2010 Tabletop and Kitchen Trends at NYIGF
Categories: Shopping, Kitchen, Your Home, Design, etc, News & Trends
Tabletop trends at the winter gift show were a surprising mix of eco and glitz.
Have you ever wondered where the owner of your favorite home goods store finds the cool products she sells? Quite likely it's the International Gift Fair, New York's largest wholesale trade event, which is held twice each year at the cavernous Javits Center. This week, more than 2,700 exhibitors from around the world set up booths at the six-day winter show.
I headed over to the Gift Fair for a little trend-spotting. As expected, there were plenty of "green" products – both in a color and an eco-wise sense. Jelly bean-colored plastics continued to be shown. What seemed unexpected were all the gold, silver metallic and even crystal bedazzled objects. Then again, opposites do attract.
Here are some of the tabletop and kitchen items I spied on my trip (since it's a trade show, retail prices are approximate):
Above: Joseph Joseph's Hands On salad bowl ($40) is a visual pun. Amuse your guests by deftly sliding the pair of salad server" hands" off the sides of the green melamine bowl -- then replace them. Products by this hot young English design firm are sold at the MoMA Design Store. All photos: Jane Freiman
Natural in every way, each 4-piece Fluf rainfall-pattern napkins set ($24.50) contains two hemp and organic-cotton napkins plus a pair of soft, felt napkin rings that clip and unclip easily, then store flat. Edging colors can be mixed, or matched.
Ooh la la! Alain Saint-Joanis is the Dior of French cutlery centered on rare wood handles. His blonde Tonia pattern (5-pieces, $330) have silken boxwood handles sealed to be dishwasher -safe. Rosewood, acacia, and even enameled sterling silver are other luxe options.
I'd throw a dinner party just to use Cake's vintage-style, paper placements. Each tear-off pad of 50 placemats ($9.50) offers lead-gray line drawings on oversized parchment-color paper. My favorite pad mixes cartouches (fancy borders with empty centers) that frame your dishes dramatically. When dinner's over, you can recycle the paper.
Attention toddler moms: Great-Grandma's real oilcloth is back! You may not remember oilcloth's soft, slide-y feel or the wild fruit and flower motifs popular during the 1950s, but Freckled Sage does. Kid messes wipe right off their gingham-edged 48" x 48" lemon and roses cloth ($40).
Linden's Skittles-hued Swedish Anita cutting boards (6" x 9-1/2") have a new twist: A clear plastic snap-on lid. That instantly transforms them into refrigerator-worthy storage containers ($15) or domed tableware. Sleek spreaders ($2) come in the same four colors.
Alan Lee's gold-tone Aurora borealis collection is downright bedazzled. Austrian crystals are applied to the stems of wine and martini glasses, Champagne flutes (sets of 2, $165), and handles of the serving tray (about $210). Their sparkle recalls their namesake northern lights in the night sky.
A friend introduced me to Michael Wainwright's gorgeous tableware, which she collects. A piece like his new gold-bordered, embossed Santorini triple dip bowls and platter ($175) is made to use but artful enough to treat like table sculpture.
Wine and olive oil have never had stoppers like Cake's! Their new embellished floral corks ($32 each) come with three-dimensional rosettes, an heirloom rose and Napoleon's imperial French bee on top.
In days gone by, silversmiths made silver table ornaments in the shape of fruits. Michael Aram continues that tradition in nickel plate. His glam apple-shaped server for honey comes with an enamel interior and an arrow-shaped spoon ($69).
