Picture this: I’m live from Orlando, soaking up the chaos that is Design and Construction Week—yeah, the biggest design and building trade show on the planet! It’s like Disneyland for DIYers, and I’m your tour guide on this wild ride. So, day one was an absolute whirlwind, where manufacturers big and small showcased their latest and greatest. Seriously, I walked 13 miles on the show floor, and I’m not exaggerating—my feet are still in shock. We kicked things off with LG, who apparently took ‘life is good’ to a whole new level with their high-end appliances. I mean, did you ever think a dishwasher could look that good? With backlit LED panels and whisper-quiet operation, these babies are practically a work of art! Plus, they’ve got this built-in refrigerator that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg—talk about a win! But wait, there’s more! I ran into my buddies at Evolve Stone, who have this game-changing stone veneer that’s so easy to install even your cat could probably manage it (not that I’d recommend letting your cat handle home improvements). We also checked out Kohler’s booth, which was like stepping into a luxury spa—seriously, they had working showers and even a pond filled with lava rock. I half expected to see a celebrity sipping a fancy drink by the water. Not to mention Clopay’s innovative garage doors that can switch from frosted to clear glass with the flick of a switch. I mean, who knew garage doors could be so… stylish? All in all, day one was packed with mind-blowing innovations that are going to shake up the home improvement world. Buckle up, folks—day two is just around the corner, and I can’t wait to see what else this magical trade show has in store!
Takeaways:
- Eric G gives us a whirlwind tour of the Design and Construction Week, highlighting the insane innovations in home improvement that are about to hit the market.
- From LED backlit dishwashers to zero clearance refrigerators, LG is making appliances that solve real kitchen problems without breaking the bank.
- Evolve Stone is a game changer for DIYers, offering a stone veneer that’s ridiculously easy to install and looks fab without needing a masonry degree.
- Kohler is stepping up its game with stylish bidet toilet seats that blend luxury with a classic aesthetic—because who says you can’t have class while being clean?
- Check out Clopay’s new garage doors that magically change from frosted to clear glass—because who doesn’t want their garage to look like a sci-fi movie set?
- Eric is pumped for Day 2 of the show, hinting at even more cool products and innovations that will make our homes smarter and more stylish than ever.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- LG
- SKS
- Evolve Stone
- Kohler
- Clopay
- Kichler
- Toto
- Tiger Teeth Blades
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:The House with Eric G. Your go to source for everything home improvement Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or just looking to make your space shine, Eric G. Is here to guide you through the latest tips, tricks and trends.
Speaker B:So grab your toolbox, put on your thinking cap and let's get to work right here on around the House with.
Speaker A:Eric G. Welcome to the around the House show, your trusted source for everything about your home.
Speaker A:Thanks for joining me today.
Speaker A:Hi, I'm Eric G. This is our midweek update.
Speaker A:This is our show that we do in the middle of the week that says, well we did get into last weekend's show and of course we not getting into this next weekend show.
Speaker A:And today I am in Orlando, Florida.
Speaker A:You could probably hear my voice from talking all day yesterday.
Speaker A:We are at the Kitchen Bath Industry show or the International Builder show or as it's known, Design and Construction Week.
Speaker A:This is where everything about your home comes together in one place.
Speaker A:Where we get to talk about man, we get to see everything that's gonna be coming out in the next year or two as well as some companies testing things to see what the feedback is.
Speaker A:And day one was yesterday on Tuesday.
Speaker A:And I tell you what, it was absolutely incredible.
Speaker A:There were so many great things to be seen out there from major manufacturers to small ones.
Speaker A:As an example, we walked into the lg.
Speaker A:You know, life's good or back in the day, lucky gold star and sks, which is the old signature kitchen suite.
Speaker A:They are the high end version of the lg.
Speaker A:Talk about some beautiful appliances and they solve some problems that I'm really shocked for a price point that you can't beat.
Speaker A:And this was really cool.
Speaker A:Like for instance you open the dishwasher.
Speaker A:In the back of the dishwasher is an LED panel so it's backlit.
Speaker A:Same with the refrigerator, same with the range.
Speaker A:And so they had a lot of appliances like that, super quiet 38 decibels, things like that where you could barely hear it.
Speaker A:Another thing that is really cool that they came out with is a built in looking refrigerator.
Speaker A:But you're not paying the $20,000 or $12,000 for one of the big built in pro style ones.
Speaker A:But they've got what one that fits in there and it's a basically a zero clearance around the outside so it fits nice and tight in your cabinetry.
Speaker A:But they also made it so you can open the doors at 90 degrees and still get into crispers and things like that.
Speaker A:So so many times that when we're designing kitchens or replacing that refrigerator if that refrigerator is up against a in wall or other appliances, maybe there's a double oven there that the doors get in the way and hit the appliances next to it or the wall.
Speaker A:And then you have to buy a 33 inch refrigerator to fit into a 36 inch space.
Speaker A:You're paying more money and it really adds up.
Speaker A:So that was another great innovation.
Speaker A:Their laundry.
Speaker A:Again they've come out with some new stuff with laundry that's going to a bigger laundry tub in their front load.
Speaker A:Washing machines, a lot of great stuff from LG and sks.
Speaker A:So that was very impressive.
Speaker A:And the list goes on and on.
Speaker A:Saw my friends over there at and I love these guys.
Speaker A:It's really cool to see a company grow from just a very small one, which I have done.
Speaker A:And this is a cool product.
Speaker A:And this is one of those things that if you're a DIYer or even a contractor, it was a lot of fun yesterday because you get to see all these new products.
Speaker A:And for instance it was fun because we got to go oversee.
Speaker A:It's a new, it's a newer product.
Speaker A:For many of you out there, Evolve Stone.
