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10th May 2012
Caesarstone's top trends from Eurocucina 2012
The Caesarstone team visited Eurocucina 2012 and are proud to bring you, fresh from Milan, the top ten kitchen design trends for 2012.
1. A PLETHORA OF TEXTURES: Mixing and matching textures and surfaces across the kitchen was the most notable trend from this year’s fair. Kitchen countertops were crafted from any mix of engineered stone, glass, stainless steel, wood, and porcelain. Designers also used wallpaper and textured paint effects to create visual and tactile contrasts.
2. VARIED VERTICAL SPACING: Surfaces and shelving made appearances at surprising heights, and depths. Some shelves floated a foot above ground while many cabinets shot from floor to ceiling. On-trend kitchen islands featured overlapping countertops at slightly different heights, also counterbalancing one another at different angles.
3. COMPARTMENTALISED, OPEN SHELVING: Tall, compartmentalised, open shelves at various heights were the fad. Building this storage method into cabinets worked well, while some opted for free-standing or even floating shelves to break up big spaces.
4. NEUTRAL BASE COLOURS: Neutral colours commandeered many of this year’s kitchens, with colour accents in styling to create mood and a sense of fun. White was the predominant colour, followed by the classics: grey, black and dark wood tones.
5. FEATURE WALLS: The familiar ‘feature wall’ trend appeared regularly: 3 walls stroked with lashings of neutrals, allowing the fourth wall to break out in a bold, complimentary colour. Many kitchens included a mini feature wall between the hob and cabinetry, using black chalkboard, tiles or natural and engineered stone cladding. Some even extended the countertop material up to the cabinet. Exceptions to this trend were found in high gloss kitchens where neons and brights dominated cabinets, leaving little room for more colour in a feature area.
6. VARYING SURFACE THICKNESSES: There are two trends that appeared : ‘thick’ surfaces now measure between 40mm and 60mm compared to the 120mm thickness of prior trends; and standard kitchen countertops have become thinner and more sleek-looking. In terms of surface outlines, scalloped edges were popular with some designers, however others strikingly used thin, medium and thick surfaces in their mix of overlapping countertops of diverse materials, sticking to rectangular shapes.
7. BEVELLING: Subtle, simple bevelling was the order of the day allowing surfaces to retain a more squared off look, while ornate, traditional Italian kitchens adopting more voluptuous, classical edges.
8. LOW-HANGING LIGHTING: Island-aligned, low-hanging feature lights were everywhere. Functionality and design were important with some kitchens even featuring low-hanging lights over the hob area, as well as the prep areas.
9. SECRET APPLIANCES: Stoves, hobs and specialist wine refrigerators were often the only appliances to be seen in many Eurocucina kitchens this year. Other appliances were cleverly hidden behind sliding doors and soft-close drawers, and uniquely in the case of the Caesarstone stand, under a remote-operated, sliding countertop!
10. CLAD CABINETS: Move over, passé paint! If you’re not quite ready to embrace the au naturel look of wood, then textured cabinet-cladding provides an exciting alternative to smooth paint finishes, adding to the plethora of textures in the kitchen.
8th May 2012
Decorex CT draws huge crowds
The KSA and many of their Western Cape members enjoyed a successful Decorex exhibition at the CTICC from between the 26 and 29th May. Participating members included Furnspace, BSH, Smeg, Whirlpool, Niemann SA, Caesarstone, Italian Lifestyle, Sembel-it, Franke and WOMAG. The show saw 40 000 visitors over the four days with Thursday and Friday delivering a good trade showing with plenty of architects, interior designers and developers.
To quote Trevor King of Caesarstone: “DECOREX Cape Town was an outstanding success for Caesarstone. The people just kept on coming – at one time I counted 34 people on the Caesarstone stand! What we love about DECOREX Cape Town is that it attracts the right target market for our brand. We found that many of the people who visited us were either building or redesigning their kitchens and very open to new ideas and advice. The success of DECOREX Cape Town is in my opinion, the result of an excellent marketing campaign and the outstanding, professional and efficient organisation on the part of the DECOREX team who made it all happen. My congratulations to them all!”.
The show hosted the first collaboration between the KSA and Furnspace’s KDMax. The stand was abuzz with competition entrants testing their design talents on the new software. Homemaker’s expo will see the second phase of this competition where design students will be invited to test their skills. Furnspace hope to take the competition to Gauteng and Kwa Zulu Natal in 2013. A huge thank you to the co-sponsors of the competition: Grass, Smeg, Caesarstone, WOMAG, Lansdowneboards, Franke, Plantation Shutters, Plascon, Rhoms Timberworld and Essential IT Solutions. This collaborative stand wond the 'best interactive stand' award.
