February 8, 2021
KBIS 2021: The Annual Trade Show Will Debut a Virtual Venue and Products Shaped by COVID-19
As the National Kitchen and Bath Association convenes online, new products reflect demand for cleaner air and surfaces, and social distancing.
This year’s annual Kitchen and Bath Industry Show is being hosted virtually at KBIS.com, and the global pandemic which caused the shift to an online venue also informs a number of products launching during the show held this week, February 9-12. Before the show opened its online vendor visits, panels, and plenary sessions, Metropolis found the following products (including some KBIS debuts), which seem engineered to respond to a new normal, shaped by COVID-19:
Barbecuing is a familiar summer staple, but creative quarantining has piqued interest in an extension of outdoor cooking that includes baking and slow-cooking al fresco year-round. An example is a series of DCS Appliances outdoor grills, which now include a griddle and power burner, which extends the menu to paella and pancakes.
After a year marked by wildfires and a contagious airborne virus, residential indoor air quality has taken on fresh importance. A new option from Samsung offers a compact, unobtrusive design in four different colors and two patterns. The machine also features Wind-Free Air Purification, meaning that it runs super-quiet and draft-free.
Shifting school and work to homes has intensified homeowners’ attention to the health of materials on major surfaces that surround us. Into this setting, Farrow & Ball has rolled out Modern Emulsion, its new water-based paint suitable for wet environments such as bathrooms and kitchens.
According to a 2020 survey, 91 percent of Americans ages 35 to 44 see touchless products as essential upgrades for home. Automated fixtures are already widely used in public bathrooms. Kohler’s new faucet with embedded sensors is being rolled out amid greater residential demand.
The practice of outdoor entertaining is extending to domestic pods. A mobile bar cart in various sizes and configurations from Dometic support the trend with weatherproof design, refrigeration, and an optional roto-molded basket.
You may also enjoy “The Metropolis A to Z of Surfaces“
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