Designer Connection - July 2022
BKBG’s Designer Connection is written exclusively to benefit members of the BKBG Designer Alliance. Each month, Connection will relate trends, profile a designer, offer product updates and share professional development opportunities. Most importantly, Connection is another tool to bring the BKBG design community together, to share best and successful practices and to enable you to build your network of peers who face the same challenges and opportunities that you must address daily. We welcome your comments, input and suggestions for improvement. Post your comments on the Design Alliance TEAMS platform or send them to BKBG Director of Membership and Engagement Jennifer Swenson.
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Showcase Your Best Work and Win – Enter the 2022 BKBG Design Contest
BKBG announces its first design contest to showcase and reward members of the Designer Alliance for their best work. Categories include:
- Best Use of Space
- Best Overall Kitchen
- Best Overall Bath
- Best Other Space
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Peoples’ Choice
The winner of each category will receive $500. The people’s choice award will be selected by 2022 BKBG Conference attendees. Entries will be evaluated based on:
- Creativity
- Presentation
- Design Planning
- Elements and Principles of Design
Requirements include a project that uses cabinets from a BKBG Preferred Vendor:
- Bellmont, Cabico, Cabinetworks Group, Elmwood, Holiday Kitchens, JSI, MasterBrand, Waypoint or Wellborn
Deadline: Entries are due September 5, 2022.
Project Completion Requirements: January 1, 2021 – September 5, 2022
Winners to be announced at BKBG Conference 2022, September 19-21, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Click here for entry materials.
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Design Trends from Milan Showcase the Kitchen of the Future
Every two years, EuroCucina, one of the most important and forward-looking tradeshows in the world for kitchens and baths is held in Milan, Italy. This event showcases the future. The 2022 EuroCucina did not disappoint as 82 manufacturers provided insights into what we can expect in the U.S in the years to come.
EuroCucina confirmed that today’s kitchens are no longer a room exclusively used to prepare and cook meals. Kitchens serve numerous purposes that include office space, socializing, family gatherings and providing beauty and functionality. The open floor plan will continue to dominate kitchens of the future, connecting seamlessly to a living room, family room and other spaces that result in designs that create separate spaces without building barriers. EuroCucina displays featured glass room dividers suspended from the ceiling with metal cables to connect the kitchen to living and dining rooms.
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EuroCucina also featured displays that integrated the kitchen with other spaces by hiding kitchen components or the entire kitchen altogether. Streamlined designs showcased sliding countertops fitting over cooktops and sinks were prevalent in Milan. There were appliances hidden behind sliding doors and cabinets. A head turner was a pop-up pantry raised from inside of an island. Caesarstone featured a remote-controlled sliding countertop. Numerous designs showcased the ability to make cabinetry, appliances, doors, etc. disappear.
Mixed materials were another EuroCucina trend. There were kitchens that combined glass, stone, wood, metals, porcelain, laminate, marble, and concrete. There was also a heightened use of sustainable materials and those with a low environmental impact made from recycled materials.
Marazzi displayed a cooktop integrated into the counter, advancing the trend of invisible appliances.
EuroCucina also featured herb walls, in-counter herb planters and containers where spices and other ingredients used in cooking were easily accessible.
Almost every drawer and cabinet featured LED lighting that automatically illuminated when opened.
Other trends included:
- Splashes of bold colors to enliven natural tones
- Matte finishes were more prevalent than glossy counterparts
- Islands with pendants at varying heights
- Push and touch cabinets that eliminate the need for knobs or pulls
- Remote control and voice-activated cabinets and appliances
- Curved and circular shapes were present not only in kitchen sinks, islands and designs, but also in furniture.
- Enhanced personalization capabilities that included graphics on door panels and custom inserts for kitchen sinks.
- Expanded technology and automated systems that included wifi-connected in-counter touchscreens.
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What Story Are You Telling? |
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Your showroom’s brand is not what you say, advertise or write. It’s what your customers experience in every interaction from an initial visit to your web site to the completion of the punch list for their new kitchen. In a world defined by 144 characters, trying to reign in the story you tell through a carefully crafted narrative misses the point and the opportunity. Your story is not what you want to tell. It’s what your customers experience at every step in their buying journey. Your brand is the impressions that customers form and that they make with every touch point both in business and personal settings. Your story is not the copy that you write. It is the result of your showroom merchandising, displays, pricing, packaging, location, online reviews, testimonials, your fellow team members and customer service responses, among many others. What you write and advertise is just a small part of your storytelling and brand development. Brands are not based on the written word. They are formed by experiences. If that experience is worth repeating, you have created brand advocates. What are you doing to make your showroom’s experience memorable and repeatable? |
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Congratulations to BKBG's Recent NKBA Badge Recipients |
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BKBG congratulates the following designers for obtaining NKBA badges through the BKBG Designer Alliance. They are:
Willesa Cummins (Cabinet S-Top) Floor Plans and Remodeling
Meagan Davison (Cabinet S-Top) Cabinetry and Remodeling
Katelyn Shaffer (Great Kitchens and Baths) Color and Sales and Marketing
Andy Tarlton-Hernandez (Distinctive Remodeling) Remodeling
Andrea Kelley (Raby Company) Cabinetry
Michele Bonds (Distinctive Remodeling) Remodeling
Karen Harris (Cabinet S-Top) Floor Plans
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How to Take Advantage of the BKBG-NKBA Badge Program |
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BKBG has partnered with NKBA to offer Designer Alliance members continuing professional development and skill set enhancement opportunities through the NKBA Specialty Badge Program.