The show was marred, however, by the visible lack of kitchen exhibits. There was a lot of public interest in kitchens at the show and the visitors were openly disappointed to see only one kitchen company exhibiting. From the feedback received by the KSA at the show the lack of visibility from the industry was cause for concern among the public as to the stability of the industry. The KSA would encourage kitchen members to relook at exhibiting at shows as the exposure not only strengthens your brand exposure but also instils confidence in the industry.
Decorex will be launching their 2013 show before the end of July and KSA members should keep their eyes open for the special offers open to them.
8th May 2012
Hirsch's comes to Cape Town
KSA CT would like to welcome Hirsch’s to the Western Cape. Hirsch’s have been members of the KSA in Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal for some time and are pleased to extend their membership to the Western Cape.
Hirsch’s would like to invite the kitchen industry to join them for an industry launch:
Date: Thursday 24 May 2012
Time: 17.00 – 19.00
Venue: Hirsch’s – 454 Koeberg Rd Milnerton
RSVP: capetown@ksa.co.za or nardo@hirschs.co.za by 23 May 2012
We hope the industry will take up this opportunity to meet a new KSA member and learn a little more about what Hirsch’s has to offer the kitchen industry.
23rd April 2012
KSA planning to launch a classifieds section to their web site
The KSA is busy working on a new section to their web site which they hope will become a useful tool to the entire industry – a classifieds page.
This page will allow members to advertise anything and everything as long as it is industry relevant.
•Advertise your company
•Advertise if you are looking for staff
•Advertise if you are running a special
•Advertise if you are selling off machinery.
The sky is the limit…
Adverts should be submitted to your KSA regional manager and should be in Word format and a maximum of 500 words long. One image and one logo can be included. These should be in jpeg format and 2 separate files. Advertising is booked by the week and you can specify when it goes live and for how long it runs. The classifieds page will be search engine optimized to ensure your advert gets priority in the Google rankings.
The new Classifieds page will go live on 1 May and in order to get it populated and up and running the KSA will be offering all members an opening special:
Place any once off adverts free of charge till the end of July.
Place a 6 month company advert and only pay for 3 months.
Advertising will be charged at a rate of R125.00 per week after the special.
The KSA hopes all members will all make the effort to make use of and support what could become a very powerful tool for the industry.
If you would like to place an advert and be one of the first when the page goes live contact your regional manager now.
Contact:
info@ksa.co.za
18th April 2012
Last chance to enter the KSA & Furnspace/KDMax Design a kitchen competition
This is the last chance for designers to enter the KSA, Furnspace/ KDMAx Design a Kitchen competition being held at Decorex between 26th and 29th April at the CTICC. Entries close on the 20 April so don't miss this opportunity to be recognised as Cape Town's top kitchen designer.
This fun competition will allow the KSA to get to know the designers out there in the industry while allowing designers an opportuntiy to learn how to use the new KD Max software. Members of the KD Max staff will be on hard to assist during the competition.
The winner of the competition will be chosen by a panel made up of members of the KSA Executive Committee and Furnspace 3D. The lucky winner will receive a state of the art laptop loaded with KD Max software, a computer screen and a computer screen arm, all to the value of R 40 000. The winning designer as well as their company will be advertised on the KSA, Furnspace 3D and Decorex websites.
This is a fantastic opportunity to test your skills and have a little fun with some new software. To enter click on the link and complete the entry form. Once your application has been successfully submitted you will receive a confirmation email which should be printed and brought with you to Decorex to allow you free entrance into the show.
If you would like to know more please contact Stephanie of the KSA on capetown@ksa.co.za or Steve from Furnspace 3D on stevekdmax@furnspace.co.za
We look forward to receiving your entry form.
www.ksa.co.za or www.furnspace3d.co.za
Contact:
to enter the competition please go to http://www.furnspaces3d.co.za/decorexcomp.html
Headlines
- Caesarstone's top trends from Eurocucina 2012
- Decorex CT draws huge crowds
- Hirsch's comes to Cape Town
- KSA planning to launch a classifieds section to their web site
- Last chance to enter the KSA & Furnspace/KDMax Design a kitchen competition
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