Highlights from the Home + Housewares Show 2014
Every year, we’re excited to hit the aisles of the McCormick Center to check out the new products, colors, and trends at the International Home + Housewares Show. A few highlights our team discovered at this year’s show are below.
COFFEE PODS AND JUICERS
As in years past, it seemed everywhere you turned at the show a different company was offering you a cup of coffee. Nespresso’s VertuoLine coffeemaker is the brand’s first coffee machine that produces coffee for large, U.S.style cups. The sleek, almost vintage aesthetic, made it stand out from the rest.
In addition, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters unveiled the K-Karafe capability for its Keurig 2.0 Brewing System. This new machine is the first system to brew both one-cup using a single-serve pack and a carafe of coffee using the Keurig K-Carafe pack. The new technology would prevent customers who have bought the new Keurig 2.0 coffeemaker from using any K-Cup other than licensed, Green Mountain brands.
Remington iCup Lifestyle series coffee brewing machines add a new twist to the old K-cup brewing technology. A rotating spindle inside the K-cup sprays steam into the coffee grounds adding more flavor to each cup.
Juicing was even bigger than last year. Coway’s Juicepresso is a slow, cold-press juicer that preserves enzymes and nutrients from fruits and vegetables so you not only get more juice, but also a healthier juice. It also has the smallest footprint of any juicer, which makes it even more attractive.
Blenders were also a popular item at the show. DASH showcased an elegant blender with a single rotary knob and simplistic form. The clean and elegant design with metallic colors would look great on any countertop.
COLOR, COLOR, COLOR
Strong vibrant rainbow color pallets centered around a vibrant green and yellow/orange. You could find just about any product you wanted, in any color, at the show.
KitchenAid is adding two new colors to its Artisan® and Artisan® Design Series stand mixer collections, called Bordeaux and Sea Glass.
Casabella’s Neon line of cleaning products, with bold packaging and bright colors, is part of the company’s strategy targeting millennial consumers. For more on the colors at the show, view our previous post here.
ALTERNATIVE DESIGN
Some companies broke from convention and opted for a more bold statement. Whether it was an abnormal shape, a strong accent color added to a design, or the use of materials – it definitely provided distinction in the designs.
REBOOTING THE RETRO
There were several products with a modern take on the retro look. These were especially seen in KitchenAid, Nespresso, Adesso, and Neoflam’s lines. KitchenAid’s introduction of a blender that turns on via a unique magnetic drive system that powers the blades and secures the blender cup is one of their new products to mark their 95th anniversary. The curvaceous form is playful in areas like the kitchen.
The past couple of years, tumblers have been a popular item at the show. This year, Aladdin had their water vessels on display. The playful product mimics the look of disposable bottles, but provide two-way lids for adding ice and cleaning.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS
O-Cedar®, an industry leader in home cleaning, had their innovative ProMist® Spray Mop on display. ProMist is the only wet or dry floor cleaning system with both washable and disposable microfiber pads. It’s earth-friendly not only because it generates less waste by utilizing the reusable washable pad, but because consumers can get an effective clean by using only water in the refillable bottle.
The Miracle-Gro Aerogarden indoor garden is the world’s first kitchen garden appliance that allows anyone to simply, conveniently and affordably grow healthy herbs, lettuce, tomatoes and more, all year-round, on the kitchen countertop.
In addition, Black + Decker™ brought a fresh look to this year’s show by revealing advances across all categories; coffee makers, food preparation, cooking and garment care. In addition, they also showcased their new logo design. Spectrum Brands’ Black & Decker debuted a coffeemaker that uses the new EvenStream Showerhead Technology, which reaches optimal brew temperature faster for a richer extraction.
The 2014 International Home + Housewares Show gave our team the chance to see first-hand consumer lifestyle and product trends for all areas of the home. As designers, we have an opportunity to inspire consumers through innovative housewares designs and meaningful experiences. We look forward to the year ahead to see what changes the industry brings and how we can make an impact.
For a look at a few products we have designed for the home, click here.
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