The shining star of the International Home + Housewares Show this year was truly the vast arrays of color stories on display throughout McCormick Place. The colorful offerings, from small electrics down to tools as simple as a slotted spoon, offer customers a chance to instantly inject a dash of their personality into the kitchen.

While bright and bold colors were still prominent, the color options didn’t stop there, foraying into pastel and autumnal shades as well. SMEG’s line of kitchen appliances incorporates pastel shades of blue, green, cream and pink along with bold black, red and chrome. With SMEG’s major appliances available in colors complementary to the toasters, blenders, kettles and stand mixers, the collection will entice customers to start a meal with guests in the kitchen. Perhaps they could even use the stand mixer with any of the four pasta attachments, sold separately, to make the meal into dinner and a show for guests.

Another interactive meal tool is the new Longi Rectangular Electric Party Grill from Trudeau. The Swiss-style raclette has eight individual non-stick pans and nylon grill scrapers on a rectangular grill that can be placed directly on the dinner table for guests to help themselves from either side of the table. The grill has two reversible die cast aluminum grill plates, and two levels. The flat side can be used to cook pancakes, bacon and eggs, while the ribbed side can be used for searing grill marks into meat, seafood and vegetables. Add the finishing touch by melting cheese or warming foods on the unit’s lower level. The Electric Party Grill retails for $139.99 and can serve as the perfect centerpiece for holiday entertaining or a weekend brunch.

Whether the meal is served on Fiesta Dinnerware’s two new colors for 2015 that take a turn towards autumn – slate and sage – or a more vibrant color palette, a la French Bull, after-dinner coffee can be served from Bialetti’s new colored Moka Express in orange, blue, purple and red.

“Bialetti’s original Moka Express is world-famous and truly loved by its dedicated users,” said Jason Vaske, Director of Marketing, Bradshaw International. “The Moka, best known for its iconic Italian design, brews real, Italian stovetop coffee and is a staple in almost every home in Italy. Our U.S. consumers have expressed interest in colors typically only available in Italy, so we are excited to offer the Moka in four bright colors that are sure to perk up any kitchen.”

The new colored Moka Express is available in a 6-cup size, with a suggested retail price of $39.99. Color-savvy customers might mix and match Bialetti’s four colors with an existing color they have in their kitchen. That’s a perfectly viable possibility, considering kitchen tools and gadgets are turning every shade of neon and pastel.

This year Get It Right Tools, or GIR, continues to expand on the instant classic created with the introduction of the brand’s basic spatula, to include more silicone kitchen tools like cooking spoons, scrapers for baking or cutting, and flexible lids. The tools stand out from similar products thanks to their pharmaceutical grade silicone, fiberglass core with no metal present, and lifetime guarantee. Depending on the item, color options can include up to 12 different colors from basic black or white to teal, lavender, lime and sky blue. New additions to the product line will be available in June and include Rectangular Lids in a 9-by-13-inch size, a set of 9-by-9-inch and 9-by-6-inch lids, Mini FLIP, Mini SPOON, Skinny SPOON, Pro SPOON, Ultimate SLOTTED SPOON and an updated version of the Scraper 001, Scraper 002 with a new shape.

Of course Tovolo is no stranger to color in the kitchen and the brand has added more colors to existing tools. The Wood Handled Silicone Spatula is now available in whopping 40 different colors with essentially a neon, pastel and autumnal shade available for every primary color.

Reo Products, from Lifetime Brands Inc., takes the mix and match color story to the next level with a collection of uniquely vibrant colors that fall somewhere in between neons and pastels with names like pomegranate, clementine, avocado, plum and agave. The tools, gadgets and cutlery are so eye-catching that home cooks will want to incorporate a kitchen tour into the next dinner party, But the color story doesn’t stop there; the brand also introduced fry pans with photo-printed exteriors featuring colorful patterns that complement the kitchen tools, minus a matchy-matchy feeling.

“Reo is about providing solutions for food preparation and making cooking fun by offering products that are sophisticated, yet friendly; they invite you to reach out and touch them,” said Jason Poure, VP of Design Experience & Strategy at Lifetime Brands, Inc., who led the design and engineering team for Reo.

Reo extends the color story into the retail space with merchandising options and packaging that pop with color. Product display units, free standing fixtures and end caps prominently put the colors on display giving customers all the more reason to reach out and grab a tool in their favorite color.

BLACK+DECKER was certainly going for nothing short of entertaining when the brand launched new slow cookers with pattern exteriors this year. The 4-quart slow cooker is now available in a white and black polka dot motif or a slightly more modern version in dark blue with gray lines and dots. The 7-quart slow cooker has two pattern options, one is a cream background with gray geometric shapes overlapping for a sort of honeycomb effect, while the other has a teal base topped with free-flowing gray lines. At suggested retail prices of $29.99 and $39.99 respectively, it will be hard for customers to resist the temptation of picking one up to update their kitchen with a new piece of countertop candy that speaks to their personality. A group event like make-your-own nacho night accompanied by a baseball game, makes the new patterned slow cookers all the more irresistible.

Also boasting a bold and inviting color story, is BODUM with the new limited edition Memphis Blues color collection. The six playful shades of yellow, magenta, orange, green, blue and purple will be available in June across a variety of the brand’s existing products from coffee and tea accessories to kitchen tools. Items like the BISTRO Mug Tree and BISTRO Kitchen Scale are given new life through the bright colors and would look great left out year round.

This story was originally published in the May 2015 issue of Kitchenware News, a publication of Oser Communications Group.