Furniture looks star at K/BIS: applied mouldings, onlays and other furniture touches make strong impressions at the well-attended 2002 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Chicago.

STAFF REPORT

The kitchen and bath industry appears to be well on its way to recovery from the ill effects of the economy and 9-11 as evidenced by the strong turnout to the 2002 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show.

According to a show spokeswoman, 57,000 people, including 17,000 exhibit personnel, registered for the event held April 5-7 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Total registration reflected a 35% increase over the 42,000 people who registered for K/BIS 2000, the last time the event was held at McCormick Place.

In terms of trends, many of the companies exhibiting at K/BIS showed off their renewed efforts to make their cabinets look like furniture with the addition of decorative mouldings, trim, valances, onlays, etc. Several companies also announced that some of their high-end finishes were now being offered on mid-price cabinet lines.

One of the more stirring highlights of K/BIS 2002 was an announcement by Armstrong Cabinet Products that it would use only hardwood plywood for cabinet boxes and shelving. (See sidebar page 76.)

Following are some additional company highlights.

Wellborn Cabinets

Wellborn Cabinets' introductions at K/BIS 2002 continued dominant themes from previous years.

For example, continuing the trend toward furniture-look cabinetry, the Ashland, AL-based company offers new clipped corners with decorative half turnings, decorative inset moulding, acanthus moulding and a corner foot valance, all creating the illusion of furniture pieces instead of kitchen cabinets. A new wall cabinet with three drawers that comes as a one-piece unit and sits atop a countertop is designed to create a hutch effect in a kitchen.

A newer look is the company's Savannah door style, introduced this year. It is a "puffy" miter door -- a style that was just starting to be shown at last year's K/BIS in Orlando and is emerging more this year.

Sweetheart Cabinets

Showing for the first time at K/BIS was Sweetheart Cabinets, a custom shop in Rohnert Park, CA, which arguably had the most innovative cabinetry on display.

Owner Rand Moeller said that traditional cabinet styles and "themed" kitchens, such as Tuscan, country English or French, continue to be Sweetheart's best-sellers. He added that stainless steel appliances are still hot and natural wood stains are popular.

The UltraCraft Co.

UltraCraft of Liberty, NC, a division of Norcraft Companies LLC, has joined forces with Northern Italy-based Friul Intagll to create Vision, a line of cabinetry featuring Eurotek veneer finishes as well as refined touches such as fluted columns, mullion doors and designer hardware.

"Customers are looking for accent coloring on cabinetry -- not necessarily just one single color. They are also looking for a lot more details, such as crown mouldings and corbels," said Michael Hommas, CKD, director of marketing and education for UltraCraft.

Vision is available in three collections: Venezia, Tuscany and San Marco. Venezia features wide rails and ralsed panel doors. It comes in buttermilk with caramel patina or ginger maple with an auburn patina. The Tuscany collection features narrower rails with recessed panel doors. It is available in amber cherry with an auburn patina or natural maple with a caramel patina. The San Marco collection is currently available in chestnut pecan with an ebony patina. It features a raised center panel and four-piece framed construction.

Merillat Industries

Merillat Industries of Adrian, MI, a division of Masco Corp., introduced a built-to-order semi-custom cabinetry line called Merillat Masterpiece. Masterpiece offers customers the option of 640 different wood, style and finish combinations. It is available in four wood species: maple, oak, cherry and hickory; 13 door styles; 40 finishes; five laminate styles; and features 65 hardware options.

Chris Thiede, public relations, said, "The Masterpiece semi-custom cabinet line is following the contemporary trend where more and more companies are offering flexible cabinets for any room. The Masterpiece line is not worried about the ornate, but more so an ease of movement and the way customers want their kitchens or other rooms' cabinets organized."

KraftMaid Cabinetry Inc.

KraftMaid, another Masco company, has expanded its horizons out from the kitchen and bath and into the office arena. At K/BIS 2002, the company displayed a selection of its office furniture line, which includes a computer office tower, desk door and drawer cabinets, file drawers, and the Easy Reach corner space unit.

"We're seeing an expansion of cabinetry for other rooms. In addition to entertainment centers, we're also finding them in libraries and offices," said Ernie Guy, regional manager for KraftMaid of Middlefield, OH.

Mid-Continent Cabinets

Applied mouldings, simple but ornamental, distinguished many of Mid-Continent's displays at K/BIS.

"That seems to be the trend -- a lot of emphasis on mouldings as well as using mouldings to make one area (such as an appliance cover) a focal point," said Rod Brewer, product manager for Mid-Continent, a division of Norcraft Companies LLC.

Cardell Cabinets

"Cabinetry is not just part of the kitchen anymore," said Gary Barnett, director of marketing for Cardell Cabinetry of San Antonio, TX. Cardell has added new green and blue finishes to its product line. It has also teamed up with Middleton Mouldings to offer a variety of mouldings on its cabinetry.

"They are standard components used in imaginative ways to create fantastic entertainment centers or bedroom cabinets," Barnett said.

Cardell's Canterbury maple cabinets, which were white with a soft brown glaze, also illustrated the company s semi-custom capabilities. "They are an example of where you can take semi-modular cabinets," Barnett said. The Canterbury cabinets featured a five-piece door with inset beaded moulding.

Viking Range Corp.

Rutt Custom Cabinetry, Heritage and St. Charles each displayed their kitchen cabinet products in Viking Range Corp.'s booth. The three cabinet lines were saved from going out of business when Viking purchased them in February 2001.

John Vanderwall, account manager for Heritage, said the relationship with Viking has been very beneficial. "We feel that Viking is really committed to the growth of Rutt, Heritage and St. Charles, Viking has allowed us to self-manage ourselves. They provided us with some direction and some personnel to help strengthen the top end of the management, and we're making plans to move forward," Vanderwall said.

Expanded K/BIS Coverage on ISWONLINE.COM 

More individual cabinet company introductions and additional design trends are contained in an expanded K/BIS report on www.iswonline.com.

RELATED ARTICLE: Armstrong Cabinets Switching to Plywood Construction

Particleboard and melamine are out and finished hardwood plywood is in at Armstrong Cabinets Products of Addison, TX.

The nation's sixth largest cabinet manufacturer announced at K/BIS 2002 that it was in the process of phasing out particleboard and MDF used in cabinet box construction and shelving for its entire line of Bruce and IXL cabinets. Last year the company manufactured more than 2 million cabinets, about 90% of which were made with particleboard, while racking up total sales of $225 million, according to Dave Gordon, vice president, marketing.

Beginning in July, ACP's three plants will begin rolling out cabinets featuring boxes and shelves made with birch plywood finished on exterior and interior sides. Face Frames will continue to be made of 3/4-inch hardwoods. Gordon said particleboard and medium density fiberboard, other than what is used for doors and drawer fronts in the company's thermofoil cabinets, will be phased out by the end of the year after contracts pending with builder customers are fulfilled.

Gordon said ACP, which previously sold its Ultrawood hardwood plywood constructed cabinets at a 15% to 20% markup, will offer its "real wood" products at prices comparable to its cabinets made with particleboard. He said the keys to price containment include streamlined production and working closely with Armstrong's flooring division to benefit from "bulk buying power" and technical expertise, particularly in the area of flatline finishing.

Gordon said Armstrong purchases a "significant part" of the birch plywood from mills in Siberia. "We also buy our plywood from Canada, Asia and elsewhere," he said.

The K/BIS introduction "quite frankly exceeded our expectations," Gordon said. "We were surprised by the numerous visits of our competitors. They couldn't believe that we plan to sell plywood cabinets at particleboard prices."

Rich Christianson