'Stony' Looks Attract Customers at Interzum 2001.

Faux marbles and granites topped the list of hot trends among new decorative surface materials at the biennial German show

PAPER AND LAMINATE producers were giving customers "stony" looks at the 2001 Interzum hardware and supplies show, held in Cologne, Germany, in May. At the biennial show, where many companies introduced new wares or put forth prototypes to get a feel for what people want, faux marble, granite and other fine stones were prominently featured in leading manufacturers' booths.

"Faux marble is a very strong look," said Lorenzo Gaspani, export area manager for Confalonieri, an Italian company that produces papers for laminates. "It is a three-dimensional look; everyone will be producing something to look like real stone."

Marble and stone looks on display at Suddekor's booth were only 3 to 4 weeks old, created just in time for Interzum. Interprint was showing several new stones, including its "showpiece" marble, "Fior de Pesco."

"Printing technology is improving to reproduce the stones better than ever," said William Hines Jr., Interprint Inc.'s vice president of sales and marketing. The result -- surfaces that faithfully mimic the marbles and granites which have become popular countertop choices for today's upscale consumers.

In wood grain laminates and papers, realism is a key quality. While printing technology already has achieved excellent reproductions for the past several years, there is a new emphasis on finishes used in the process to yield even better replication. For example, some of interprint's new cherry introductions have a pearlescent finish, which gives the surface the look of a veneer, replicating the "flash," Hines said.

Phillippe Jovannic, a designer for Suddekor, said that he works from solid wood boards when creating a new wood grain design and starts with "good wood." To be accepted in the marketplace, he added, wood grain "must be very natural. It must look like wood."

In a different twist, several manufacturers were showing wood grain laminates in a "plank" format for furniture use. This look is popular in Europe, where consumers are used to seeing planks in solid wood applications, said Mike Phillips of Linnemann. Planked wood grain laminates were shown in different variations, some with "cut cathedrals" and some with 3- to 4-inch-wide "planks."

Phillips added that vertical and horizontal grains are being mixed in some laminates as well, another trend seen in European furniture.

Lighter species and lighter finishes continued to dominate the wood looks. Typically suppliers were showing a wall full of light colors, with one wenge-type shade for contrast.

Hines noted that at Interprint, oak with a white pore is also very popular. Also really hot is the combination of the white pore with steel and glass for a techno look, he added.

As part of the techno look, metals and metallic finishes continue to be very trendy. Brushed aluminum was one of the strongest looks at the show, with various "embossed" patterns or textures to add interest.

A metallic tinge or soft pearlescent finish also could be seen on a lot of the "plain" solid color laminates at major manufacturers' booths. In most cases the "solids" were not really solids, but featured subtle textures or patterns to give them depth.

While the deep, strong blue seen at the last Interzum was still around, warm colors were more dominant this year -- pale yellows, golds, pumpkins and a vivid orange/red. These were mixed with a smattering of turquoises or "sea foam" greens in various shades, all blending well with the lighter wood grains.

While manufacturers' booths in the decorative surfaces halls were highly visual, the emphasis in the cabinet and furniture hardware exhibits was on "function" versus "form." They were offering continued refinements for cabinet interiors to keep kitchen users well organized and ergonomically comfortable.

For example, large drawers capable of storing tall bottles or a full set of dishes were on display, with the ability to hold as much as 175 pounds while offering full-extension and soft-closing features. For inside the drawers, manufacturers showed a variety of organizational options to hold tableware, keep bottles and boxes snug and upright, and separate silverware and utensils of all shapes and sizes to look neat and be readily accessible.

The challenge for kitchen cabinet manufacturers now, according to a spokesman for Julius Blum Inc., is to make the end user fully aware of all the choices available. Customers who are accustomed to looking only at the outside of cabinetry need to be shown the value of upgrades that can be made on the inside to gain widespread market acceptance for all these options.

Next month, trends and highlights from Ligna, the woodworking machinery show also held in Germany in May, will be previewed.