INDUSTRY INDUSTRY VIEWS VIEWS
Keep Calm and Carry On Yes, we’ve seen a clear increase in homeowners and designers gravitating toward
calming kitchen environments. Today’s kitchens serve multiple purposes, from entertaining to working and relaxing. As a result, there’s growing interest in surfaces and materials that create a sense of quiet, order and visual comfort. At CRL Stone, many of our most requested styles are those that offer soft, natural tones and subtle movement. These surface choices help to create a sense of calm that extends throughout the home.
The key lies in choosing materials that feel balanced, are easy to live with and work well in both form and function. Surfaces play a huge role in this. When a worktop looks beautiful and is also resilient and easy to maintain, it takes stress out of the equation. Natural textures, simple design lines and coordinated colour palettes all help to achieve a relaxed mood in the kitchen.
Comment by Simon Boocock, MD, CRL Stone
The evolving role of colour and finishes in refrigeration design
As kitchens evolve, we’re seeing refrigeration play a much bigger role in setting the overall tone of the space. There’s a definite shift towards darker, more refined finishes, such as deep greys, charcoals and textured blacks, often complemented by softer, warmer steel tones. These work particularly well alongside natural materials like wood, stone or ceramic, creating schemes that feel calm, contemporary and enduring.
The key evolution in the industry has been in surface technology. Textured steels can significantly reduce the visibility of fingerprints while offering improved scratch resistance and long-term durability, so darker finishes are no longer perceived as a compromise on practicality. Designers are
increasingly confident in using refrigeration as a focal point, often choosing one leading finish to anchor the wider palette. At Liebherr, steel forms the foundation of our four distinct finishes: DarkGrey, BlackSteel,
SmartSteel and our
new, warmer steel finish TerraSteel, allowing appliances to complement, rather than compete with cabinetry - giving retailers and homeowners on-trend options that balance aesthetics with everyday ease of use.
Comment by Dan Boulton,
Sales & Procurement Director, Clearwater Products
Small tap tweaks can equal big selling points
Comment by Tim Hutchinson, Divisional Manager, Liebherr UK
With all the cooking, cleaning, and food prep that goes on in the kitchen, it’s no surprise that sustainability in this high-traffic space is becoming a hot topic. Yet one key source of waste often slips under the radar — the humble tap. Traditional taps can waste gallons of water even during simple tasks like rinsing dishes. Fortunately, a small tweak in tap design could be the game-changer that retailers, and your customers, are looking for. Such smart taps give users a choice between two types of water flow: a gentle aerated stream and a concentrated jet spray. The aerated flow mixes air with water, resulting in a softer, fuller stream. This setting is ideal for everyday tasks like filling pots, washing hands, or gently rinsing delicate produce without a splash.
4 BKU DECEMBER 2025
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