The Inspired Home Show Notes
The Inspired Home Show 2023 got off to a good start with moderate foot traffic (more expected on the second and third days).
One of my first stops was to the Hestan booth. I’m telling you, the cookware is so beautiful, I’d hate to mess it up with my cooking. But they have me covered, since the pans are also easy to clean. They had a new store display, which really shows off the advantages of the quality cookware the company produces. It would look good in my kitchen, if I had the space!
One of the highlights of my day was stopping by the Portugal Ceramics booth. As you probably know, Portugal has a long history of producing top-quality ceramics and we can expect to see them promoted more in the United States, which is the No. 1 destination for Portugal ceramics exports. Last year saw a record number of exports for the ceramics industry there. Some of that is due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, so when the supply chain broke, many European countries that depended on Ukraine for ceramics turned to Portugal for materials. (Learn more about Portugal Ceramics in the May issue of Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.)
I love seeing all the innovative products that come on the market at The Inspired Home Show. I met Armand Ferranti, who invented a great device called Draft Top, which slices the tops off of aluminum cans swiftly and so cleanly that you can drink from them like a glass. He says bartenders love them and the company had a prototype of a professional grade appliance that is essentially a big (and sleek) electric can opener geared to the bar industry (but could go in homes, too). He’s also coming out with a white version of the black Draft Top.
Funny story: Armand was wearing a company shirt with the Draft Top logo and its tagline: Drink Topless. There was a lot of discussion at the time about the tagline, but it was approved. Armand didn’t think anything of it until he saw his mom wearing the shirt and tagline. We talked about maybe getting Mom a shirt without the tagline!
Many of us have seen Fusion candle products produced in private labels, such as Walmart’s Scent Sationals, but the company decided to launch its own line under the Fusion: Fragrance. Light. Decor line. They’ve got everything from flame-less candles (one has a remote control where you can go from a cool light to a warm light), plug-in scents, fragrant oils, flameless lanterns and so much more. Yeah, I want one of everything!
I had seen a fraction of Bradshaw Home’s goodcook cookware and bakeware at the show preview in New York, but of course the Chicago show has the full line. Most impressive are the AirPerfect nonstick baking sheets and pizza pan. The bakeware is constructed with a double-wall bottom and vented air space between the walls, so the cookies don’t burn and your pizza crust is crispy perfect. The goodcook line has hadded barware to its catalog, too.
Two words I never thought I’d link together: Cool mop. Bradshaw’s casabella cleaning products line has a Clean Water Spin Mop. The great thing about it is it has two buckets, one that the microfiber mop draws clean water from, then after mopping, spins in a detachable second bucket that captures the dirty water. The clean water bucket even has a measuring cup at the bottom, to put any kind of cleaner in, as well as measurement lines going up the side so you can keep your ratios correct. This mop was a finalist in the gia Awards.
Another product that caught my eye (since I have a long-haired cat who sheds a LOT) is the casabella Power Core Pet Broom. It’s got stiffer bristles in the center to hold on to pet hair that the softer outside bristles catch. Then the dustpan has a comb, so you can get the hair out. The bristles are also cut on a slant, so it’s easier to get the hair balls swept up.
A good friend of mine who is a cookbook author asked me to tell her what new cool kitchen appliances I see. I told her about the multi-function Pressure Cooker I saw at IRIS Appliances. It’s like slow cooking for dummies (like me). It’s a 3-quart cooker, so it doesn’t take up much counter space (and it’s got a great design). It can steam rice slow cook, pressure cook and the beauty is it has a display where you can search for hundreds of recipes that produce a QR Code so you can call up ingredients and instructions to your phone, tell the cooker what you want to do, add the ingredients and let it do all the work.
I was treated to an impressive demonstration at the ZeroWater booth of its five-filter water cleaners. To demonstrate how much its filter catches that two-filter systems don’t, Katrin Ferge poured diluted red wine into a popular brand of two-filter pitchers and the ZeroWater brand. The other brand produced more diluted red wine, while the ZeroWater brand produced clean water. The company also has a similar water cooler system, but instead of hoisting heavy water bottles onto it, you pour tap water in and it gets clean. You’ll know when to change the filter because it comes with a built-in sensor that tells you when the particulates get high.
Check back here for more vignettes from The Inspired Home Show!