Speaker A:And if you've been watching my TV show, I did this product on a couple places.
Speaker A:I used it on my TV set.
Speaker A:I used it in my outdoor kitchen.
Speaker A:I've used it multiple places in my kitchen.
Speaker A:And this stuff is really cool.
Speaker A:So it is a nail on stone veneer.
Speaker A:It looks like stone veneer but it's made out of a fiberglass composite and you see it used all over.
Speaker A:But again you don't have to have a mason to put this stuff up.
Speaker A:You just have a nice finish nail nails right up there, bunch of colors.
Speaker A:Evolved Stone went by and saw my friends Dom and Dan over there.
Speaker A:Those guys are great.
Speaker A:Check that stuff out.
Speaker A:At Evolved Stone went and saw Kohler.
Speaker A:Oh my gosh, Kohler booth.
Speaker A:Again, they did not disappoint those guys.
Speaker A:When you go in there, they had showers that were working.
Speaker A:They had a pond filled with black lava rock and black river rock across the bottom with a foot of water in it.
Speaker A:Now this is stuff that's set up in a convention center.
Speaker A:I mean it looked like a twenty million dollar house the way this is set up.
Speaker A:And again, right.
Speaker A:Really cool.
Speaker A:Lots of great new stuff out there.
Speaker A:The other one that I thought was really cool was Clopay with their garage doors.
Speaker A:This was trick.
Speaker A:So think of a glass garage door with maybe that glass with the frosted, maybe the black frame, that contemporary.
Speaker A:They came out with a door where that frosted flame will turn.
Speaker A:Frosted glass will turn off and on with the flick of a switch.
Speaker A:So if you want it to be clear, you turn it off.
Speaker A:You want it to be on, you turn it on.
Speaker A:And now you have a clear panel that looks like clear glass.
Speaker A:So now that you're going to have powered, you know, garage door that's going to be really doing some stuff where you can maybe change the glass to be red or you could change it to have a display on it because these are almost like LCD panels but they're clear.
Speaker A:Totally cool technology.
Speaker A:Absolutely love it.
Speaker A:This is really going to open the door up to design in the garage door that we've never seen before.
Speaker A:So that was cool.
Speaker A:Just a lot of great stuff.
Speaker A:Saw Kichler lighting, those guys had some great stuff.
Speaker A:I love seeing that.
Speaker A:And it was just a packed full, you know, for, for the eight hours that we were on the show floor yesterday.
Speaker A:Absolutely amazing stuff, Great to see.
Speaker A:So a lot of fun stuff out there.
Speaker A:You know, just again we walked probably 13 miles in one of the show floors, doing another one here in about another hour.
Speaker A:And I tell you what, going to be a lot of fun today.
Speaker A:You're going to see a lot of new stuff that I can't wait to talk about in upcoming episodes and just new technology, new stuff out there.
Speaker A:Another thing that I thought was really cool is, you know, Toto has been the leader of bidet toilet seats.
Speaker A:You've heard me talk about it here.
Speaker A:But it's interesting because companies are catching up.
Speaker A:I saw in the Kohler booth a very cool bidet toilet seat that had the wand in the front for the ladies.
Speaker A:No one's done that before that I've ever seen in retail in a product like this.
Speaker A:ery classic, something like a:Speaker A:So you don't, if you're looking to put in that bidet toilet, for instance, you're looking at putting something in that's more classic look.
Speaker A:oking toilet in their classic:Speaker A:So that's something really cool.
Speaker A:So a lot of great stuff out there, a lot of fun stuff to go see.
Speaker A:So just kind of, you know, pay attention to this coming out this next year.
Speaker A:A lot of new stuff out there.
Speaker A:And of course Kohler had saunas, they had cold baths, they had so many different things around there.
Speaker A:Some very custom stuff.
Speaker A:They work with a bunch of designers.
Speaker A:That was really cool to come out with some new products and they let designers go into their factory and build things and then see if it's something that might come out in a retail environment.
Speaker A:But a lot of neat stuff like that.
Speaker A:We'll talk further in depth with that.
Speaker A:I think it's super cool.
Speaker A:Great stuff out there for our industry.
Speaker A:Well, guys, I'm gonna get rolling here.
Speaker A:I have got to get ready for a day two of meetings.
Speaker A:We've got a lot going on out there and I'm excited for it.
Speaker A:Going to be talking to some great people out there today.
Speaker A:I'm just so excited to be talking to my friends.
Speaker A:This is one of those great things.
Speaker A:I saw my friend Kayleen McCabe, you might have seen her on History Channel recently when they were talking about home improvement stuff on one of their kind of their, you know, TV series that they do there and ran into her yesterday.
Speaker A:She's a great one.
Speaker A:There are so many great companies we're going to be meeting with today.
Speaker A:I'm so excited.
Speaker A:There's an one that I can't wait to see called Tiger Teeth Blades and that's exciting because those guys really have a tool to resharpen your sawzall and multi tool blade.
Speaker A:So I'm curious to see how that works.
Speaker A:And again, going to see so many new things out there.
Speaker A:So I'm going to get going here.
Speaker A:I got to get ready to jump in the car and cruise up there and have a good time today.
Speaker A:So you guys stay safe out there.
Speaker A:And when I get back into the studio, we got a great show coming up this weekend as well.
Speaker A:But when I get into the studio for next weekend show, we're going to start talking about some of the stuff that we saw here and I'm so excited to share with some of this stuff.
Speaker A:It's a great year at the show here in Orlando and it's going to be a great day today for us to go check everything out.
Speaker A:I'm Eric G. Thanks for tuning around the House.
Speaker A:We'll see you Saturday.
Speaker A:And again, I appreciate you tuning in.
Speaker A:We'll see you then.
Speaker A:Thanks.
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Speaker B:We will see you next time.