National Kitchen and Bath Industry Show 2008 Trend Rooms.
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FIVE LEADING MAGAZINE BRANDS SHOWCASE NEW PRODUCTS AND DESIGN TRENDS AT the 2008 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Chicago, Fri., 4/11-Sunday 4/13.
The 10,000 square-foot Design Idea Center features kitchen and bath designs from five of Meredith Corporations most popular consumer brands —Kitchen and Bath Ideas®, Better Homes and Gardens®, Traditional Home ®, Country Home® and Midwest Living®.
Titled “Your Kitchen. Your Bath. Your Way. Designs for Every Lifestyle and Life Stage,” each brand has created a fresh and unique look that addresses the needs of women as they progress through life. Whether she’s a young professional, a new mother, mom-on-the-go or an active empty-nester, this year’s Design Idea Center provides effective and useful spaces for her life, her way. Other trends include eco-friendly design, spaces to entertain, aging-in-place, indoor/outdoor living, technology, organization and storage.
Hostess Extraordinaire
The kitchen is often the hub of a busy household with teenage kids, and Kitchen and Bath Ideas has designed a space to fit this center of activity. Recognizing that a mother of teenagers is part chauffeur, part chef, part counselor, and yet, someone who also loves to entertain friends in her “spare” time, Kitchen and Bath Ideas’ teen-friendly kitchen has the ability to morph into an ideal entertainment space where adults enjoy gathering. With a functional mudroom/laundry room, butler’s pantry for serving, and banquette for ample seating near the prominent flat screen television, this kitchen can handle “teen central” and more.
Organizer-in-Chief
Better Homes and Gardens’ “Everyday Easy” kitchen is designed to help make life easier for busy families. This super-organized and eco-friendly kitchen helps make it easier to get dinner on the table, keep everyday tasks and clutter under control, and spend time together in a space that’s as much family room as it is kitchen. Innovations include a recycling center, recycled-content countertops and flooring, and a mudroom with customizable pullout cabinets for everyone’s stuff.
Savvy Young Professional
Traditional Home presents the ultimate bath suite designed for young professionals—a new generation of educated, affluent, and brand-savvy consumers who embrace a modern interpretation of traditional design and are confident investing in the creation of a home environment uniquely suited to their personal lifestyles. The floor plan, consisting of a central spa-like shared space flanked by two private baths, allows a couple to comfortably and efficiently meet their daily needs—both physically and psychologically—without conflict. Sumptuous appointments, such as a freestanding whirlpool/soaking tub and Murano glass chandelier, express this couple’s distinctive idea of luxury, while equal emphasis is also given to cutting-edge technology. A “fully loaded” steam shower in “His” bath and a “to the nines” dressing table in “Her” bath further underscore the theme of customization and personalization.
Mother Starting Out
Country Home’s kitchen, mudroom and laundry/multi-task room work hard for the young family without sacrificing style. Easy-living Corian counters take on the feel of marble and soapstone, laminate floors look like reclaimed wood, and glass front cabinets featuring a new “lace-look” pattern, make for easy organization. A technology station, flexible built-in seating, and an island with a second tier of countertops that doubles the work space, offer solutions for the woman balancing her growing family and her taste for beautiful surroundings.
Future Thinker
As 78 million baby boomers head toward new phases in their life journey, many are looking to stay in their homes for years of cooking, entertaining, and active living; and Midwest Living has created the ideal space. This kitchen and bath offers thoughtful conveniences for future needs through a design aesthetic that combines both comfort and style. Integrated wider traffic patterns, accommodating cabinet design, sit-down workspaces, and lever controls, along with other amenities, are all ideal design choices for the smart woman planning this new exciting chapter of her life.
Meredith Video Solutions will produce a half-hour syndicated television special, “Cool Kitchens and Baths,” featuring the 2008 Design Idea Center and related kitchen and bath trends from the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show to air nationwide in the summer 2008.
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I saw this at MELANIE AUSSANDON’s blog, 
LOL. You all must realize how much I like color by now. A fun topic, it’s changing like crazy of late, which gives me much to talk and therefore write about.
Webkinz. As Alison Zisko reported 2.11.08 for trade journal Home Furnishings News, “For the uninitiated, Webkinz, manufactured by Ganz, are small plush toys that come with a secret code that unlocks a secure Web site, enabling children to take care of a virtual pet online. It offers games, trivia questions and all sorts of ways for children to mind the health and well being of their pet, as well as create and decorate rooms for it on the computer. Webkinz are introduced periodically. Introduced in April 2005, they retail for around $12.95 apiece.”