Inspirations Magazine Volume 5

90th Anniversary Issue Passion for Perfection A detailed look at 90 years of BLANCO’s success.

Kitchen Design Trends The latest trends in kitchen design and technology.

#DIFFA1.2 Celebrating 1.2 million birthdays for a great cause!

Inspirations Ideas for your kitchen-by

WELCOME

A Passion for Perfection For 90 years BLANCO has quietly and passionately elevated the standards for luxury sinks, faucets and decorative accessories. BLANCO attributes its success and longevity to our passion for excellence and our commitment to people. This is evident in the quality of our products and the people who make up the BLANCO family. We dedicate this anniversary issue to all those who have helped make BLANCO a leader in kitchen industry throughout the last 90 years. Join us as we celebrate this important milestone! We hope you enjoy and visit our blog for more inspiration at BlancoByDesign.com.

Christy Emens, Marketing BLANCO

DESIGNER SUSAN SERRA MAKES OVER A “STEAMY KITCHEN” Designer and BLANCO Design Council member, Susan Serra recently teamed up with television chef, cookbook author, and author of the blog Steamy Kitchen, Jaden Hair to renovate and design Jaden’s new and improved kitchen space in her Florida home. The goal for this design was to provide Jaden and her family with a wide open area for family activities while still maintaining enough space for prepping and cooking.

With the help of a BLANCO PRECIS™ Cascade sink, BLANCOCULINA™ faucet, the BLANCO SOLON™ Compost System and an eye-catching wall mural, Susan was able to design a kitchen suitable for both a hardworking chef and a busy family of four.

Q: What was your biggest design challenge during this remodel?

Susan: The challenge for every kitchen is to find the perfect balance between function and aesthetics. My philosophy is that aesthetics and function should be equal partners starting out in the design process.

Sometimes one or the other will emerge as the leader, sometimes not. In this case, due to a large walk-in pantry outside of the kitchen, storage was not the critical functional element to lead the design as it often does in most American kitchens. We found the sweet spot! As a result, the hard surfaces (cabinetry) are not visually overwhelming in the space, especially as it is an open plan concept, open to a dining space and family room.

Q: How did BLANCO help you to create the perfect kitchen environment for someone who is a mom, wife, and chef?

Susan: The first thing that comes to my mind as I answer this question is STYLE. After all, it’s usually the first thing one notices when experiencing a kitchen. The BLANCO kitchen faucet sends another message that this is a chef’s kitchen (which it is!) The style is contemporary yet soft.

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Passion for Perfection A look back at BLANCO through the years

1925

1951

1965

1981

1988

Company Founded

Finest Hour

Success in Stainless

Trendsetter

Expansion

On January 20, Heinrich Blanc sets up Blanc & Co. in Oberdergingen, Germany starting production of tinplated copper water troughs.

The company begins production of sinks and sinkpot covers in stainless steel.

Daily sink production rises to 2,200 and the company has now grown to 1,400 employees.

BLANCO becomes a trendsetter in kitchen technology as the first manufacturer to offer softened design and color sinks.

BLANCO opens its doors in the U.S. with an office located in New Jersey.

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1993

2001

2002

2007

2015

New Management

Innovative Milestones

Enter, SILGRANIT速

STEELART

Happy Anniversary

Frank Straub, grandson of the company founder becomes the managing shareholder taking over the board of directors.

Axial sink concept presented. Frank Straub founds an international alliance of managers and companies that deal mainly with issues of business ethics.

BLANCO launches the highly successful SILGRANIT速 collection in the U.S.

BLANCO introduces the handcrafted STEELART collection in the U.S.

BLANCO proudly celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2015 thanks to its employees and loyal customers!

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Specify with Care ®

MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH DIFFA Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS BLANCO has joined DIFFA's Specify With Care® program, and will support the foundation with a donation when the BLANCO PRECIS™ Medium Single with drainer is specified.

Support from Specify With Care® Affiliates, like BLANCO, ensures that DIFFA has the resources to help HIV/ AIDS organizations year-round and is able to respond quickly to the needs of the organizations it supports.

Specify With Care® Affiliates distinguish themselves as socially conscious companies that support a cause that has had a significant impact on the design community.

For information on PRECIS™ www.blancoamerica.com and DIFFA at http://diffa.org/.

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A Birthday & Fundraising Celebration BLANCO recently joined luxury kitchen brand, Poggenpohl and Swiss bathroom manufacturer, LAUFEN to help celebrate #DIFFA1.2, a fundraising event to kick off ICFF 2015 in New York City.

#DIFFA1.2 The #DIFFA1.2 fundraiser was held at the De Gustibus Cooking School located in Macy’s Herald Square. Products from BLANCO, LAUFEN and Poggenpohl are featured in the recently renovated cooking school, which just celebrated its 35th anniversary in March.

#DIFFA1.2 was a commemoration of the 1.2 million birthdays that will be celebrated this year by people living with HIV/AIDS thanks to the efforts of DIFFA, the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS. For more on DIFFA- www.diffa.org

The event was attended by many people in the design community including bloggers and interior designers who were in town for ICFF. The event featured music, dancing, wine and delicious appetizers prepared by a professional Chef. DIFFA makes grants to organizations providing education and treatment for those living with HIV/AIDS, ensuring they have many more birthdays to come. We are proud to support their work!

To learn more about the #DIFFA1.2 event and for event photos visit: http://bit.ly/DIFFA1-2 6

THE LATEST TRENDS IN KITCHEN DESIGN BLANCO’s Director of Marketing, Tim Maicher, certainly has a keen eye for what is up and coming in the design world. We asked Tim what he thought readers needed to know about up and coming trends and below he answers our questions with six new and exciting design trends and technology that are becoming increasingly popular.

