KBB - January/February 2010 - (Page 10)

Editor’s Note GREEN COVERINGS IS FOR YOU. YOUR BUSINESS. YOUR SUCCESS. CAPITALIZE ON THE INCREASING DEMAND FOR GREEN PRODUCTS BY ATTENDING COVERINGS, THE ULTIMATE TILE + STONE EXPERIENCE. With over 1,000 exhibitors showcasing their products, no other event offers a more robust selection of sustainable tile + stone than Coverings. COVERINGS IS Tech Talk I’m not a techie, not in any real sense of the word, except maybe in the aspirational—as in a “wannabe”… But that doesn’t mean I don’t ﬁnd evocative, and even moving, the far-out possibilities that technology can afford our lives and homes. Particularly arresting are those that imbue otherwise inanimate and/or mechanical objects with intelligence and sensing capability, enabling them to interact with us and each other. Take, for instance, the WakeMate, a product that analyzes your sleep pattern so as to rouse you at your optimal waking time. It does this with a wristband that identiﬁes your REM sleep cycles and then activates your cell phone’s alarm clock, so you wake up feeling refreshed and rested rather than groggy. How cool is that? Technology is also making its way into our bathrooms, enhancing convenience and helping us to be better stewards of our planet. That, in fact, was the overriding message when those interviewed for this issue’s Trends column were asked about the latest trends in lavatory faucets (see “Tech Support” on page 14). It’s an uplifting message, as it suggests that despite the cloudy outlook on this new year, people are still innovating, creating and, well, imagining. And there are plenty of clouds about. According to the National Association of Home Builders, new home sales were down last year (not surprising), but—as my publisher was quick to point out—building permits were up in December. The Research Institute for Cooking & Kitchen Intelligence and ServiceMagic.com have both reported some growth in remodeling activity (read the articles at www.kbbonline.com), and orders for durable goods, including appliances, were slightly up at the end of last year. The ambiguity seems pervasive. I’ve been putting together a web piece on color trends (the last, I promise), and Leslie Harrington, executive director of the Color Association of the United States (CAUS), talked about the feeling of “uncertainty that surrounds us all” and is embodied in the organization’s 2010/2011 color palette, “Contrast and Contradiction.” She went on to say that a major distinction between the mood at the time the CAUS did its forecast and the present is that “many of us seem to think we’re over the hump.” Perhaps that’s true. With KBIS but a few months away, we’ll again be very busy for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the K+BB Design Awards. The entries have been coming in, which is always a reasonable indicator that some designers are doing work and, if last year’s competition is any indication, stellar work. Here at the magazine, we have a few of our own projects percolating, so maybe we are over the hump. I BE THERE. COVERINGS 2010. REGISTER TODAY AT WWW.COVERINGS.COM Use VIP Code AKB1Z when registering A P R I L 2 7– 3 0 , 2 0 1 0 | O R L A N D O, F LO R I DA , U S A Alice Liao, Executive Editor aliao@kbbonline.com C i rcle No. 124 http://www.ServiceMagic.com http://www.kbbonline.com http://WWW.COVERINGS.COM http://WWW.COVERINGS.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of KBB - January/February 2010

KBB - January/February 2010
Contents
Editor’s Note
Online Content
Online News
Trends
Products
Profile
Taste the Rainbow
Semi Formal
Education
Editorial Index
Ad Index
Favorites

KBB - January/February 2010