Editor's Letter
Sorting Things Out
In a material world, it’s all about the labels, but here are some that actually may make a difference in your life.

By the Numbers
33% of consumers would spend more money on their kitchen remodel if they could do it over.

The average refrigerator sold today consumes less energy than a 60-watt light bulb left on 24 hours a day.

By 2015, the typical upscale home will have a fully functioning outdoor kitchen equipped with all the amenities, including a sink, refrigeration, fireplace and audio/visual equipment.

In the last few years, I have developed an aversion to shopping for myself. Maybe I’m growing impatient with waiting in lines, designs aimed at teenagers and nonstandard sizing, but I don’t like it quite as much as I once did. Maybe it is all due to the onset of grumpiness at reaching a milestone birthday and will pass with the newfound wisdom I’m waiting for. Anyway, my frustration does not apply to shopping for new ideas in the home industry.

At this past spring’s Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (K/BIS), I entered the mecca of innovation. Every year I attend this event I think the exhibitors can’t possibly impress me as much as the year before, but they do. It’s amazing to see how manufacturers can take something as simple as heat to cook with and package it into beautiful, powerful appliances, or how water, which covers 2/3 of the Earth, can be made exciting with light, color, heat and bubbles. I was giddy at the outpouring of ideas condensed in those Chicago showrooms. Of course, I did get to meet Ty Pennington (see right), which helped raise my enthusiasm.

As I perused the aisles, my mind began detecting patterns and categorizing each product into one (or more) of four realms: luxury, technology, convenience and uniqueness. You’ll see this system in our Latest & Greatest sections (pg. 50 for kitchens, pg. 72 for baths), where I’ve highlighted numerous products that seem to fit these labels. ‘Green’ is another label often used to promote products, but I purposefully decided against pegging specific items into this category because being green is a balance. For instance, bamboo is a great product because it comes from a sustainable source, yet it’s grown half a world away and must be shipped long distances, reducing its green factor. I’ve included alternatives (see page 45) that are grown much closer to home (wheat and sunflowers, anyone?) that you might consider.

Conserving resources is actually one of the greenest things you can do, so we’ve developed stories on how to save energy and water through the fixtures in your home. Many of you may be familiar with the Energy Star logo found on home appliances, but did you realize that it also applies to lighting and fans? See page 149 for more on that.

Additionally, Energy Star has a sister program through the EPA called WaterSense, which labels faucets, showerheads, toilets and irrigation systems. There are many products to choose from that won’t affect your lifestyle but will affect your impact on the environment. Find some of them on page 140.

Speaking of reducing impact, we also delve into universal design on page 115, a trend slowly gaining recognition, which aims to keep people in their homes as long as possible as they age. Through thoughtful planning and inclusion of products such as grab bars, the disabled and elderly can keep from moving out of their homes. It’s something to think about now as you’re building or remodeling — shopping for a nursing home is yet another experience I’d want to avoid.

Andrea Darr,
Editor-in-Chief
adarr@kc-hg.com