Design Chicago 2019

Design Chicago is an annual gathering of interior designers to learn, collaborate and in my case- eat amazing food. I’m so lucky that this happens at the Merchandise Mart, so close to home.

This year the NKBA, National Kitchen and Bath Association, asked me to by a #StyleSpotter. What an honor! In case you missed it in my instagram stories, I’m going to share with you my top picks from Design Chicago.

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Cabinetry:

It’s all about texture and natural elements! For example, take this detail on the back of an island at New Style Cabinetry.

The rest of the kitchen is very sleek and modern, but they’ve added this gorgeous 3D sculpted wood piece on the island. This was made right here in Chicago on New Style’s CNC machine. The art deco style and depth of the piece caught my eye immediately. I learned that it was inspired by the El Capitan theater’s ceiling in Hollywood, which sent me down a rabbit hole of inspiration and research myself!

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Appliance:

True Appliances Residential

These commercial appliances have come a long way! This year they introduced ‘ultra matte black’ which is pure velvet to the eye and touch. They also added ‘emerald green’ which has me ready to design a whole space around it.

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Plumbing:

The Brizo Litze Collection offers a ‘knurling’ detail option that I love! Overall texture is a really big theme for me this year in design and the knurling not only is nice to the touch, it catches light in beautiful ways.

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Lighting:

Showroom: A. Rudin. Maker: Siemon & Salazar

The LED Iris Sconce is more of a sculpture than a light fixture. The hand forged look of the glass and metal along with the artistic shadows it created on the wall made this piece more than a light fixture, but a piece of art.

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Tile:

Paris Ceramics

These 3D marble tiles had texture and depth that I have not seen in a tile before. The rectangular tiles had what they call, “a picque texture” on the surface which I thought was beautiful. Natural stone is gorgeous on its own and adding these textural elements really added something unique.

I learned so much in the 2 days I attended. I’m inspired and ready to share the new tricks up my sleeve. The Chicago design community is truly the best!

If you want to see the other NKBA Style Spotter picks, her is their blog post:

https://nkba.org/info/2019/10/nkba-stylespotters-top-picks-at-design-chicago