A Place For Everything
Sophisticated storage systems go upscale in the kitchen and
throughout the house.
By Daina Darzin Manning
The configuration of the kitchen and homes in general has changed
in recent years, and with that comes changes in storage systems.
New houses are larger, more opulent and more conducive to the
coccooning activities people so cherish these days. The kitchen
remains the hub for family life, and imaginative accessories to
make that life more pleasant and efficient continue to flourish in
the marketplace.
Additionally, with today’s stressful lifestyles, consumers have
a greater desire for order within their own controllable universe.
More elaborate and complex storage systems are the result,
according to manufacturers surveyed by Kitchen and Bath Design
News.
Emphasis on Value
“Everything has been taken
to another level,” declares Joey Shimm, director of marketing for
Outwater Plastics Industries, in Wood-Ridge, NJ. “Individuals want
to take advantage of every nook and cranny of their
surroundings.”
“People are looking to organize as much as possible, and they
want to have the latest thing to wow their neighbors,” adds Philip
Martin, director of marketing for Hafele, in Archdale, NC. “They’re
[also] looking for ways to ergonomically retrieve items from the
cabinet.”
Double-bin recycling pull-outs, shelf roll-outs, pull-outs and
pull-downs have joined such traditional mainstays as cutlery
dividers, spice racks and lazy susans as kitchen musts,
manufacturers report.
“In many areas of the country, recycling has become mandatory,”
adds Melanie Calabria, product manager, storage, for Amerock Corp.,
in Columbia, MD. Consumers are also becoming more environmentally
conscious, so the recycling pull-out typically containing two waste
bins, though four smaller bins in one pull-out are also available
has become the norm in base cabinets near the sink. Calabria adds
that smaller recycling systems can also be located in other parts
of the home, such as the bathroom or home office.
That kitchen standard the lazy susan has also been revamped via
Knape & Vogt’s segmented model, wherein each “pie slice” pulls
out individually, according to Phil Sheridan, director of kitchen
and bath OEM sales for Knape & Vogt in Grand Rapids, MI.
Additionally, cheap plastic organizers are a thing of the past
in the mid- to high-end kitchen. “Consumers are more knowledgeable
and savvy regarding their home décor options,” says Calabria.
“They require that form and function meld together. They want
something that looks good and is high quality, even though it’s for
the most part hidden.”
“People are excited about anything that’s made out of wood and
chrome,” stresses Sheridan.
Plexiglass is also a quality option that’s well suited for a
spice rack, where a see-through material is desired to facilitate
reading labels.
“Chrome and brushed aluminum components mirror the trends [in]
appliances,” agrees David Noe, general manager and v.p./sales and
marketing for Rev-A-Shelf, in Jeffersontown, KY.
However, kitchen interior storage doesn’t go as far in
aesthetics as the master closet. “People want all wood storage
organizers,” notes Noe. “But, if you have a wine rack on the
exterior, it would have to be the same [wood] species and [finish]
as the rest of the kitchen. If you put a lazy susan inside a
cabinet, it could be a birch or maple, a light generic color that
goes with whatever the exterior might be.”
Sheridan adds that flexibility in drawer organization is a major
consumer desire, with systems that feature easily adjustable
compartments leading the pack.
Advanced functionality is increasingly important, believes
Martin, who cites his company’s full-extension pantry pull-out,
which features a soft close stop. “A gas air piston softens the
closure, so when it gets to 1/2″ of the cabinet, it closes really
softly so you don’t have that slamming,” he explains. Today’s
upscale consumers are demanding storage with these kinds of luxury
extras,” he adds.
Similarly, Accuride has focused attention on making storage
easier to use. “We added a self-closing mechanism on our
full-extension slide,” explains Deborah Kniegge, director of
marketing communications for Accuride, in Santa Fe Springs, CA.
“It pulls [a drawer] closed and keeps it closed.”
While traditional storage methods, such as the ornamental
hanging rack over the island remain popular, the new trend is the
deep drawer, many manufacturers say. Sheridan cites his company’s
“turtle” two-platform product both the bottom base and the top
slides out, providing storage for lids as well as pots and
pans.
Noe cites base cabinet pull-out storage for pots and pans as a
hot trend. “Our product allows you to either have a door that you’d
open in the conventional manner, and then the pull-out would come
out from the base cabinet, or you could put the door or drawer
front on our product, and have it pull out and function just as you
would a drawer,” he says. This also works for plates, bowls and
glasses, he notes.
The trend toward large drawers has also affected the hardware
market. For instance, Martin cites Hafele’s rack-and-pinion system:
“When you get a larger drawer, you get racking,” he explains. “One
side will move in while the other side stays out. This system
prevents that motion so when you’re pulling out your drawer, [it
stays] parallel.”