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The biggest trends are personalization and

livable design. Everyone wants something unique for his or her kitchen… to make their own design statement. Personalization in the sink and faucet category has created a strong demand for integrated accessories such as cutting boards, workstations, caddies and grids. Grids are used for protection, but also are decorative and functional for drying and baking outside the sink.

Workstations and caddies hold knives, utensils and cleaning tools inside the sink to save counter-space and provide greater convenience.

Consumers and designers can personalize the sink area to match their needs for space, functionality and ergonomics.

match sinks and counter surfaces. Our top selling colors are brown, grey/black and beige. Our fastest growing colors include a warm grey, grey/ black and metallic grey. Grey is one of the fastest growing neutrals in both warm and cool tones.

For faucets, polished chrome, stainless or satin nickel are the biggest sellers as they are both contemporary and durable. These finishes go with most appliances and other fixtures and are easy to maintain.

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Open kitchen designs have called for chef-

inspired faucet designs that are lower in height and more transitional in design. Our new CULINA MINI faucet fits this new category of downsized pro-style faucets that are also more streamlined and less industrial in appearance.

More matching faucet fixtures – such as matching bar faucets and accessories are also in demand.

Many kitchens are featuring multiple stations or prep areas and sinks. A two-sink kitchen may have a prep faucet and a super single. Both require matching fixtures and accessories.

BLANCO defines livable design as transitional in feel – but with organic lines that are naturally inspired and offer durability and easy-to-clean performance. It’s not enough to walk the line between traditional and modern… today’s styles must also be performance driven – they need to save water, last longer, be easy-touse and easy-to-clean. They also need to offer organic lines – gently sloping and easy to match with today’s surfaces, cabinetry and flooring. Even modern cabinetry is reliant on nature’s palettes so the fixtures must match.

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Granite sinks are on trend as they fit

the model of livable design as its organic, durable, functional and contemporary.

BLANCO is the leader in this category both in terms of innovation and in patents. BLANCO’s SILGRANIT® sinks come in 8 colors that match well with today’s surfaces. In fact we offer an App in iTunes or GooglePlay that helps designers to 7

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As for technology in design,

there are no real “new” technologies in play. Most are existing technologies that are being expanded and refined for home use such as “instant” hot and touchless features. Real technological breakthroughs include simple solutions such as the CULINA™ magnetic hook up or improved pump actions on soap dispensers that are

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Super Singles and undermount

sinks are still trending upwards in popularity. Big sinks do not always need to be deep. About 9-9.5” are desirable and keep sink usable for aging in place. Low divide sinks cleverly offer separation – but room for large pots and pans. These help with ergonomics and are a growing category for BLANCO.

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1/

Industrial Chic

Dyna - Mercer Island III - Contemporary - Kitchen - seattle - b...

http://www.houzz.com/photos/1947004/Dyna-Mercer-Island-III...

This unique, industrial inspired kitchen

by Design Harmony features a BLANCO CULINA™ Faucet.

Dyna Contracting

All Rooms / Kitchen Photos

General Contractors

www.designharmonyinfo.com

2/ Contemporary Style This contemporary kitchen by Dyna Contracting features a stunning display of wood cabinetry as well as the BLANCO MERIDIAN™ Semi Professional. www.dynacontracting.com

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Transitional Farmhouse

Dyna - Mercer Island III Aaron Leitz Photography URL

A beautifully lit and well designed space featuring a BLANCO MERIDIAN™ Semi Professional by Aidan Design. aidandesign.com/

http://www.dynacontracting.com

4/ Bayou Glam 1 of 1

This glamorous Bayou kitchen by In AM Detail Interiors6/10/15, is all10:41 about the details, and the BLANCO PERFORMA™ double basin stainless sink. www.indetailinteriors.com

DESIGNS WE LOVE ON HOUZZ Featuring BLANCO

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Save Water Tips Contest In honor of Earth Day 2015, BLANCO ran a week long social media contest to help promote the importance of waterconservation efforts.

The #SaveWaterTips social media contest began on April 15th leading up to Earth Day on April 22nd. To enter, participants were asked to comment or tweet their best watersaving tip using the hashtag #SaveWaterTips for their chance to win a BLANCO Water-Saving Faucet.

BLANCO proudly donated $1 per entry to Water for People, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing clean water for families all over the world.

The #SaveWaterTips contest was a success and gained great social media buzz!

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Meet our Design Council Design Journals

Paul Anater

Gloria GrahamSollecito, AKBD

Vicki Payne

Leslie Clagett

Cheryl Kees Clendenon

Grace & Ken Kelly

Marilyn G Russell, Allied ASID

Cindy Dole

Joseph Freenor Andie Day

Nick Lovelady

Susan Serra, CKD CAPS

Visit our Jamie Gold, CKD, CAPS

Kelly Morisseau

Veronika Miller

blog to learn more!

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Real artisan craftsmanship, real material science — designed for real life.

Inspired by artists, proven by scientists and fueled by decades of German engineering, SILGRANIT® II is in a class by itself. With eight universal colors, our durable stone innovation resists scratches, stains and fading... like no other.

And being the standard in granite sinks, also sets the standard in confidence. Gain peace-of-mind and choose the brand that transcends hype. When your reputation is on the line, no detail is too small. SILGRANIT® II — for the way your clients live.

www.blancoamerica.com