There's no business like KBIS-ness

From April 16th through the 18th, 2010; the entire kitchen and bath industry will descend on Chicago for our annual trade show and conference. Technically, it's the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show but everyone calls it KBIS. KBIS is the world's largest kitchen and bath show and it draws exhibitors and attendees from all over. As a trade-only event, it's a perfect venue for manufacturers and suppliers to debut their new wares. And debut them they do which is why designers flock to the show every spring.

Somewhere around 700 companies, manufacturers and suppliers show on the floor of KBIS every year and thousands of designers, specifiers, architects, builders and retailers attend. It's also a lot of fun.

KBIS this year is coming with a twist. I'll be there of course but it's a little different for me than it's been in previous years. For starters, I'll be there with press credentials for the first time. So I'll be blogging, Twittering and photographing with giddy abandon. I'll be filing dispatches from the show floor and those dispatches will appear in as many locations as I can get them.

I'm also presenting this year and I need to declare that my airfare, accommodations and a stipend are being covered by Igloo Studios, Inc. Igloo Studios is a software development and training company and I know them through my involvement with Google's SketchUp. Some of the Igloo gang and I will be presenting short SketchUp demonstrations at Kraftmaid's booth.

So if you're going to be at KBIS, please stop and see my SketchUp soft shoe. If you're an industry type who's on the fence about attending, get off the fence already. Come to Chicago! Register here.

Is it possible to fall in love with a faucet?

If my feelings about the Virage series of fixtures from Brizo are any indication, then yes it is possible to fall in love with a faucet.

Judd Lord, the director of industrial design at Brizo and sometimes guest poster, reports that the Virage was inspired by the wrought iron grillwork he and his design team saw all over Europe during one of their inspiration trips. I see it pretty clearly in the lines of these fixtures.

Each of these fixtures is hand rubbed and polished to ensure the purity of their lines. That kind of commitment to quality and style shines through clearly. Bravo to Judd and the whole design team at Brizo, you guys do amazing work.

The Virage is available in five finishes: Polished Chrome, Venetian Bronze®, Brilliance® Brushed Nickel, Brilliance® Polished Nickel and Brilliance® Brushed Bronze. The style of the Virage collection extends to sconces, towel bars, mirrors, towel rings, robe hooks and bidet fixtures as well. It's absolutely beautiful stuff. You can see the whole Virage collection and the rest of Brizo's offerings on their website. Poke around in there some time.

ITRE lighting reminds me that it will be spring. Eventually.

Frost-damaged coconut palm in St. Pete. Photo by Tranquilometro.

This has been a cold winter. I know, I know, there's something like eight feet of snow piled up in Philadelphia right now and that can't be any fun. If it's any consolation, it's been absurdly cold down here too. It's ordinarily at least 20 degrees warmer than it's been averaging since January. We've had freezes for the first time that I can remember in nearly 10 years of living in St. Pete. Everything looks dead. The dying palms trees are scratching against the breezes and everything's brown. It's unusual to say the least. Ordinarily, it warms up after a day or two when we get a cold snap. Not so this year. I don't think it's hit 70 degrees in more than two months.

Today's weather.

After two months of being cooped up indoors and wearing sweaters (nothing's heated here) I am more than ready for next month and the return of warmer weather. I hope at any rate. I'm looking forward to lingering outside when it's well after dark and just being. One of my great joys is to have friends over and to sit around the table on my patio and talk.

If I'm feeling punchy after this, I cannot imagine how folks in more norther climes are feeling about now. Well, it's never too early to start thinking about spring. In order to jump start that, the folks at ITRE have three new outdoor lighting options to consider as you mull over the idea of lingering on your own patios.

First up is the Sit-Up, designed my Kostas Sytrariotis. It's a light that's also a seat. An individual Sit-Up looks like this.

Where they get cool is that groups of Sit-Ups can be combined to make a circle,

Or something free form.

Each unit is 43-3/4" x 21-3/4" and they are 17" tall. They use fluorescent light and are inherently energy efficient. Glowing seating would be a hit, that's for sure.

Next up is the Kioto, designed by Andrea Crovato for ITRE.

The Kioto is made from grey aluminum with a white glass diffuser, it uses either fluorescent or LED bulbs and is wet-rated. Throw in the fact that it can be ceiling or wall mounted and you have one flexible fixture.

But that's nothing when it comes to flexibility. Here's my favorite.

It's the Great JJ Outdoor. This fully-functioning, articulated architect's lamp was designed by Centro Stile for ITRE. It can stretch to nearly 14 feet high and the effect can't be anything but surreal. Imagine a lawn with five of these or so arranged randomly. Wow. The Great JJ Outdoor is available in matte black, matter grey and matte white. Stunning. Don't you think?

ITRE was founded in Murano in 1975 and has been producing well-designed and well made lighting ever since. How could it be anything but? Around here, we translate Fatto in Italia as "Good" in English.

Check out the rest of ITRE's offerings on their website, they do some really great stuff.

Bums and couture

I snapped this shot of a crazed bum in front of the Fashion Week tent in Bryant Park on Thursday morning last week and it sums up the high/ low of New York perfectly. The sign behind him drives home the point even further.

So the next time you're in London...

The next time you're in London, be in first or business class and be waiting for a British Airways connection.

These images are taken from the lounges in Heathrow's new Terminal Five. These stunning rooms were designed by London-based Davies & Baron and the effect on the whole is that of a luxury hotel. "Airport" doesn't figure into it in the least.

There are a total of six lounges in the new Terminal Five. The Galleries Arrival Lounge -- which is reserved for the airline's First and Club World passengers and Executive Club members with Gold status - features a special hydrotherapy area with 94 shower rooms that include jet showers, steam showers and luxury massage showers. All of the showers include Hansgrohe's Pharo Lift 2 shower panels. In addition, fittings from the Axor Massaud bathroom collection are used in the luxurious spa of the Galleries Arrival Lounge.

As an added benefit, every fixture in this new lounge area has been fitted with Hansgrohe's EcoSmart technology. EcoSmart is an integrated flow restrictor that limits water consumption to 7 liters a minute.

So as you can well imagine, luxury lounges such as these would take away the bitter taste left by transatlantic air travel. Or any air travel for that matter.

About the last thing I'd ever expect during a layover is a close encounter with a spa shower. Based on the looks of this new lounge area at Heathrow, I'd actually plan a long connection. These lounges are practically a destination unto themselves. Anybody been there and have a traveler's tale to tell? Anybody want to volunteer to check them out?