What You Will Learn
In the world of residential kitchen & bath design – where every detail counts – the choice of materials is paramount. Discover this season’s top tile trends and breakthrough technologies – ranging from dramatic wallpaper-inspired and stone looks to bold colors, 3D effects, through-body veining and ultra-large formats – along with creative application methods that will elevate kitchen & baths of any scale. Through showcasing a range of standout projects and new collections, this powerful duo will illustrate how to create swoonworthy, standout spaces that are also imbued with functionality, as they elaborate on how the material’s inherent sustainable features – ranging from extreme-durability, anti-slip, stain & scratch-resistance, low VOC emissions, and antimicrobial, easy-to-clean properties – make it a healthy material choice for the home.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will be able to break down the latest trends and cutting-edge technology in tile design – including the latest selection of styles, colorways, patterns, and application options – when ideating designs and sourcing materials for new K&B projects.
- Participants will be able to indicate the inherent functional and sustainable benefits of utilizing tile in their K&B projects.
- Participants will be able to identify and propose new ways to incorporate ceramic and porcelain tile into their current and upcoming designs, while being able to better detect the types of tile that will be most suitable for use in different environments based on size, function and consumer preference.
Top Tile Trends Reshaping the Kitchen & Bath Industry
Christina Abbate, Trend Expert & Consultant at Confindustria Ceramica
Cristina Faedi has over 25 years of experience in the Italian tile industry. During her tenure at Confindustria Ceramica (the Italian association of Ceramics) s was in charge of global marketing for Italian ceramic tile, sanitaryware and tableware and led the promotion of Cersaie (the most important trade show for tile and sanitaryware in the world). She was also a leader working on the Italian pavilion at Coverings – the largest tile and stone trade show in North America – and served on the board of Coverings and the marketing committee. She is extremely experienced in planning and organizing international trade show exhibitions, seminars, conferences, B2B events for architects, press conferences, advertising campaigns, media relations, cultural exhibits, international architecture and design competitions, and PR activities. After close to three decades leading promotional activities for Ceramics of Italy, she launched her own brand, Infinite Possibilità, in 2022, where she creates person collages. She has curated number exhibitions and even presented a TEDxReggioEmilia talk entitled Starting Again. She remains a consultant to the Italian ceramic tile industry and is a regular speaker on design and ceramic trends. She also leads workshops and talks about creativity and the art of the collage. She had recently been commissioned to create book and magazine covers, and organized and curated exhibitions of collage artists in Europe.
