Congratulations Nicolette Toussaint!

Nicolette Toussaint wrote a guest post for K&RD last April while I was in Chicago for KBIS. Nicolette's a designer, writer and artist from San Francisco and she's had a pretty rough go of it this year. In what I'm convinced is the first sign of a turning tide, she's opening a show of her paintings this month.

The show's at The Artist's Alley, a fine art gallery in the SOMA district of San Francisco. It's about a block from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. If you're in San Francisco and you'd like to see her show, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you the particulars.

Nicolette's a skilled watercolorist, something I learned only recently. She's selling prints of her work on her Etsy shop and she has a more extensive profile on the Behance Network.

She's also available for hire as an architectural renderer, hint hint.

So congratulations to Nicolette on her gallery show. Her prints would make terrific gifts this season, don't you think?

Scavolini's New York showroom is open for business

Scavolini opened its flagship US showroom last week and it's in a space that's better described as a gallery than it is a showroom. The 10,000 square foot, two story space is at 429 West Broadway in Soho.

I'll be in New York next week and believe me, Scavolini's one of my first stops when I get to The City.

Scavolini's showroom boasts 15 complete kitchens and a live, demo kitchen that features Karim Rashid's Crystal  Series and a full compliment of appliances from Sub-Zero/ Wolf.

Scavolini's cabinetry is 100% Italian-made and is available in over 500 door styles and colors. There's space in their new facility for independent designers and architects to meet with clients and anybody's welcome to consult with a Scavolini associate directly.

Scavolini worked with SpaCe Architects to utilize their new space and my pal Daniele Busca has been working non-stop for the last year to get this new facility open and ready.

Here's the link to Scavolini's New York showroom and if you find yourself in Soho, drop in and say hello to Daniele and his staff. Please tell him I sent you.

Happy Hanukkah!

This is a third Century Roman mosaic of a Menorah. You guys have been around for a while.

I'd like to extend my warm holiday greetings to all of my favorite members of the tribe. Celebrate your history, celebrate your culture, celebrate your families and celebrate the people you love. Chag Sameach!

Blanco re-thought the sink drain

So much of what goes into a house goes in there because that's the way things have always been done. No one ever really thinks about the inherent, inherited inefficiencies of things like sink drains.

Well Blanco does think about these things and they just unveiled a new, three-piece sink drain that's pretty clever.

The Blanco 3-in-1 offers a deep strainer basket with engineered holes on the sides and bottom that keeps water flowing while it collects waste. An exaggerated lip makes it easy to pull up and empty without coming in contact with any of the gunk caught in the strainer. It's made from stainless steel and it's dishwasher-safe to boot. The third part of this wonder product is a one-touch, secure lid that will allow you to fill a sink with water and hold it there without having twist or turn a thing. Even better, these strainers will fit any standard new sink or retrofit into an existing sink.

Meeting up with the great minds at Blanco design is but one of the reasons I'm excited to take part in a Blanco-sponsored junket to Germany next month. Thanks Blanco! You can learn more about Blanco sinks and faucets on their website. Blanco products are available worldwide.

Hey! Wanna win a Brizo faucet?

Brizo Faucet brings a fashionable sensibility to the home and now's your chance to get some of that same sensibility into your home. Thanks to a generous offer extended by the house of Brizo itself, I am giving away one Brizo kitchen or bath faucet to a lucky winner I'll pick at random on December 14th, 2010.

These faucets have a suggested retail price of up to $700, and any one of them your heart desires can be yours if you're the winning entry.

Entering couldn't be easier and in fact you'll get two chances.

First, leave a comment after this post. There's no magic phrase you have to type or essay to compose. Just leave a comment.

For your second chance, go to Brizo's page on Facebook and click the Like button. Some of you may already Like Brizo on Facebook and if that's the case, you've already entered once. Pretty slick, huh?

You don't even need to pick which faucet you'd like yet, just enter now and you can decide later. This contest will run for the next two weeks.

On December 15th, Brizo and I will tabulate the total number of entries and then select a winner at random. I'll let the winner know immediately and I put him or her in touch with the Brizo gang directly. Brizo will ship your faucet out immediately.

So remember, just leave a comment here and then head over to Facebook and hit the Like button on Brizo's page. Good luck!