The Best New Products to Jazz Up Your Kitchen and Bath
Give your kitchen or bathroom a pop of drama with these fashionable twists on traditional finishes and accessories—from flamboyant kitchen gadgets and heavy-duty rugs to chic vanities and fixtures for your bathroom. See it all, and much more, below.
The Perfect Pendant
While minimalist metal fixtures and hard-edged industrial shapes have dominated many of our kitchens for years, softer forms and playful patterns can impart a lighter look and instant character.
The initial design for this curvaceous pendant proved so technically complex, its British manufacturer, Original BTC, shelved it in 2001. Happily, after two decades of R&D, it’s back this spring and feeling utterly fresh, with its minimal profile and unglazed bone china shade.
This airy fixture, designed by Frederik Kurzweg for Normann Copenhagen, is made of three nested sheets of white perforated steel. Since each curved layer is rotated 180 degrees relative to the others, it appears to shape-shift as you move around your kitchen, dining room, or bar.
If you’ve been curious about mycelium—the fibrous strands in mushrooms that have lately been used to grow sustainable building materials—but hesitate at the idea of constructing your next house out of fungus, take the first step with this fully biodegradable pendant shade from designer Danielle Trofe. The Cup Light has a spongy texture (its shade is made by binding mycelium with a hemp substrate) that gives it a soft, organic glow.
Guatemala-born, Milan-based industrial designer Luis Arrivillaga looked to the trippy Op Art of Victor Vasarely in designing the striking Dana pendant for Souda. The shade’s two black wire half-globes can be positioned as you please, allowing for infinite patterns.
With a dimpled shade and color-ways that bring to mind natural elements, Foscarini’s latest pendant—designed by architects Ludovica and Roberto Palomba—feels like it was plucked from a very chic asteroid belt. Choose from inky Petrol, burnished gold, or transparent finishes to suit your decor.
BuzziCone is a minimal and slick lighting design that comes in three different shapes and a range of pastel colors. The lamp's shade is materialized with BuzziSpace's proprietary fabric BuzziFelt, which has acoustical properties. Therefore, the design not only illuminates its surrounding area but also serves double-duty as a noise reducer, making it unique and useful for our ever-changing contract and residential environments. Hang one or group a few together to make different design statements.
Top-Shelf Tiny Kitchens
Wooden Multi Shelf
Equal parts wall art and storage system, this ash shelf from Ferm Living allows you to stash kitchen essentials without jeopardizing precious counter space. Use its various pegs, ledges, and pockets to store—or show off—cookbooks, tools, and tchotchkes.
This new steam, broil, and convection oven from Fisher & Paykel is light on both space and—if you prefer—calories. It is designed to cook without excessive amounts of fat. Handy presets take away guesswork, and the stainless-steel interior is easy to clean.
At just 15 inches wide, this modular gas stove from Gaggenau is small on space but big on features, including 12 power levels and an indicator that tells you if the burners are still hot. The series also offers an induction cooktop and a teppanyaki griddle.
Keeping smoke and odors under control is essential in a small space, and this slim exhaust hood from Dacor gets the job done with a narrow profile. It’s designed to silently and efficiently vent air, and it can turn on automatically as soon as you light a burner.
Samsung’s new line of refrigerators promises to be wildly customizable in both color and configuration. Due out later this spring, the 24-inch version (shown here in both white and navy) can switch between refrigerator and freezer modes, and the door can hang on either side.
A tiny kitchen can still make room for conveniences, and it doesn’t have to mean doing the dishes by hand, thanks to this slim dishwasher from Bosch. The ultra-quiet appliance is only 18 inches wide and features an optional third rack to adjust capacity.
De’Longhi’s compact espresso machine offers a barista’s repertoire of features in less than 10 inches of counter space. A touch of a button yields your choice of 18 freshly ground, perfectly frothed coffee drinks.
Counter Statements
If endless stainless steel is starting to feel a little institutional, try a pop of color to give your kitchen some personality. It’s even better when it comes from an unexpected place, like an accessory you won’t want to hide away in a cabinet.
With these new elevated ceramic bowls from Vessel USA, you can transform the most humdrum countertop into a still life–worthy tableau. We like this zippy Mellow Yellow version, but it also comes in a more staid matte white.
This pearl-like little vessel from Brooklyn-based Light + Ladder (helmed by RISD alumna Farrah Sit) can contain your choice of trinkets, but we like that it’s food safe, too, transforming quotidian pantry items like salt, spices, or even avocados into whimsical surprises.
