WHAT’S IN FOR THE HOME : Trends: The hottest, newest products unveiled at builders’ trade show will soon be available to homeowners nationwide.
The 65,000 builders who wrapped up their national convention here last week heard President Bush call for better ways to build affordable housing, economists predict a slight drop in interest rates and industry experts discuss everything from architecture to sewer fees.
But the biggest attraction at the 46th annual meeting of the National Assn. of Home Builders was the accompanying trade show. The products hawked by myriad vendors will soon be showing up in new housing tracts, as well as in stores across the nation.
The mammoth show this year took up a record 425,000 square feet of space, or the equivalent of 17 football fields. Exhibitors offered everything imaginable for the home, from simple faucets to a computerized “butler in a box” that understands four languages and operates up to 256 appliances and other devices.
It took a good two days to thoroughly tour the trade show, and sometimes the hosting Georgia World Congress Center seemed more like a Las Vegas nightclub. Many large companies, hoping to boost sales to America’s $175-billion new-home industry, operated massive exhibits with singers, dancers, magicians and other entertainers to attract attention.
Kohler Co., for example, had a sprawling two-story exhibit that included a large stage and 10-foot-high waterfall. On stage, a tuxedoed young man and attractive woman sang about the company’s new faucets and other items while four mini-skirted young women moved to the beat.
A trade group that represents electric utility companies had another huge exhibit, a take-off on the long-running “American Bandstand” television show. Called “Edison Ampstand,” it featured Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton and Madonna impersonators.
The annual show offers builders and consumers alike a chance to see what’s new for the home. Some of the products are brand-new, while others are simply improved versions of items that have been around for years.
Living Room
Homeowners have never had trouble giving their floors a new look. Ceilings, however, have been another matter--until now.
Cleveland-based Barrisol North America has just introduced its “stretch ceiling system.” The system consists of custom-cut, flexible plastic held in place by a small rail that is mounted to the top of the room’s wall.
For example, if you don’t like your stucco ceiling, you can cover it up with mirror-like plastic that makes the ceiling look taller and the room appear larger. Or, if you’re sick of those exposed beams, you can install a new ceiling in colors ranging from white to fuchsia.
The cost to cover a typical 12-by-20 room runs between $1,200 and $3,600, depending largely on the color and texture of the ceiling that’s installed.
Meanwhile, Bose Corp. has come up with what it calls the “ultimate home theater system.” It includes top-quality video and television equipment and a built-in music system with hidden speakers that surround the room, making you feel as if you were in a movie theater.
The cost of being a well-entertained couch potato varies: You can incorporate parts of your current audio/visual system into your new home theater, or you can start from scratch. At the minimum, expect to spend $2,000; a top-of-the line system with all-new equipment can run $9,000.
If you don’t want to mess with drapery drawstrings, a new drapery opener system by La Mirada-based Makita USA may interest you.
The system lets you open and close drapes by remote control from as far away as 33 feet. In addition, an automatic timer can open or close drapes at preset times up to three times a day. A system that can control drapes up to 9 feet wide costs about $430.
Kitchen
A new, space-saving contraption by Atlanta-based White Home Products could make pantries a thing of the past.
The company’s motorized “kitchen carousel” is about the size of a large refrigerator. Inside are 13 shelves that turn like seats on a Ferris wheel, which allows you to store--in a 39-inch-wide space--items that would usually take up several feet of space in your kitchen cabinets or pantry.
The carousel will cost about $6,500 when it hits the market this spring.
Granberg Superior Systems Inc. of Canada hasn’t simply devised a system that moves shelves: Its new kitchen system moves everything but the floor up and down.
Geared primarily toward households that have one or more handicapped residents, the system looks like most any kitchen: lots of cabinets, a sink, faucet, stove and other standard items.
The trick is that everything is mounted on hidden tracks on the wall, and can be moved up or down as much as a foot by pushing a button linked to a silent motor.
“Let’s say a husband is in a wheelchair but his wife isn’t,” said David Hunchak, a Granberg engineer. “The woman comes in to cook dinner, so she has the sink and cabinets at the standard height.
“When the husband in the wheelchair comes in to clean up, he presses the button and everything is lowered by a foot--enough for him to easily reach the faucet, wash dishes in the sink, and stack them in the cabinets.”
Granberg’s top-of-the-line system with bleached-oak cabinets and other upscale amenities costs about $14,000. A modest system with laminated cabinets can be purchased for around $9,000.
Bathroom
Tubs with Jacuzzi-type jets and odd shapes remain popular in the bathroom, but many other items for personal pleasure and convenience have also been introduced.
