KBIS 2026: The Materials & Ideas I’m Bringing Home

I’m back from Orlando, and my camera roll is a disaster—in the best possible way.

Every February, the kitchen and bath world descends on the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show—better known as KBIS—and for three days, the Orange County Convention Center transforms into the single best place on earth to see what’s coming next for the rooms where real life happens. We’re talking 650+ exhibitors, nearly 500,000 square feet of show floor, and more jaw-dropping surfaces, gadgets, and color stories than any one person should be allowed to see without a snack break.

KBIS is the largest kitchen and bath trade show in North America, and it’s where designers, architects, builders, and manufacturers come together to debut what’s new, what’s next, and what’s quietly going to change the way we think about our homes. It’s also, not coincidentally, one of my favorite weeks of the year.

I go for one reason: so you don’t have to. My job is to wade through the noise, touch every surface, ask the nerdy questions, and come home with the ideas that actually matter for your home. And this year? I came home buzzing.

In this post, I’m sharing the innovations, materials, and design ideas that stopped me in my tracks at KBIS 2026—and, more importantly, why they matter for the way your family lives right now.

Tech That Actually Makes Your Life Easier

Let’s start with the thing that made me do an actual double-take: wireless charging built into your countertop.

I’m not talking about a clunky pad sitting next to your soap dish. I’m talking about MagSafe-style chargers installed under the surface of your bathroom or kitchen counter. You set your phone down while you’re getting ready in the morning or prepping dinner, and it just… charges. No cords. No clutter. No hunting for that one outlet behind the toaster.

It’s the kind of innovation that sounds small until you imagine your daily routine without the cord tangle—and then it feels like a revelation. For busy families especially, anything that removes one more thing to manage is a win. And the fact that it’s completely invisible? That’s the kind of design detail I live for.

Other tech that earned a spot in my notes:

Cabinet shelves that come to you

Motorized shelving that lowers with a single touch—so the top shelf of your kitchen cabinets is actually usable. If you’ve ever climbed onto your countertop to reach a serving platter (no judgment, I’ve been there), this one’s for you. It’s also a game-changer for multigenerational homes where accessibility matters—and great design means no one has to ask for help reaching the pasta bowl.

Water filtration that disappears

Under-sink water filtration systems have gotten a serious upgrade. The new models are sleek, compact, and designed to tuck away so completely that you forget they’re there—until you turn on the tap and remember that your water tastes like it came from a mountain spring instead of a municipal pipe. Clean water, zero countertop clutter. That’s the deal.

The faucet that does it all

Garbage disposal buttons integrated right into the faucet—because sometimes the little things are the big things. No more reaching under the sink or flipping a switch on the wall behind the dish rack. One button, right where you need it. It’s the kind of thoughtful detail that makes a kitchen feel like it was designed for the person standing in it, not the person who built it.

The through-line with all of this tech? It dissolves into your routine instead of demanding your attention. No apps to learn, no voice commands to remember—just smart design that works the way you already live. I’m very here for it.

Color Is Having a Moment (and It’s About Time)

Okay, let’s talk about the elephant in the room—or rather, the purple kitchen cabinet in the room.

Yes, you read that right. The biggest color surprise at KBIS this year? Kitchen cabinetry and bathroom vanities in gorgeous shades of plum, lavender, mauve, and soft pink. As a designer who has been quietly hoarding purple paint swatches for years and rarely gets the green light to use them, I may have done a little happy dance in. But it wasn’t just purple having its moment. The show floor was alive with color—and not in a trendy-for-five-minutes way. This felt like a real shift in what manufacturers are willing to offer and, more importantly, what homeowners are asking for.

