As the recession takes a toll on most businesses, the housewares industry is actually expecting to see some benefit as more consumers eat, entertain and generally spend more time at home in order to save money.  

“If you’re staying a home more, you’re entertaining more at home. It’s a real opportunity for our industry to reconnect,” said Tom Mirabile, vice president of global trend and design for Lifetime Brands and a speaker at the International Home and Housewares Show, held in Chicago this week.

“Consumers in the past have done it all outside [the home]. We are a very service-driven economy,” he said. “Whenever possible, it has been ‘do it for me.’”

That’s changing — especially in the kitchen. Read more on the trend to make our homes more like Grandma’s.

In a presentation earlier this week, Mirabile pointed out several home trends he’s expecting for 2010. Below are five trends he predicts for the kitchen and beyond:

1) The live-in kitchen. Consumers spend three to four hours in the kitchen every day, not only cooking there but using it as a place to entertain, work, craft and spend leisure time, Mirabile said. The kitchen is being reinvented as a second living room, he said, as appliances are camouflaged and functional objects are hidden or minimized, allowing people to create ambiance in the room.

2) Living within our means. The recession is changing long-held opinions on how we spend our money. Consumers are looking for quality and durability in products — a shift away from disposable consumption, he said. They’re canning food more and growing their own herbs, they’re brown bagging lunches and they’re shopping in bulk at warehouse clubs or stocking up during grocery store sales to save money. Read tips on how to buy and use a home freezer if you’re thinking of saving money on groceries.

3) The green kitchen. Americans continue to make their lives more environmentally friendly, but they’re increasingly confused and frustrated about what is really “green,” Mirabile said. While they want products to be eco-friendly, they’re not going to pay much of a premium for it either — they expect retailers and manufacturers to deliver green products at competitive prices.

4) The wellness kitchen. Buying local food and/or growing your own often means it will be fresher and free from pesticides and preservatives — in short, more nutritious, he said. Today’s consumers are also interested in purifying their water and air.

5) Cooking for fun. We’re a nation of foodies, Mirabile said, quoting a Nielsen survey that found one in every five households has a “budding gourmet chef.” It’s not just women spending more time in the kitchen, either; “gastrosexuals” are men who consider cooking more of a hobby than a household chore, and use kitchen skills to impress friends and prospective partners. The popularity of the Food Network has helped to inspire a new love with food and cooking, and he expects consumers to continue to search for new recipes, techniques and cooking tools.

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to those who have so graciously donated food and who have partnered with us during the Jingle Bells and Stock the Shelves Food Drive. We couldn’t have done it without your support!

The event was a great success allowing us to fill many boxes of food for the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank. Together, we have helped to feed hungry Calgarians during the 2009 Holiday Season.

Here are a few images of the Food Drive finale.

James Agnew - President Signature Kitchen Builders showing off a sample of the many food donations and full food boxes gathered for the Calgary Food Bank

Signature Kitchen Builder's Food Donations for the Calgary Food Bank

Once again thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

The Signature Kitchen Builders Team

A VOC rating is:
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemical compounds that have high enough vapor pressures under normal conditions to significantly vaporize and enter the atmosphere.

Volatile organic compounds are numerous and varied. Although ubiquitous in nature and modern industrial society, they may also be harmful or toxic. VOCs, or subsets of the VOCs, are often regulated.

For Immediate Release

December 2, 2009

Media Contact: New Wave Media

Phone: (403) 980-5847

Email: tara@new-wavemedia.com

Jingle Bells and Stock the Shelves Food Drive In Support of the

Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank

Calgary Businesses Working Together to Feed our City’s Hungry

Calgary, AB (December 2, 2009) – It is no surprise that charities and other non-profit organizations suffer during economic downturns.  Although the economy is on the mend, public and private donations have yet to rebound and individuals are reluctant to donate as much as they have in the past. Many charities such as The Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank have seen an increase in visitors and are in desperate need of support this holiday season.

“It is important for us to make sure that no one goes hungry this Christmas” says James Agnew, President Signature Kitchen Builders Inc. “We have rallied many Calgary businesses to partner with us in the hope that by providing multiple food drop-off locations, together we can gather enough food to feed Calgary’s hungry this year!”

We would like to invite you to join us December 4^th – 17^th on our mission to feed Calgary’s hungry by donating a food item at one of our many drop-off locations around the city.

Who: Jingle Bells and Stock the Shelves business partners in collaboration

with the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank

What: The goal is to gather food donations at our many food drop-off locations

in and around Calgary

When: December 4^th – 17^th, 2009. Drop-off hours vary by location

Where: Please visit our online Event Page to find the drop off location nearest you!

http://www.signaturekitchenbuilders.com/jingle-bells-and-stock-the-shelves-food-drive

Why: To provide enough food to feed Calgarians in need this Holiday Season

About the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank:

The Calgary Food Bank is a crisis facility to feed Calgarians in need. Individuals and families receive hampers containing enough food for approximately one week to a maximum of six hampers per year.

We are able to provide food and resources every day because of the dedication and compassion of our volunteers. Last year, more than 3,821 individual and group volunteers gave an amazing 75,765 hours of their time to help us feed the hungry.

For more information about the Jingle Bells and Stock the Shelves Food Drive, please contact Tara Deda or Jonathan Molina at (403) 980-5847 or tara@new-wavemedia.com.  

You may also wish to visit www.calgaryfoodbank.com or www.signaturekitchenbuilders.com for more information.

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PDF News Release: Jingle Bells and Stock the Shelves

We had a very positive experience working with James and the Signature Kitchen Builders team and we are now discussing how to develop new designs/ideas as we move forward on future projects.”

-Kevin Koskie
Junior Project Manager
Multi-Family Division
Sabal Homes

One thing that adds a lot to the kitchen at any time of year is to decorate above the cabinets. If you have a space between the tops of your cabinets and the ceiling, then you have a great place decorate! For the holidays, you can put up some garland or greenery. Maybe add some red bows or ornaments and little white lights for the season. If you already have decorations up there, you can work around those or go all out by replacing what you currently have up there with Santa’s, trees and other holiday decorations.

You might already give your kitchen table a festive look by putting a holiday centerpiece in the middle, but why stop there? If your table is big enough, you can put a small tree on it! Maybe one of those quaint Victorian bottle brush trees would look neat? Just something about 2 or 3 feet tall and not so wide that it takes up the whole table.

Of course, you’ll want to complete the look by leaving your table set with a Christmas theme dishes, placemats, glasses and silverware. Just leave it setup all during the holidays and it will add a great festive look to your table. If you are on a budget, shop at your local consignment store, thrift store, or flea market for holiday themed tableware.

Another way to dress up your table is to give it a great holiday tablecloth. If you are really ambitious, you can even make or buy matching slipcovers for the chairs. Even non-upholstered chairs can be made to look cozier with fabric slip covers that slip over the backs. Some cover the seat and whole chair while others are made to only cover and decorate the back.

Another place you can add some holiday décor is around the windows. You can drape garland or greenery over your valances or tops of your curtains and put Christmas candles in the window. You can even buy fake snow for the panes. One little touch that looks great is to take a nice piece of ribbon and hang an ornament in each of the windows.

Our final Christmas decorating tip really rounds out the look and pulls the room together is holiday accents! Buy pot holders, kitchen towels and throw rugs with a holiday theme and splash them around the room to complete the look. If you are really ambitious, you can get cookie jars, canisters and other counter top items in the Christmas theme. Again, try yards sales, consignment stores and even antique stores for inexpensive items to use in your decorating.

Source: A Kitchen Decorating Idea