Fall In Love With Your Home (All Over Again)

Have you lost that lovin' feeling (when it comes to your home at least)? Well bring it back with a few product upgrades that will help you rekindle the flame in 2014. Below are a few of the top products debuted and reviewed at KBIS (Kitchen and Bath Industry Show) and IBS (International Builders Show) in Las Vegas earlier this month. 

1. Turbo-speed appliances

Speed Microwave Oven

One consistent feature of appliances featured during Design & Construction week is the ability cook foods faster and more efficiently than ever before. On the higher end, at over $10,000 and available in late 2014, the Viking Professional TurboChef Double Oven boasts the ability to cook food 15 (fifteen!) times faster than conventional ovens, using the same high-speed cooking technology used by your favorite nationally recognized coffee shops.   
On the slightly more affordable side, Bosch offers the Benchmark Steam Convection Oven at around $3000. Besides faster cooking, it is being hailed as a healthy option, that will maintain flavors & colors, retain nutrients, and preserve moisture in your food. The Bosch Speed microwave ovens ($1,799 - $1,999) are marketed to combine the cooking ability of convection baking with the speed of a traditional microwave. with five settings: Bake, Broil, Convection, Microwave, and AutoChef Combination. 

2. Temperature Sensing Technology

Delta Faucet Touch20 took home Best of Baths Gold for the technology that allows homeowners to gauge the temperature of the water stream before stepping into the shower. A battery powered thermal sensor detects the water temperature which is communicated through a digital display on the unit that uses colored LED lights to indicate a temperature range. 
  

 Below 80 F = Blue
   80 to 100 = Magenta
   Over 110 = Red

3. Durability/Luxury Hybrid

No, this isn't a car commercial. Rohl has introduced a  Copper Stainless Sink, handcrafted in Italy, offering commercial-grade durability with just the right amount of luxury. The rounded, easy-to-clean bottom edge radius and zero-edge side walls promote quick clean up, while an insulating undercoat on the entire sink is designed to reduce the splash-back noise generally associated with commercial sinks.  The copper look is achieved by a fusing a very thin layer of specialty metal to the stainless steel surface. Stainless Copper performs much better than actual copper, as it will not oxidize or patina over time and offers exceptional surface durability. 

4. Forget charging mats and docking stations, think Charging Surfaces

By partnering with the Power Matters Alliance, DuPont is jumping on the wireless electronics train by embedding a line of Corian countertops with wireless chargers. This technology will allow you to charge your phone simply by placing it on the surface, which will increase the efficiency (and cool factor) of your daily routine. 

For more ideas to spice up your home/owner relationship, check out more News & Trends from Design and Construction Week 2014.

Happy Valentine's Day from Key Residential!