bauhaus design philosophy embraces a balance of form as well as function, such as in the FlexInduction cooktop, which adds flexibility by accommodating more diverse cookware than traditional burners. Think longer roasting pans, various griddle shapes, and non-traditional pots and pans. bosch-home.com/us/
Gaggenau
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Foodies are also flocking to cooking mechanisms that keep flavor and nutrients intact. Gaggenau charted the course some 15 years ago, with the worldwide introduction of the first Combi-steam oven for private use.
Since then, says Kais Zaiane, director of Gaggenau North America, the company continues its ongoing quest for “path-breaking impulses” into the future. One of the company’s signature ovens is a clever “three-in-one,” with a traditional oven, steam oven, combination mechanism and broil function. gaggenau.com/us/
Viking
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Professional styling and performance in the kitchen have always distinguished great appliances, but in today’s rapidly evolving home culinary world, the coupling is more important than ever.
“Consumers are increasingly looking for substance behind the style,” says Brent Bailey, vice president of brand management at Viking.
The company philosophy has produced a striking development in Viking’s new 7 Series Ranges, which incorporate commercial components and a French Door Double Oven for convenience. vikingrange.com
Porcelanosa
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At Porcelanosa this season, small is beautiful. Santiago Manent, Porcelanosa’s director of sales and marketing, says the company’s designers are focused on the development of more innovative and versatile product lines.
Recent releases, such as the Emotions Kitchen Collection, align perfectly with the demands of small apartments and space-crunched urban areas, as well as compact guest or staff quarters in more spacious coastal homes, by featuring new built-in offerings and a wider range of cabinet heights and depths. porcelanosa-usa.com
Hansgrohe
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Hansgrohe has responded to consumer requests for greater ease of movement around the sink with faucets that integrate shower technology to produce a unique shower-like spray. Part of Hansgrohe’s exciting new Metris kitchen line, the Metris 2-spray HighArc and Prep kitchen faucets with pull-out sprays, offer an extendable handshower with two jet types. “Users can easily grab the hand spray from the front and pull it towards them in one streamlined movement,” says Luky “Jade” Ng, design studio manager of Axor NYC, helping to make light and fast work of washing the dishes. hansgrohe-usa.com
Liebherr
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Smooth, sculptural lines continue to ride a cresting wave in contemporary kitchen design. Liebherr is creating new technology and techniques so that refrigerators can be virtually invisible, disguised behind beautiful cabinetry. The new Liebherr SBS 19H1 consists of a full 24 inch refrigeration tower, the HRB 1120 with BioFresh, and a companion 24 inch full freezer, the HF 851. “In the past, home design was driven by practicality, but now homeowners want function and design to align,” says Josef Steigmiller, vice president of Liebherr Refrigeration, The Americas. liebherr.us
IN THE BATH
Gessi
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The trend towards personalizing space and creating a private sanctuary continues to reshape contemporary bathrooms. For Gessi, this means expressing aesthetics through creativity, allowing the bath to be more spa-like to promote physical and mental calm and well-being. “The increasingly frenetic pace of work and daily life today has reduced people’s availability of time,” says Gessi North America’s CEO/Managing Director Larry Allen, “As a result, there is a greater demand for higher quality personal living spaces and accessories.” One antidote: Gessi’s Tremillimetri, which incorporates a wafer thin showerhead, cascade showerhead, and body spray and mister that will have you in instant relaxation mode. gessi.com
Dornbracht
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Dornbracht is also creating a big splash with new ideas in bathroom automation, but within reasonable limits. “People don’t want to feel like they’re performing brain surgery before they take a shower,” says Pat Jarvis, vice president of sales and marketing – North America. To counter electronics overload, Dornbracht has created ATT Vertical & Horizontal Showers and Smart Water products. As Jarvis says, “We’ve made the controls so intuitive that only one or two pushes of a button give you exactly what you want from the shower or bathtub.” dornbracht.com