“Everything seems to have gotten bigger, wider, more heavy
duty,” agrees Kniegge. “We’ve taken some of our popular heavy-duty
slides and added some bracketry to them that makes the variety of
applications more flexible. The brackets allow for platform
mounting, bottom and side mounting.”
Noe mentions Rev-A-Shelf’s heavy duty mixer lift as a response
to the burgeoning gourmet cooking market. “People are using
industrial grade mixers, and nobody really had a component that
would work with [those]. So, we built a bigger, beefier mixer lift,
and did it with chrome instead of white epoxy, to hold it from a
strength perspective and give it the look that matches the Viking
range,” he says.
Space Solutions
With the advent of more of a
furniture look in the kitchen, the walk-in pantry is enjoying
renewed popularity, especially in new construction. So, too, are
pantry cabinets, manufacturers note, providing a large and varied
storage space.
Customers want different options, new ideas for their pantry
applications, believes Noe.
“[Consumers] want to use every inch of space,” states Bill
Burke, president of ProClosets.com, in Newington, NJ.
“There’s a greater use of pull-out baskets and drawers so you
can have easier access [to items]. We can also introduce drawers
and dividers so you can separate spices and packages. We have wine
racks for the pantry storage area.”
The trend toward great rooms, which combine the kitchen area and
family/entertainment room, has also led to an increase in computer
stations designed to coordinate with kitchen cabinetry. And, the
desk is now likely to include a computer even in a small space,
those surveyed report. “The kitchen is becoming the general
operations control of the home,” states Sheridan. He cites monitor
lifts, keyboard trays and CPU holders as part of a computer station
package.
Filling Every Need
Computer stations aren’t
the only component of kitchen entertainment. Now, it’s possible to
have a TV, Internet access with a touch screen, a DVD player that
plays music CDs and radio, and a connection to the home security
system, all contained in one compact unit, reports Heidi Austin,
spokesperson for Salton, Inc., in Seattle, WA. which makes the
iCEBOX kitchen entertainment center. “The kitchen is the hub of the
house, so we’re taking all of these electronics and putting them
there. If you want to look up a recipe [online] while you’re in the
kitchen, or send an e-mail while you’re waiting for the water to
boil, [you don’t have to run] down the hall,” she offers.
A popular item that has migrated from the bathroom is the warm
floor, adds Mike Winter, national sales manager for EGS/Easy Heat,
in New Carlisle, IN. Appropriate for tile, marble or stone
flooring, the heating cables are embedded in the cementatious
material that adheres the tile, and create a warm touch for cold or
damp climates.
Other Room Storage
In other rooms, storage
systems have reached new heights of opulence, especially in the
master bedroom closet an area dealers have increasingly become
involved with especially as the demand for a “master suite”
continues to grow.
“People like to dress up their closets with better finishes cherry,
maple, brushed nickel and brushed brass [hardware], crown moulding
much more high-end than you would imagine for a closet,” says
Burke, who cites hutches, deeper drawers and shelf dividers as
storage trends here, along with accessories such as belt and tie
bars. Even the more utilitarian closet systems are available in a
choice of white, light or dark wood tones, he reports.
Mara Villanueva, brand manager, new business development for
Whirlpool Corp., in Benton Harbor, MI, adds that, in larger homes,
people are installing a breakfast bar for coffee or juice in a
master closet, so they don’t have to walk to the kitchen. “People
will also put a chaise lounge in their closet,” she adds, and use
the closet as a refuge “where [they] go read a book and get away
from the kids.”
Inventive new time savers are also available for the laundry
room, reports Villanueva. Her company’s drying cabinet allows the
user to consolidate air-dry items instead of hanging and laying
them around the house. The large-sized cabinet will accommodate
items such as comforters, wet sports gear, pillows or sweaters that
need to lie flat.
The Personal Valet, on the other hand, removes wrinkles and
odors from dry cleanable clothing. “About two-thirds of the things
we dry clean aren’t really dirty,” explains Villanueva. The
personal valet can be located in the laundry room or master closet,
and has different settings for lighter or heavier duty.
Whirlpool also features an ironing station that, along with a
jetted sink in the bathroom for handwashing, completes an ideal
clothes cleaning set-up. Contained in a cabinet, the new ironing
board can be pulled down with one hand; a metal container enables
users to put the iron away while it’s still hot, making quick
ironing much easier and more convenient.
Whatever the room, today’s consumers want more organizational
options, manufacturers and dealers agreed. “Cabinet organization is
a great way simplify storage,” concludes Calabria. “People are
looking to simplify their lives, and that trend is going to
continue.” KBDN