Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at Bring KBIS to Chicago alongside Toni Sabatino and Nureed Saeed about our favorite industry trends from KBIS 2024. There were several pivots in design at this year’s show with the most notable one being what I call “Quiet Luxury”. Instead of design that shouts, quiet luxury features finishes that are more sophisticated, subtle, and biophilic in nature.
Here are some highlights from our panel about the KBIS 2024 Design Trends:
Reeded Finishes
This year’s show seemed less about color and more about texture, which I loved. I saw the trend toward the texture style I call Reeding (or fluting) just about everywhere and for both kitchen and bath design, as well as blending in the kitchen to a more furniture type of styling that tells me that the trend toward open design of the kitchen with adjacent rooms is not going anywhere. The images here are from Cambria, House of Röhl, Kast Concrete Basins, and the topographical wall tiles are from Borrowed Earth.
Unlacquered Hardware
I’ve had this on my radar for some time now, from moody cabinetry to the English Kitchen trend. But there is increasing demand from clients toward hardware finishes that will patina over time. It can be unfinished brass, copper or more. Some of the best I saw were from a newcomer Armac Martin with their new collection, “Living Finishes”.
Black in Bath Fixtures
As every good designer knows, adding a punch of black to our room designs works perfectly with any color story. I was so pleased to see that Kohler was bringing it to the fixture finishes for the bath now.
Stains in Cabinetry
It was refreshing to see a move toward stains that showcase the wood grain rather than painted cabinetry. What’s new this year are darker, richer charcoal and gray stain colors. This look is a great example of “Quiet Luxury” that you can see from DeWils and House of Röhl colors from their booths.
New Methods - Stone and Quartz
The stone market has truly embraced digital printing in their methodologies this year. We saw textures and curves in stone work, as well as steamed and curved design in quartz. Most exciting; there were several examples of stone as art panels. These could be unique wall features that stand alone or perhaps subtle finishes to fireplace panels. What I love about this trend is that it invites the natural world into our homes in a bigger way.
What you see here are from Cambria, Borrowed Earth and House of Röhl.
Biophilic Design
Continuing on the concept of biophilia in our design work, green and blue greens were standouts in the color category again this year. These lovely jewel tones were seen all over, but we wanted to highlight Kohler.
Sustainability was at the forefront from them with these new tile collections from their WasteLAB line; all made from recycled materials.
New Color To Watch For
In addition to the greens and blues mentioned above, both Pantone and Sherwin Williams called out this amazing new tone they are calling Peach Fuzz or Persimmon. It’s a wonderful, happy shade that works well with almost all neutrals or nature inspired tones that are still an important part of the design of now.
Workstation Sinks
Working in urban kitchens as I do, I am thrilled to see smaller workstation sinks done for small kitchens. And they’re in an array of finishes as well as stainless. Ruvati showed a range of color options, but I fell in love with the granite composite finish that tested out to be as rugged as the original stainless finishes.
Wellness Design
Kohler stepped up to the plate again this year with innovation in Living In place design that allows for dignity in self care; which we can all recognize leads to increased self confidence and putting forward our best face to the world. One of them I loved is the SpaViva shower head that comes with a host of attachments for self care as well as being a great retrofit option for existing Kohler installed products. Sproos shower heads are also a wonderfully colorful option.
In general there was an uptrend in Wellness consideration in the design of products this year over last year. Each one of these wellness products may seem incremental, but they add up when combined on a personalized basis.
New Finishes and Trends from Signature Kitchen Suite
Last, but not least, is a new trend on the stainless front as well. Signature Kitchen Suite, or SKS (the luxury division of LG) introduced both their brushed stainless steel finish available across the full line for the kitchen. Also featured was their new wall oven that is AI enhanced. I love that you can find recipes and cooking instructions, AND also monitor what is happening inside the oven from your iPad - from the home office, the back patio or wherever you might be!
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