What Every Kitchen or Bathroom Needs, But Doesn’t Have – Yet!


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As many of you know, I just returned from attending the National Kitchen and Bath Association’s annual wholesale tradeshow in Orlando, FL. I had such a great time meeting so many wonderful people. I can’t thank the 6 sponsors, Wilsonart, Metrie, Mr. Steam, and the Lixil family of brands, American Standard, DXV and Grohe, the subjects of this post, enough, for their hospitality and for creating the beautiful products that allow me to produce the interiors I do for my clients, like this eat in kitchen area, shown below.


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Like many of my clients (and maybe like you, too?), I am not only an interior designer, but the mother of 3 children under the age of 11. I don’t have a lot of extra time, and neither do my clients.

As a result, I am always looking for those products that save my clients time, make their lives easier, more functional, more personalized, while at the same time adding those special moments of beauty they need every day in the midst of the clothes needing to be folded, (did you see the piles of clothes I came home to, needing to be folded?), showers and baths given and taken, dogs needing to be washed, etc.

So, in the spirit of that, I’d like to show you 6 products, today, one from each of these sponsors, that I loved, and will definitely be specifying in my next projects.

First up is Wilsonart. If the word *laminate* brings to mind images of your Mom’s old countertops in your kitchen, ( do you remember the ones with the boomerangs in them, in pastel colors? ) you can ditch that vision right now!

Wilsonart is way ahead of the game in using cutting edge digital printing technology that makes using and specifying their products a breeze.

The image opening this post is one that I took, and shows you how their new *Material Mixology* palette can be used to create an entire area that is not only personalized and beautiful to look at , but easy to clean, too. Just wipe it down and you’re done. It’s the ultimate in visual sophistication combined with kid friendliness – a win in my Mom book!

Take a look at this finish available in Wilsonart’s new *Materials Mixology* collection. Would you know this wasn’t real herringbone wood? I can definitely seeing using this on a countertop application, too, soon, since it can be cleaned so easily.

We saw quite a few herringbone countertops at #KBIS2018 – a coming design trend for 2018.


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Speaking of wood, that leads me to share with you about my next sponsor, Metrie. Their new Option M is a curated collection of moulding and interior door combinations that make it easy for me to select coordinating baseboards, casings, crown moulding and doors to achieve looks frequently requested by my clients, whether that’s new traditional, modern farmhouse, bohemian, or shabby chic.

Having this ability to show my clients (who are some of you reading this!), what different moulding combinations will look like allows me to save you money by cutting down on the time required to make decisions about an area of design that is not well understood.

Personally, I love their New Traditional series best, shown below. Isn’t it great how they specify what each piece of moulding is called, so you can easily understand what I am talking about when I am recommending we add architectural mouldings to the plain walls in your home to add more nuance and elegance?

To see all of their Option M styles, click here, and then come back and let me know in the comments, which one you liked best!


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That brings me to my sponsor, Mr. Steam. But, before I go there, did you know you can specify Wilsonart’s new Wet Walls laminate in your Mr. Steam shower area? This new innovation from Wilsonart means: no grout lines!

And for my busy Mom clients that means: no extra cleaning of the mold that can accumulate on grout lines – especially important if a Mr. Steam shower is in your future – which, by all means, it should be..as you will soon see.


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Okay fellow Moms, who doesn’t need a steam shower, complete with aromatherapy and chromatherapy (color shifting) options after a long day at work, and driving your kids back and forth to activities? Doesn’t this look just like what we all need – right now???

What I love best, though? That you can turn it on, so it’s ready for you when you get home, from your IPhone or Android device, using their SteamLinx mobile app. I love companies that think about how to save my clients time. Thank you, Mr. Steam!

And if you’d like to, you can find out more about them, here.


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Now, onto my sponsor, the LIXIL family of brands, encompassing DXV, Grohe and American Standard.

Because I do so many remodels in my area, I really liked Grohe’s Retro Fit Shower System. For clients on a tight time frame, or on a tighter budget, this option is ideal, because it doesn’t require breaking any existing tile, and it works with existing plumbing behind the wall.


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Watch a video about this system, below, to see how it works. Could this be a good solution for your home? If it is, reach out to me, here, and let’s talk about getting one installed for you.

Now onto Lixil’s DXV brand. DXV is well known as THE innovator in the luxury bathroom arena. They were the first company to ever use 3D printing technology to produce a working faucet, available for sale to the general public.

At this show, though, what I most loved was their new MODULUS collection of bathroom fixtures and accessories. Especially for my clients that prefer a more urban design aesthetic, and for those that have second homes, the flexibility and modularity of this line makes it very easy to place in bathrooms and powder rooms where space may be at a premium.

As you might have read by now, everything black and moody is trending in the world of design and I appreciated how DXV’s images showcase how their finishes work in this type of setting. (Notice the mouldings on the wall, too. I don’t think these were supplied by Metrie, but they might have been).


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I also loved their wall hung toilet, making it very easy to keep the area around the toilet clean, something that all my Mom clients and friends know ranks right up there in importance with being able to easily clean the bathtub without breaking our backs!!

And isn’t it interesting seeing their MODULUS collection against a grey background, with no mouldings on the wall, too? Which look do you prefer? Let me know!


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Lastly, from Lixil’s American Standard brand, myself (and all of my new designer friends on #BlogTourKBIS with me) fell in love with their new Spectra+ Touch and Spectra+ eTouch showerheads.

Each of us liked aspects of these new shower heads for different reasons, but for me, and for my clients, I loved the Spectra+ eTouch’s shower head’s remote control, that can mount anywhere within the shower area.


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You might ask who needs a remote control for a showerhead, but many of my clients, who have young kids, and are down on the ground bathing them, or who are bathing their pets in their bathtub, or who have parents using the shower, who have mobility issues, will appreciate having this remote control at their fingertips, so they don’t have to get up and down to adjust the intensity of the showerhead spray, after someone else has used the shower area, as everyone likes to be able to personalize their shower settings to get the intensity they prefer.

To read more about this showerhead system, please click, here.

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I look forward to hearing about what you all think, and I’d love it if you would share that with me in the comments.

And a final big thank you to you, Veronika Eagleson, the CEO and owner of www.modenus.com, who invited me to go on your #BLogTourKBIS, where I had the time of my life meeting so many wonderful new interior designer friends from all over North America, and where I was able to get to know all of your sponsors and their products in so much more depth than otherwise would have been possible.

I know I am richer for the experience, and my clients will be, as well.


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Readers, if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments, and if you all would like to, I invite you to connect with me on Facebook here, and on Instagram, here.

Thank you!

Jana Donohoe, ASID

www.janadonohoedesigns.com

Fayetville, North Carolina


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