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2010 International Home and Housewares Show
The 2010 International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago just ended. This is arguably the world's largest housewares show, with over 2,000 vendors and 60,000 attendees. Most attendees are professional buyers for stores and catalogs, or writers for magazines and newspapers.
A few trends emerged at this year's show. Products are generally colorful, earth and pocketbook friendly and above all, practical. They have been created to solve a problem and answer a need. They aren't fancy or showy, but are work-a-day products that are well priced and stylish. Here are some of the best products from the 2010 International Home and Housewares Show:
Chef's Choice Hybrid Knife Sharpener
If you're a foodie, then you know a good sharp knife is one of the most important tools in the kitchen. Chef's Choice has developed a hybrid knife sharpener that uses electricity for sharpening and a manual setting for honing the blade. It works well and reduces the guesswork involved with sharpening quality knives. The compact size makes it easy to store as well.
The Next Generation of Full-Spectrum Lighting with OPTICOLOR Technology
Clearlite offers this lightbulb that switches from a bright full-spectrum setting for cooking or reading to a softer white for a nice soothing ambiance. It also has a setting that mixes the two for a broad-spectrum output that produces a very natural looking light for a CFL.
Eco-i-lite and Mini Eco-i-lite from Capstone Industries
These LED handheld lights turn on automatically when the power goes out. The rechargeable lithium ion battery is environmentally friendly. Both batteries and lightbulbs last the lifetime of the product.
Ink Dish Tattoo Design Plates (Pictured above.)
"Irezumi" is a beautiful porcelain dish collection designed by tattoo artist Paul Timmons. Based on his Japanese style tattoos, the dishes feature traditional Japanese motifs such as dragons, cherry blossoms and koi. The blue and white china recalls the more traditional Oriental important china of days gone by but with a twist.
The Drawerdecor is a fully customizable organizer that can be arranged to fit your specific needs. The silicone mat and component parts are washable and can be re-arranged as needs change.
The Qnot from Rubbo International, Inc. is a colorful cross between a rubber band and a zip tie. Reusable and functional, these handy ties will keep wires organized and odd shaped bundles in check.
Can Straps-where have you been all my life? This is truly a "well-duh" kind of product. I can't believe no one came up with this before! Just wrap and press together the hook and loop tape ends together and your trash bag will no longer be mixed up inside the trash. The straps are washable and reusable. Simply brilliant!
Fresh Wave Green Home and Stinky Dorm
The Fresh Wave Green Home and Stinky Dorm air cleaning kits have natural odor fighting ingredients that neutralize the smells of stale pizza and dirty laundry. Gel, room spray, soy candles and crystals will rid your home, or home away from home, of pesky smells.
The Babycakes Mini-Cupcake Maker
The Babycakes Mini-Cupcake Maker is a totally adorable modern day Easy Bake Oven-but with better batter. Fill the little cups with real cake batter, or brownie mix, close the lid and a few minutes later, you've got a plateful of deliciousness.
The Foodpod is an ingenious, if slightly funky looking, silicone cooking bag. Need to boil half a dozen eggs? Slip them into the Foodpod and gently lower into the boiling water. The handle hooks onto the side of the pot for easy removal. Veggies can be blanched and steamers steamed. It's a great all-in-one product that saves both time and water.
These colorful Coconut Lacquerware Bowls are made from real coconut shells, natural lacquer (derived from the cashew nut tree) and coated with a food safe polyurethane. These bowls are perfectly sized for eating ice cream or soup. The bowls come in four colors reminiscent of vintage Fiestaware-yellow, orange, green and turquoise-and will brighten up any table.
Uber-chic designer Karim Rashid has partnered with Move Collective to create the Bobble, a self-filtering water bottle. We all know that the landfills are filling up to the brim with water bottles and yet we still want our filtered water. The Bobble seeks to serve both goals in a stylish and colorful package. The filtering system is contained within a colorful core attached to the bottom of the cap. The Bobble will be sold along side bottle water in stores. Think of the savings to both our pocketbooks and to the landfills if we all replaced at least half our bottled water use with tap water and a Bobble.
Posted by: Linda Merrill
