Mechanical Hub recently spoke with Danielle DeBoe Harper, senior creative style manager, Moen, regarding the latest trends in kitchen & bath. As Harper explains, as two of the highest traffic areas of the home, maintaining and upkeeping a refreshed, clean, stylish kitchen and bathroom are top priorities for consumers. It goes a step further taking into consideration the desire for more personal expression and customization right now. The following is an exclusive Q&A with Moen’s Harper.
MH: I just saw a report by the NKBA that remodeling will sustain the K&B industry for 2023. Does Moen agree with this assessment? What other factors are influencing the market for 2023 K&B?
HARPER: People continue to look for unique ways to meet their own needs inside the home from design to plumbing. The expansion of Moen products over the last year and throughout 2023 emphasizes the growing demand for more options in the kitchen and bathroom. Consumers are looking for spaces and products that meet their design preferences but also offer enhanced functionality. An example of this is the Smart Faucet with Motion Control that allows consumers to elevate how they move about their kitchen with smart technology, while increasing style.
MH: Are any colors or finishes dominating the K&B landscape this year?
HARPER: Moen is seeing Matte Black finishes on fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen become increasingly more popular. With a bold, dramatic finish like Matte Black, fixtures can take a room to new depths, heightening both classic and contemporary designs. Additionally, the finish is a simple way to elevate more minimalist collections to the very on-trend industrial chic style, making it a very versatile design.
Along with Matte Black, the trend of personalizing fixtures is hitting new heights. By mixing metals and providing more options to customize your sink, adding a brushed gold escutcheon to a matte black bathroom faucet easily adds extra flair and personality to the room’s design.
In terms of color, we’re going to continue seeing both the layering of neutral and natural tones as well as the inclusion of bold pops of color like cobalt and citrus tones.
MH: Piggybacking off of that, what is trending as far as consumers looking at fixture styles? (Contemporary, modern, traditional, farmhouse, retro, etc.)
HARPER: Moen is finding a greater desire for fixture styles that can fit any room aesthetic. To encompass this idea, homeowners are looking toward fixtures that lean more transitional to meld together both traditional and modern pieces for a clean, comfortable, contemporary look.
As we go further into 2023, the kitchen and bathroom spaces are focusing on combining styles to create one unique design that helps homeowners encapsulate their own personal tastes and lifestyles. An example of this is the new TenonTM collection. This collection brings a touch of warmth to the contemporary kitchen, while offering the modern functionality consumers need and enjoy. The tall stature and the teak wood handle make these faucets an eye-catching addition to the sink, while offering the consumer a sense of customization.
MH: Can you address Moen’s sustainability initiatives?
HARPER: Moen takes pride in innovating and designing products with sustainability top of mind. This is why we have created Mission Moen. Mission Moen is our promise to protect and preserve the world’s most precious resource — water. Our goal with Mission Moen is to save one trillion gallons of water and repurposing 2,000 tons of ocean plastic by 2030, all while helping consumers enjoy water even more.
At Moen, we are driven to deliver outstanding water experiences inside and outside the home to celebrate water’s power and beauty, but also to protect the water of tomorrow. By creating products that save water effortlessly while improving how you experience it, we’re making your interactions with water even more meaningful without ever having to compromise style.
MH: Let’s talk functionality. I know Moen has some very unique offerings such as eBidets, eToilets and Workstation sinks. Can you talk about those and any other products/services coming soon?
HARPER: Moen is focused on creating the ultimate experience for consumers. This goes beyond faucets. We know how important each touch point with the water that flows through your pipes is and how that impacts daily routines. We’ve dedicated our focus streamlining tasks at the sink with Workstation Sinks, bringing comfort and cleanliness to a new level with eBidets and eToilets. With features such as water pressure, temperature control and endless instantaneous warm water, eBidets and eToilets deliver the ability for each user to customize their own experience in the bathroom.
In 2023, we’re excited to share our newest expansion to our Smart Water Network with enhanced interoperability in our products. This provides more integrated and advanced experiences when you have more than one Moen Smart Water product, such as the Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff, Smart Faucet and Smart Shower. As a result, Moen is giving consumers more power over their water than ever before. The Smart Water Network is also an integral part of Mission Moen by proactively protecting the home from leaks and reducing water waste with built-in water conservation every time you turn on the faucet or shower. We’ll also be launching a new Smart Sprinkler Controller that helps automate lawn irrigation and provides even more control over your home’s water.
Along with the expansion of the Smart Water Network, Moen is excited to launch new styles and innovations, such as new laundry faucets- and water filtration faucets to improve how our customers enjoy their home, while achieving even more customized experiences.
MH: Finally, let’s talk vision of space. The kitchen has always been the heart of the home and the bathroom (master) has long been considered a place of respite and relaxation. When designing these spaces, is it still a matter of personal preference, wellness, functionality, etc.? Explain.
HARPER: As two of the most used spaces in the home, the kitchen is the hub of entertaining during family gatherings, while the bathroom is used as the ultimate escape to reset at the end of a busy day. When designing for these spaces, it’s important to carefully customize each room to meet your individual preferences and needs. This ties into the overarching trend of home holistic wellness which we see continuing through 2023 and is heavily influenced by the home embodying the lifestyles and habits of the consumer in each room. Designing a kitchen and bathroom with functionality, wellness and versatility top of mind allows homeowners to choose what their environment says about them to anyone who walks through their front door.