Designer George Sowden’s Memphis Group roots are on full display in his charming new kettle for Hay, with its playful color palette and lines. And though it boils water in a snap (a quart takes five minutes), you’ll never want to put it away—even after teatime is over.
KitchenAid’s popular stand mixer, once a must on wedding registries everywhere, now has a portable counterpart in this handy cordless version. Its flat end means you can set it aside mid-recipe, no spoon rest or countertop balancing act necessary.
Bring some Issey Miyake vibes to your kitchen with this ultra-chic pleated blender. Designed by architect Michele De Lucchi for Alessi, it features a lightweight yet durable plastic body and jug, five speeds, and safety sensors—in addition to serious style, of course.
Make your mornings a drop cheerier with this pour-over coffee dripper from heritage Japanese company Hario. The V60’s internal ridges facilitate optimal brewing, and, in time for the company’s 100-year anniversary, it’s now available in six new colors, including matte pink (shown here).
The Hurom CJ Citrus Juicer is perfect for your simpler juicing needs, whether it’s juicing large oranges for a breakfast OJ or small limes for your seltzer water. The 1-size-fits-all, finned juicing cone will help you single-handedly squeeze any citrus fruit and yield the maximum amount of juice, leaving the rind completely empty.
Vanity Projects
Full Moon Mirror
With a diameter of nearly five feet and multiple backlighting and finish options, Resource Furniture’s oversize mirror is just as ideal for adding dimension to your bathroom as it is for preening to perfection.
This double bath console by Italian architect Massimo Iosa Ghini for Devon&Devon has twin basins (made from a durable, proprietary composite) and Venn-diagram mirrors that add a touch of Art Deco flair.
Hastings Tile & Bath’s handsome Urban collection couples clean lines with handy storage solutions to suit many different kinds of spaces. It comes in a range of configurations and materials, including wood laminate and porcelain.
Like a work of art, this minimal vanity from William Gray (the product line of residential and hospitality designers Meyer Davis Studio) hangs gracefully from your bathroom wall, and it’s available with several different stone facings.
Working the Angles
Nebia by Moen Shower
Thanks to Moen, you don’t have to sacrifice indulgence to save water. The veteran fixture company collaborated with start-up Nebia to introduce an easy-to-install shower that produces a spa-worthy mist while cutting water usage by 45 percent compared to conventional fixtures.
Father-son industrial design team Alberto and Francesco Meda introduced a svelte line of fixtures with Zucchetti last year. With its sleek profile (available in finishes ranging from gold to matte black), the basin mixer is a showstopper.
The entire Kintsu line from Brizo may have won awards for its graceful interplay of curves and edges, but the real star of the collection—let’s face it—is the solid brass tub filler. Available in several finishes, it can even be tricked out with its own wine glass holder (available separately) for an end-of-day soak.
When it comes to your shower, good design shouldn’t go down the drain. Case in point: interior designer Christopher Grubb’s geometric brass drain grids for California Faucets.
Milan designers Matteo Thun and Antonio Rodriguez bring a splash of color to your sink with Nice, their new faucet collection for Fantini. The translucent resin knobs take on candy-like hues from a thin strip of color at the base. Options include green, red, and turquoise (shown here), and the sleek spout comes in chrome or matte black.
Solid Footing
It’s the holy grail of kitchen accessories: a rug that’s easy enough to clean for duty at the sink, but good-looking enough to display in any room. Here are a few of our favorite floor coverings that check both boxes.
SO x SP Rug
Slash Objects, a brand known for its creative approach to recycled materials, joined forces with fellow Brooklyn design office Studio Proba for a series of quirky floor mats. We love the terrazzo-like texture and the funky organic shapes, made from post-consumer rubber (shown here in Tera). Put it in front of your sink or use it as a fancy pet food mat.
Designer Arati Rao established Tantuvi in 2015 to create durable, beautiful textiles and to empower weavers in India. We’re drawn to her geometric cotton rugs (shown here in rose), which would make the perfect focal point in a contemporary kitchen.
The team behind Brooklyn textile company Caroline Z Hurley likes to make one thing clear: "We produce using people, not machines." That ethos is on full display in this minimalist, machine-washable cotton rug whose namesake is the artisan who created it—a Guatemalan weaver named Francisco.
Bring a bit of the Bauhaus to your cooking space with Chilewich’s bright indoor/outdoor mat, which nods to the famed school’s graphic textiles with a dense, colorful weave that is both mildew resistant and made from 25 percent renewable content. Pair with a rug pad for maximum traction.
Related Reading: Designers Weigh In on Seriously Upgrading Your Kitchen and Bath
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