KBIS – Kitchen and Bath International Show a Playground for Renovators

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Coastal Shower Doors 1

Last week, Orlando played host to thousands of design professionals as they gathered under one roof to check out all the new doodads in kitchens and bathrooms. Against last week’s backdrop of certain presidential revelations, a shower seemed a good place to begin …

Gridscape is a new collection of shower doors and panels from Coastal Shower Doors. Mimicking the au courant steel frame Crittall windows, Gridscape extends the 1940s industrial factory look into the home.  There are multiple options in glass … clear, frosted and smoke … and two metal finishes … brown-black and chrome (chrome is the classic-modern look many strive for).  Mullions are customizable as well.  Seen above are boxes, but there are horizontal-only in a variety of glass widths as well as large-scale geometrics with colored glass.  There are also exterior patterned screens to enhance the industrial look.  I would say the variety is endless … a little trite for me … but there are quite a lot of configurations.

MTI Continuum sink 1

The Continuum sink isn’t new-new … it came out in 2015 … but it’s still winning awards … most recently a 2017 German Design Award … its eighth. It was designed by Matthew Quinn for MTI Baths as part of their Boutique collection.  Looking at it you’re at once mesmerized and then believe it’s completely impractically shallow.  Here’s the deal.  It’s not shallow … it’s five inches deep.  What you’re seeing are the top two inches of the sink rim.  To install, you cut the hole for the sink and plop it in. Your fabricator takes the cutout, polishes the edges and attaches legs to the bottom. The legged cutout fits into the sink and hovers at countertop height to give the appearance of a seamless counter.  Water runs over the top of the cutout to the drain below. No, it’s not for a sink you’d want to fill up, but in a powder room, guests will be agog … as will you … list prices start at $1,030 … not including all the labor involved.

LUDO Faucet 1

I’ve complained for years that while kitchen faucets have pull-out sprayers to rinse the sink and get wet what needs to be wet, bathroom sinks require undue splashing around to wash that errant gob of toothpaste away.  Enter Ludo by David Dolcini for Italian maker Bellosta Rubinetterie.  The top of the column controls on/off and hot/cold (forward/back, left/right) But what makes this interesting is that the spout swivels up to 60-degrees either left or right.  It’s not as good as a pull-out spray, but it’s a start.  If you love this I have some advice.  It’s currently only available in Italy but that’s OK. Remember, the Euro is around $1.05 to the dollar (versus as much as $1.30). So that’s a big savings. If you’re visiting Italy, all the better.  You can get the currency discount AND the VAT refund (another 20 percent off).  Between the two and some haggling, you’re at 50-ish percent off retail.  Not a bad day at all.

Graff Dressage Vanity 2

Log cabin modernist? Lumbersexual? Lincoln Log aficionado?  Bump on a log? Graff’s Dressage freestanding vanity is for you.  When I first saw this at a distance, I thought it was a cabinet-depth piece of wood counter. Nope.  It’s a log. It’s a log with log legs. It’s a log with legs and a sink, cabinet, tray and mirror (on a pole).  Where’s the plumbing?  It’s all inside the logs.  That dot on the right side? Towel hook.  There are two sizes (40” and 63”) in a Canaletto walnut finish. Available in Dallas at a bunch of places including Pirch at Northpark.

Maison Valentina Vanity 1

Is over-the-top your go-to design inspiration?  Meet Maison Valentina’s Sinuous dressing table.  Made of wood with curvaceous curves covered in gold leaf, this is the piece for any big ol’ girl’s bathroom or dressing area.  The top is translucent black lacquer. Generous drawer space with an integrated mirror (I might want a larger mirror … do I have a big face?). It’s 61” long and 21” in depth. While made in the UK, it’s available in the US from Demorais International in Virginia. Price?  It’s gold leaf honey, what do you think?  🙂

Artistic Tile Bijoux 1

Is “over-the-top” something you see in the rearview mirror?  Artistic Tile has introduced its Bijoux Collection. “Bijoux” means jewelry in French, and that’s just what you’re getting. Tiger’s eye, malachite, and amethyst (seen above) tile.  Yes, tile.  Each comes as a 12×12 sheet. Price? Beyond insane.  I could see myself using this … no seriously.  Think about a shower with white wall tile and this as the back of the shampoo niche.  See?  I’m right, aren’t I? The one or two sheets you’d need would cost as much as the rest of the house, but it would be worth it every shower.  There’s even a Dallas showroom.

Wine Barrel Sink 1

Are you a gold-digger prospector? Seriously, this wine barrel vanity with miner’s pan sink is just the thing for those with a rustic wine cellar.  If the miner’s pan isn’t for you, there are a variety of copper sinks to choose from.  The folks over at Premier Copper Products know all about copper … and the environment … 99.7 percent of their copper is recycled, their finishes are non-VOC and most everything is made by hand.  The barrels come in various shades from light to dark to fit your style.  Figure the whole deal … barrel, sink and faucet setting you back about two grand.  Better start panning.

Next time, we’ll head into the kitchen to see what trouble we can get into there.  And you know me and kitchens … you’re gonna love it. 

Remember:  High-rises, HOAs and renovation are my beat. But I also appreciate modern and historical architecture balanced against the YIMBY movement.  If you’re interested in hosting a Candysdirt.com Staff Meeting event, I’m your guy. In 2016, my writing was recognized with Bronze and Silver awards from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.  Have a story to tell or a marriage proposal to make?  Shoot me an email [email protected].

Jon Anderson is CandysDirt.com's condo/HOA and developer columnist, but also covers second home trends on SecondShelters.com. An award-winning columnist, Jon has earned silver and bronze awards for his columns from the National Association of Real Estate Editors in both 2016, 2017 and 2018. When he isn't in Hawaii, Jon enjoys life in the sky in Dallas.

4 Comments

  1. Sean Martin on January 17, 2017 at 4:13 pm

    The Gridscape shower design looks like a pain to clean. The Continuum sink is very cool! I had not seen that before.

    • Jon Anderson on January 17, 2017 at 4:32 pm

      Gridscape can be either a single pane of glass on the inside with the framework outside or as seen with completely separated mullions….depending on whether you have a maid. 🙂

      • Sean Martin on January 18, 2017 at 11:45 am

        The framework on the outside sounds great, if you have to clean the shower yourself. 🙂

  2. Handy Home on May 12, 2017 at 3:19 am

    Excellent post. I want to thank you for this informative read; I really appreciate sharing this great post. Keep up your work.

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