The
Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (K.B.I.S. for short) is daunting in its scale. The industry event, which this year across the Orlando venue clocked a dizzying nearly 650 exhibitors, isn’t exactly within the delicate, experimental beat of Design Miami, nor the international and exclusive Salone del Mobile. K.B.I.S. is rather about the nuts and bolts of building a beautiful, and frequently tech-forward, home. In practice, this looked like hundreds of handle and doorknob options strewn across a single booth (as with Amerock and Baldwin Estate); state-of-the-art toilets (see, Toto, Kohler); and any number of hard countertop materials, such those made in quartz and silica, with marble-inspired-patterns that can rival those found in nature (look to brands like Cosentino, Caeserstone, or Cambria). Even the more experimental selections on view can mostly be slotted into any dream-home template. Among the micro-trends this edition were a spate of cameras in ovens, both to monitor food and generate social content (spotted at S.K.S., Monogram, Whirlpool), and various A.I.-enhanced appliances, such as a phenomenal closet steamer at L.G. Elsewhere, a rebellion against the tyranny of white porcelain took shape with a number of soaking tubs in semi-transparent amber and jewel tones (seen at Vanity Art, Aquabela, Gurgle, and, most notably, Empava). Across the head-spinning vastness of offerings, there was something for everyone.