The palettes that stood out:

• Mint greens that feel like a deep breath—soft, grounding, and unexpectedly versatile in both kitchens and bathrooms

• Delicate aqua blues that bring the calm of the coast indoors without committing to a full coastal theme

• Bold jewel tones—sapphire, emerald, rich ruby—for the brave and the beautiful, especially in powder rooms and statement vanities

What’s driving this? The NKBA’s 2026 Kitchen Trends Report confirms what I saw on the floor: personalization is the dominant force in kitchen design right now. Homeowners aren’t looking for the “safe” choice—they’re looking for their choice. A kitchen that feels like a fingerprint, not a formula.

The era of the all-white kitchen isn’t over—but it’s finally getting some company. And if you’ve been secretly dreaming of a kitchen with a little more personality? Your moment has arrived. I’ll bring the swatches.

Lighting That Does More Than Light a Room

If color was the showstopper, lighting was the quiet scene-stealer.

And honestly? This section might be the most important one in this whole post. Because lighting is the thing most homeowners underestimate—and the thing that makes the biggest difference in how a room actually feels.

Here’s what caught my eye:

Integrated cabinetry and shelf lighting

Lights built directly into the structure of cabinets and open shelving, so your favorite ceramics, cookbooks, and collected objects get their own soft spotlight. This isn’t the harsh under-cabinet strip light of the early 2000s—it’s warm, layered, and designed to make the things you love look like they belong in a gallery. (Because in your home, they do.)

Wireless wall sconces with adjustable color temperature

One touch takes you from bright-and-focused in the morning to warm-and-golden by dinner. No electrician needed for installation, no complicated app to figure out—just light that adapts to your day the way your home should. I saw these in both kitchen and bathroom applications, and they’re going to be a staple in my recommendations going forward.

Vanity lighting that actually flatters

Bathroom lighting designed to make you look like you—not like you’re auditioning for a horror film at 6 AM. We’re talking tunable color rendering that mimics natural daylight, positioned to eliminate those under-eye shadows that bad lighting loves to create. It’s a small thing that changes the way you start every single day.

The message from Orlando was clear: lighting isn’t just functional anymore—it’s emotional. It sets the mood, defines the task, and changes how a room makes you feel. According to the NKBA, 95% of homeowners now rank natural light as their top design priority, and the industry is responding by making every source of light in your home smarter, warmer, and more intentional.

Which, if you know me, you know is basically my whole design philosophy in a bulb.

The One Thing I’m Already Recommending to Clients

If I had to pick a single takeaway from the entire show—the one thing I walked away thinking I need to bring this into every project—it’s the wireless countertop charging.

Not because it’s the flashiest innovation. Not because it’ll get the most “wow”s on Instagram. But because it solves a genuine, daily frustration for every family I work with. Phones are part of life—we use them for recipes, for music, for coordinating the chaos of a Tuesday evening. And right now, in most kitchens, charging them means a cord draped across the counter or a power strip crammed behind the coffee maker.

This eliminates that entirely. And it does it invisibly. That’s the kind of design I believe in: the kind that makes your life easier without making you think about it. I’m already speccing it into two active projects, and I have a feeling it’s going to become as standard as soft-close drawers.

The Big Picture: What KBIS 2026 Tells Us About Where Design Is Headed

Here’s the thing about trade shows: they’re full of dazzle. And dazzle is fun—but what I really care about is what translates into your life.

When I step back from the individual products and look at KBIS 2026 as a whole, the through-line is unmistakable: design is getting more personal, more intuitive, and more attuned to how families actually live.

Not how a showroom thinks you should live. Not how a magazine says your kitchen should look. How you move through your morning, gather for dinner, wind down at night.

Counters that charge your phone while you chop. Cabinets in a color that makes you smile every time you walk into the room. Shelves that meet you where you are—literally. Lighting that shifts with your mood and your moment. These aren’t gimmicks. They’re design choices that quietly make your home work harder for you, so you can spend less time managing your space and more time enjoying the people in it.

The industry is catching up to something I’ve believed since I started this business nearly ten years ago: a home should support the life you want to live, not the other way around.

That’s emotional architecture. And it’s exactly what we do.