Specialty Badges are the NKBA’s latest concept in professional development. This new micro-credentialing program is a form of personalized learning that recognizes and displays the acquired knowledge of our members across all segments of the kitchen and bath industry. It affords our members the ability to stay current with the latest information in this ever-changing industry.
BKBG is offering 50 badges at a discounted price of $65/badge. Any designer who is a member of both BKBG Designer Alliance and NKBA, can take advantage of this professional development opportunity.
Once registered, you will receive a number of emails from NKBA including the study guide for your course. You will have 90 days to complete the exam and will then be eligible to register for an additional course while supplies last. You will receive a Specialty Badge Certificate upon passing the exam.
The courses will go fast so please register today.
Drive personal and professional success by expanding your knowledge base. Click here to learn more.
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What's the Starting Point? |
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Many kitchen designers believe that the cabinets set the tone for the kitchen and are the logical starting point in the sales process. It might be time to reconsider based on how the human mind works.
In his best-selling book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Dr. Robert Cialdini, claims that there are six basic categories that people use to influence others and get them to say yes to whatever they want others to do. In our case, purchase a new kitchen, bath, or remodel.
Cialdini explains that the contrast principle – a principle in human perception – affects the way we see the difference between two things that are presented one after the other. “Simply put if the second item is fairly different from the first, we will tend to see it as more different than it actually is, ” Cialdini writes. He references an experiment at a psychophysics lab that asked students to put one hand in a bucket of cold water and the other in a bucket of hot water and then place both hands in a bucket of room temperature water. The students reported that the hand originally placed in the hot water felt cooler and the one placed in the cold water felt warmer than the temperature of the water in the room temperature bucket. This experiment proves that a bucket of lukewarm water can appear to be vastly different than what it truly is based on the nature of the event that proceeded it.
How does the contrast principle apply to kitchen and bath showrooms and where to start the sales journey? When presenting different products for a new kitchen, always start with the most expensive. For kitchens, that may not be an individual cabinet. Why? Because the contrast principle holds if someone is going to spend $20,000 on a new refrigerator, convincing them to spend $2,000 on a cabinet does not seem to be that expensive by comparison. However, if you convince the customer to spend $2,000 per cabinet and then propose a $20,000 refrigerator, the latter will seem more expensive than it actually is.
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BKBG's 2020 training classes (presented by MasterBrand Cabinets) have been a huge hit. A PDF version of a class deck is on BKBG’s TEAMS platform. Upcoming classes are scheduled as follows:
Please contact Jennifer Swenson for the TEAMS link or to register your designers for Designer Alliance.
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Cabinetworks Online Ordering Promotion
Why should you order you cabinets online from Cabinetworks? Here are 5 good reasons.
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Skip the line and reduce lead times! Your electronically submitted order will be processed and scheduled before orders that are sent in for manual entry. This can mean a difference of up to a week in lead time!
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Easy add-on orders. If you need a replacement part or simply need to add a piece you forgot, it’s simple to request from your original order online. No need to look up finish or door style, all original order information is saved!
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Accuracy. While our team tries their best to get each order 100% correct, manually keying orders comes with human error. Orders transmitted electronically will be the most accurate!
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Faster Acknowledgements. When your order is submitted electronically, your acknowledgement will be returned to you almost instantly!
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Information at Your Fingertips. Log on at any time to see status and an expected delivery date for your order, without the need for a phone call.
Give it a try in July!
Each designer who submits an electronic order during the month of July 2022, will be entered into a drawing to win a Yeti cooler gift set valued at $500. While you may submit as many electronic orders as you want during the month, each unique designer ID will only receive one entry. The winner will be drawn at random on August 1, 2022. The winner will be notified and posted on www.cabinetworksgroup.com/winner. One entry per person. Void where prohibited.
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Dekton Launches the Onirika Collection |
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Dekton by Cosentino launched the Onirika Collection designed by Nina Magon. The new collection is inspired by marble patterns and immersive living with daring colors, The collection is fully carbon neutral. The collection includes Neural, Lucid, Trance and Awake (shown), which is a re-interpretation of the precious Paonazzo stone. It features thick veins of light grays, oxide terracotta and a hint of subtle, inky blues.
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Bath & Kitchen Business Group
Tom Cohn
Executive Vice President
301-799-7401
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