New Trends in the Kitchen and In Your Home – IHHS Recap #IHHS2015

It seems that every day there is a new product or gadget for the kitchen. But this year attending IHHS (the International Home and Housewares Show) there were a few trends that became apparent quickly. The four day long event, took place at the McCormick place in Chicago March 7th-10th, but began the day before with mini events at Le Crueset’s new mini store.

Besides attending to check out the latest and the greatest in the kitchen and housewares industry, IHHS has a lot to offer attendees. Guests can see celebrity chef cooking demonstrations, try out the newest products and even sample food from the latest cook books. This year had a few large names that had guests Ooing and Ahing, including Paula Deen, Emeril, Ree Drummond, Cathy Mitchell and even Fabio Viviani. But in between the chef demonstrations you could even witness a world record being broken. 2015 marks 100 years for Pyrex, so they created the world’s largest Pyrex measuring cup filled with 180 gallons of Garrett’s Popcorn in a special unveiling ceremony.

What can you expect to see in the next year or two when it comes to your home and kitchen?

COLOR!

It’s everywhere. The 2015 Pantone color is Marsala, or a deep wine red. But that doesn’t mean you wont see a lot of other color through out the products that are coming to your shelves. Not everything is going to deep wine red though – you will find the biggest kitchen colors this year seem to be Red, Teal, Blue and even Copper.

A Nod to Nostalgia

From the colors of the past to the shapes of the past, retro seems to be the new thing!  There are new products with a nod to the 50’s and 60’s, but it doesn’t mean you’re not losing the functionality we’re use to – it’s just built into an older appearing appliance.

What’s old is new again! 

This isn’t just a nod towards yester-years. Instead – these are the hand tools your mother, grandmother or even great grandmother had come back to life. You can find a remade to use in your kitchen. Who said that it had to have a power cord for it to work as good? Sometime’s the classics are the perfect tool for the job!

Multi-Purpose Appliances 

I’m not just talking about an appliance that just does one thing anymore, we’re talking about appliances that can do 10 functions. It’s not just an oven, but it can alert you the moment your meat reaches the right temperature.

There are even appliances that make everything from bread, to yogurt, to rice and several things in between. Think of all that counter space you’re getting back!

Connected Devices

This is the next wave we’ll be seeing coming to the stores soon and into our homes. Appliances we can control with our phones and computers. You can get an alert when it’s done, program your coffee to start at a certain time and to brew a certain strength and more. We’re getting closer and closer to a custom kitchen experience for everyone.

There was one overwhelming trend I noticed throughout the whole weekend – a smarter product for the home user. If that meant easier to clean, easier to use or just a more comfortable fit in the hand – we found ourselves thinking “wow – that’s such a smart idea”. It will be great seeing a lot of these new products come to the market in the next year or two and see how they change how we work and cook in our own homes and kitchens.