Broan Manufacturing, for example, is touting a modernized, wall-mounted hair dryer with faster drying capabilities. It comes in almond or white and costs about $160.
Steam-making machines that can turn a bathroom into a steam room are also in vogue. ThermaSol Steambath Co., which claims to have invented the personal steam bath machine in 1958, has unveiled its latest model: A bit larger than a toolbox, it sells for $750 and starts making steam about three minutes after it is turned on.
Eljer Corp., meantime, has unveiled a sunken wooden tub with whirlpool jets. Available in teak or henoki wood, a fiberglass shell installed underneath protects against leakage.
Called “Baroque,” the 60-inch-by-36-inch model sells for about $7,000 and the 72-inch-by-42-inch model sells for about $8,350.
Bedroom
Redwood City-based Unity Systems Inc. has come up with a high-tech “home manager” that can make your home safer, cut your energy bills, and more.
Like similar systems, the home manager automatically controls your home’s lights, security system and room-by-room temperature settings. The cornerstone of the system is a small video screen--usually placed in the master bedroom--that displays the house’s floor plan.
You can preset temperature levels for each room, decide which lights you want turned on, set the timer on your lawn sprinklers and do just about everything else. If an intruder breaks in, the computer sounds an alarm and automatically dials police.
A basic system costs about $6,500, while a premium system can be as much as $17,000.
If you’ve always wanted a butler but can’t afford it, you might be interested in Los Alamitos-based Mastervoice’s improved “Butler-in-a-Box.”
The computer is about the size of a cereal box and weighs 5 pounds. It can follow the orders of four people, even if they speak different languages.
Say to the computer “TV on,” and it turns on the television instantly. Give it the name of one of 64 people, and it will dial the phone. Say “Good night,” and it turns off everything that you want turned off.
Although the system can be placed in any room, a sales representative says the master bedroom is one of the most popular spots. It costs about $5,500, including installation.
Laundry Room
Minneapolis-based SICO Inc. has come up with a “ironing center” that works on the same principal as the old murphy beds. A rectangular hole is cut between the studs of the wall, and a metal box that contains a fold-out ironing board, iron and electrical outlet is dropped in.
“All you do is open the door, pull out the board, turn on the iron and get to work,” says Charley Williamson, a SICO representative.
To lessen the chance of a fire, the iron is hooked to a timer that automatically shuts off after 30 minutes have passed. The iron also automatically turns itself off when the board is swung back into the box and the door is shut.
The unit costs $703, plus the cost of hiring an electrician if you can’t do the work yourself.
Two simpler foldaway ironing boards are offered by Millex Inc. of Nicholasville, Ky. One is permanently mounted to the wall and covered by a cabinet, but it doesn’t have its own electrical supply or a fancy timer. This cabinet model of the “Ready Press Foldaway” retails for about $99.
Millex also makes a no-frills model of the Ready Press Foldaway that has no cabinet but can be installed without any tools. Costing about $49, a movable hook simply snaps the board onto any door in the house.
In the Yard
President Bush is expected to unveil a national tree-planting campaign this week, which could boost the popularity of Ephrata, Penn.-based Frysville Farms’ new Hybrid Poplars.
A product of 35 years of clonal research, the new trees can grow 40-feet high in a mere three to five years. They’re popular with homeowners and builders who don’t want to wait a decade or more to grow mature trees.
Frysville Farms sells a Hybrid Poplar yearling for about $5.
Wood fences can add a special touch to a home, but not when they begin to splinter, become termite-infested, or the paint begins to peel.
Gardena-based Designer Concrete Products Inc. thinks that it has solved such problems. Its “Woodcrete” fences are made of cement, but look just like wood. Since the color is mixed right in with the cement, they won’t ever flake--not to mention rot or splinter.
A two-rail Woodcrete fence costs between $12 and $14 a foot, including installation. The company also makes a product called “Brickcrete,” which looks just like used brick but is actually less-expensive precast concrete.
Hot tubs are fun, but not when they start to crack or blister. That’s why Bradford Spas has introduced a line of stainless-steel spas.
“They won’t chip, crack, blister, craze, delaminate or otherwise disintegrate,” said William Rosser, Bradford’s director of marketing.
The steel tubs cost between 20% and 30% more than common acrylic or fiberglass tubs, Rosser said, but they require less maintenance and have jets that are twice as strong.
Bradford makes the tubs in several sizes, including one that’s 14 feet long and seats 22 people. “That’s big enough, even for the folks out there in California,” he said.
