Emerging design trends unveiled at Salone del Mobile Milano
By Elisa Fernández-Arias
NKBA | KBIS team members had front row access to EuroCucina 2024 and partner event FTK (Technology for the Kitchen) held in Milan, Italy, April 16 – 21. The innovative kitchen products event highlighted brands from across the globe. The association’s team, along with experts from multiple influential industry brands, shared the most prominent emerging kitchen trends they discovered at the show.
- Sustainability
Throughout EuroCucina, the NKBA | KBIS team was astounded by the number of brands showcasing innovative, eco-friendly products. Among them was nobilia, which offered not only green products, including its 100% recycled 2024 SENSO range, but also a green booth, which was 80% reused and recycled from the brand’s 2022 booth. “Anything that we do is engineered and developed under the aspect of sustainability,” said nobilia’s Thomas Johannesmeier, who is responsible for the strategic development of the United States market. He went on to speak about the brand’s lacquer, one of the surfaces it offers. Because it is 100% water based, it is recyclable and reusable for new products. Alternative products, like foil, can only be thermally recycled, or burned for energy instead of reused.
Karl Hinkfuss, Director of Product Marketing for Kitchen & Bath Group INTL at Kohler, said, “There is a heavy emphasis on sustainability and the products that we’re showing that are being either brought to market in a sustainable way or made with sustainable materials.” At the House of Rohl, one of the highlighted eco-friendly products was the Ledro, available in August 2024 through the victoria + albert brand, which provides a fully immersed bathing experience in 150 liters of water instead of the usual over 225 liters. Additionally, House of Rohl displayed products made from heavy fireclay, a unique material that “will last you forever,” said James Smith, Marketing & Innovation Director for Fortune Brands in EMEAA, who runs the House of Rohl portfolio across the region.
DURAVIT also demonstrated a commitment to sustainability. Leonie Wöhrle, Head of Marketing Communications at DURAVIT, said, “We are currently building a CO2 neutral company in Canada, so we will be focusing on the North American market much more in the future.” Cosentino introduced an innovative surface, Earthic, which is made of 10% silica or less, at least 30% made of recycled components and manufactured with 100% renewable electric energy and 99% recycled water. The brand also touched on its recycled content, such as Dekton recycled materials and utilizing recycled glass.
- Colors and Mixed Materials
“From a trends standpoint, what you’re going to see within our booth, and all around Salone, is the emergence of bringing colors back,” said Kohler’s Hinkfuss. “Colors are being infused into everything, as well as mixed materials.” He added: “There are unique products, like our Numi 2.0 intelligent toilet. We have a concept here, shown with e-ink. As the product moves, you’ll see different designs being portrayed within it.” The Sivida line on display at the DURAVIT booth, which provides multiple color options inside and out for wash basins through the use of its innovative, durable material DuroCast, demonstrated this trend.
As for materials, DURAVIT’s Wöhrle said, “We’re seeing a lot of new materials being added to the bath. In the past, it was mainly focused on wood and regular surfaces, and now we see a lot of marble style surfaces, which really add to the style of a bath.”
This emerging trend of colors and mixed materials in the kitchen supports the emerging personalized designs trend identified in the NKBA | KBIS Kitchen Trends Report.
- Expanded Kitchens
Another reported trend was kitchen products and appliances making their way into other areas of the home. “The kitchen itself is getting bigger and is going out of the kitchen,” said Manuela Ricci, Marketing Manager for European Countries, Signature Kitchen Suite. “That means our products have to be not only functional, but also very nice looking. This trend is especially true when it comes to wine cellars. We’ve proposed to our customers to have the wine cellar inside the living room, or even inside the bedroom. We see that products like these are making their way outside of the kitchen.”
- Whole-House Decoration
A shift noted by Johannesmeier at nobilia was products being made for multiple areas of the home, not just for one specific room. “I believe it’s more about whole house decoration,” he explained. “We are seeing a lot of manufacturers becoming more universal manufacturers. It used to be quite specialized; people were kitchen manufacturers or bath manufacturers or living room manufacturers. Now, they are all growing together.”
“This is exactly what nobilia is showcasing,” he continued. “We are more than the kitchen world, we are called the nobilia house product. That means our products are usually designed universally.” He added, “When we look at the trend that we’re seeing, it’s accelerating here in Milan this year.”
- Special Storage for Personal Items
Another trend identified by Ricci at SKS was storage of items such as beauty products in the kitchen. “People are conserving not only food inside the refrigerator, but also other things like beauty and skincare products and masks.” This supports two trends found in the NKBA | KBIS Kitchen Trends Report: customizable design and the kitchen being a place for wellness and nutrition.
