Kitchen & Bath Business - October 2019 - 63

Dawn M. DeLuca, AKBD, CLIPP, CAPS, is
principal of NYC-based Dawn DeLuca on Design, a boutique firm and purveyor of fine cabinetry. Her firm's motto - Your Vision Is Our Passion
- speaks to her primary goal for every project: Bring a client's vision to life with a beautiful, comfortable, safe and accessible space.
With a strong focus on kitchen and bath, the firm also designs entire homes, outdoor living spaces and small to mid-size hospitality
projects. DeLuca has been a professional speaker and educator
since 1993, and she has also developed a training program for a
national decorating and sales company. She was designated as the
first Ambassador Member of The Living In Place Institute and
has been a volunteer with the NKBA since 2006.

Section by Chelsie Butler
ONE MAJOR INDUSTRY MOVEMENT took center
stage with this year's award-winning products
- design for health and wellness. This is such an
important aspect to include in your clients' kitchens and baths, and a variety of products can fulfill
this consumer demand, including body dryers for
the bathroom, food gardens in the kitchen and a
self-locking drawer for prescription medications.
Another major desire of today's homeowner is
personalization through customization - something to directly meet their household needs and
bring out their individual style. Several products
fulfilled that growing need as well, including modular outdoor cooking units and a plumbing fixture
system that allows for custom engraving.
Other themes included smart technology, luxury design, sustainability, large-format surfaces
and a variety of color and finishes for different
design tastes.
KBB is pleased to announce the winners of our
2019 Product Innovator Awards competition!
After combing through multiple submissions, our
rock-star panel of judges chose the best kitchen
and bath products in our industry. Criteria included fulfilling market needs, technological advancements,aesthetic merit and - of course - innovation.
Our signature Kitchen and Bath Product of
the Year winners were awarded in the mix, which
also includes second and third places.We also gave
honorable mentions in both categories.

Congrats to this year's winners!

Scott Dresner possesses the rare combination of
expertise in both construction and design. Having
started his cabinetry company in his garage at age
20, he quickly grew it into a multi-million-dollar
business. Dresner soon designed and built out new headquarters
- a 15,000-sq.-ft., fully-automated cabinet factory and one of the
largest in metropolitan Detroit. It is this type of passion, dedication and expertise that has afforded him the ability to maintain
his position as an innovator in the cabinetry industry today and
for the last 30 years. Dresner remains recognized in the industry
as a pioneer who brought reasonably priced high-end Italian
cabinetry to America, and he recently launched his own privatelabel cabinetry line fabricated in Italy.
Molly N Switzer, AKBD, launched Molly N
Switzer Designs LLC in 2017, and she combines
her love for product knowledge and industry relationship building by hosting independent designer training opportunities in her home. Switzer's design business specializes in residential interior design with an emphasis on
kitchen and bath. She focuses on transparency, communication,
honesty and trust in her business and everyday life. Switzer serves
several roles, including contracted specifier to designer of entire
home interiors - complete with construction plans, specifications
and a trusted ear to bend during the most stressful of processes.
She enjoys the opportunity to connect with student members of
the design community as a point of contact to them as they start
down the path of transitioning from student to professional.
From a young age, Jack Bernstein learned to
swim against the tide. Hanging around his father's
plumbing supply shop, he closely studied the industry and all its intricate facets. Through those
early experiences, he gained an immense appreciation for his
craft and quickly realized that design innovation can transform
a room from functional to fabulous. Bernstein is an entrepreneur
and design enthusiast at heart, so he opened his Kurrent Kitchen
and Bath boutique showroom in Brooklyn in 2017 with oneof-a-kind products and modern technologies to connect with
clients and manufacturers on a personal level. He is currently
supplying a new 500-unit residential project in Brooklyn, as well
as brownstone renovations and nursing homes, and he recently
donated 10 toilets to a local synagogue.

Kitchen & Bath Business - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Kitchen & Bath Business - October 2019