Hasta La Ideas

Expanding on the success of their DrawerStore Cutlery tray, British kitchenware designers Joseph Joseph are venturing into new corners of the kitchen with a new line of drawer organizers previewed at the International Home + Housewares Show to help contain and arrange the miscellany. The expandable organizers fit drawers sizes from 13.5″ up to 21″.

The DrawerStore Organizer includes stackable modular trays and a variety of differently sized compartments to keep your bits and bobs in order. The DrawerStore Stowaway organizes your kitchen essentials with compartments for grocery bags, rolls of aluminum foil and cling wrap.

Along with the drawer organizers, Joseph Joseph continues expanding their thoughtful, design-driven kitchen line with a number of safety innovations. The Mezzaluna, a traditional chopping utensil for preparing herbs, gets a modern update with pivoting handles that fold into a blade guard for safe storage.

The Duo magnetic cheese knife set’s handles clip together securely—protecting both the blades and fingers when stored in the drawer.

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You couldn’t make it up: as recently as a few years ago, Mattias Lepp was an orchestra conductor. After realizing that he “would never be a great conductor,” humble Estonian took to developing a home gardening system, and the rest, as they say, is history. Click and Grow has established itself in Europe and has been looking to expand into the US market as of last year. According to their blog,

It all started in 2005, when Mattias happened to read a NASA report about technologies that make it possible to grow plants in outer space. At first, the information about the technology wasn’t nothing more than just good knowledge…

However, things took a twist in 2009, when Mattias went through another research paper which stated that every year about 20 billion euros worth of houseplants are thrown away around the world due to mismanagement issues. Baffled that so many people around the world are having trouble caring for their plants, Mattias identified an uncovered market demand. By connecting the two things, the widespread plant managing problems and the knowledge about the technology, the idea of Click & Grow was formed.

In the first round of research and development it became evident that the growing method called aeroponics… wasn’t the proper solution. To solve peoples’ problems of managing plants, a more complex method was needed, a foolproof method that is.

The attention was turned to a field of study called biomimicry. Biomimicry is the examination of nature, its models and processes, elements to emulate or take inspiration from in order to solve human problems. The basic idea in R&D was to map the key aspects and processes of plant growth and create a medium that perfectly imitates them. By developing a special substrate which holds the nutrients and seeds, and using sensors, a processor and software to measure and care for the plants exact needs, an ideal environment for growing plants was created in the form of the Click & Grow smartpot.

The proprietary nanotechnology and software is enclosed within the proverbial black box of the cartridge system.

Check out the teaser video:

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We’re counting down to this year’s International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, taking place at McCormick Place March 2-5th. Stay tuned as we bring you the newest designs in cleaning, cooking, dining, appliances and personal healthcare with in-depth coverage and video interviews about our favorite products. With over 2,100 exhibitors from around the world including 400 new companies exhibiting at the Home + Housewares Show for the first time, we are looking forward to chatting with independent designers, industry leaders, chefs and the winners of this year’s Student Design Competition about the coming year in homeware design.

If you’ll be in attendance at the show this year, be sure to download the app to help you plan your time and navigate the show. And don’t forget to say hello when you see us on the floor!

For a taste of what to look forward to from this year, check out our full coverage of the International Home + Housewares Show from 2012 (with news from Dyson, Alessio Alessi, Prepara, Lodge, Marna and a full photogallery) and 2011 (our coverage of AMAC, Cat Cora, Joseph Joseph, Kikkerland, Replenish, Bodum and more!)

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Coverage sponsored by the IHA

Marna Collapsible Travel Cup, GOOD Design Winner

At this year’s Home and Housewares show, we were impressed with the number of brands that had over a 100 years of manufacturing experience—Eva Solo, Lodge and SodaStream to name a few. Design leads the way for each of these companies as they continue to innovate into the next century. Two Japanese brands that caught our attention showcased a rich design heritage that looks towards the future: Marna (established in 1872) and OIGEN (since 1852). These two brands are household staples in Japan but look to expand into a globalized market in the 21st century.

Marna products are ubiquitous in Japan. Founded in 1872 with the manufacturing and distribution of the first Western-style brushes in Japan, in 1950 the company began expanding into products beyond household and industrial brushes. Today, this fourth-generation family-run company produces delightfully designed, award-winning products for kitchen, bath and home. We loved their display of silicone pig steamers and hanging collapsible cups.

Their product range featured a number of GOOD Design award winners for the kitchen: a Spoon Whisk, Standing Rice Scoop, Stacking Soy Sauce Pots, Combined Tongs, and Masher. Their fish-shaped dish sponges bring a bit of joy in mundane household tasks.

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Coverage sponsored by the IHA

We saw a couple Wabnitz Editions at the NYIGF; here, owner Wilma Wabnitz fills us in with a bit of backstory. Scott Henderson of Mint Design proceeds to walk us through some of their products, including his colleague Alberto Mantilla’s iconic “Hug” salt & pepper shakers and a previously-seen one-handed tea set.

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