The New Kitchen Consumer:How User Experience Has Changed the Most Important Room in the House
Purchase TicketsKitchens have increasingly become a place for cultivating new socialization habits. The growth in social dining and home restaurants testifies to people’s desire to create and share fun experiences. Now more than ever, the kitchen is a theatre in which the acts of food preparation, cooking, and sharing become a connective collaboration for families and friends.
Viewing the kitchen as more than a place to prepare food, the new, experience-driven customer is looking to invest in design and create memorable experiences through the beauty and craftsmanship of a well-designed kitchen. Architecture and product design have become more essential in the minds of people now in a position to participate in the process of the products they buy.
As a result of this shift, what demands are placed on the kitchen designer? How do they create a space that integrates more directly with the home it serves? And has the role of a kitchen designer become more crucial than in previous generations? Our panel of experts reveals all.
In this session, you will:
● Learn who these new experience-driven customers are, and how to reach them.
● Hear what drives excitement in modern kitchens (and how to harness that excitement).
● See what new technology works best with good kitchen design, versus what technology will expire soon and leave your kitchen outdated.
| ABOUT THE PRESENTERS |
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| Kevin Vesel is CEO and Founder of Vesel Contemporary Kitchens, Inc., a unique company dedicated to designing and building Contemporary Kitchens that emphasizes European aesthetics of design, timeless materials, and luxurious finishes. |
| Prior to joining Thurston Kitchen + Bath in 1990, Scott Sylvester was the proprietor of a cabinet shop, having honed his many skills in mill work and the construction trades as a project manager, job superintendent, and general contractor. Combining this experience and his fine arts studies at the University of Colorado, he brings a well-rounded approach to kitchen and bath design. |
| A passion for art and design led Ann Hofmeister to pursue a career in interior design. In Miami, she developed a specialty in kitchen and bath design by working for Boffi, a world-renowned Italian company known for their kitchen, bath, and wardrobe systems. After eight years with Boffi, Hofmeister has extensive knowledge about cabinetry systems and the value of a well-designed space. New to Denver, she will be opening the new Boffi showroom, owned and operated by Solesdi US. |
| Elisabeth Aiello began her career in kitchen design after obtaining a bachelor’s of fine arts degree in Interior Design in 1993. She took an internship at a small kitchen design firm in Denver, looking to explore the industry and a budding interest in functional design. She quickly learned that she had an absolute passion for high-end kitchen design and began to search for the perfect outlet for her abilities. Elisabeth joined Kitchen Distributors in 1996 and has been fulfilling her dreams—and her clients’—ever since. She is committed to creating spaces that reflect her clients’ personalities and complement their style, and to making the process as joyful as possible. |
| Having worked in the design industry for 20 years, Angela Otten has come to understand the dynamics of form versus function. A designer at William Ohs Showrooms, she tends to view each project as artwork that reflects the personalities of her clients. She is a space planner at heart, which allows her to view an entire space as a whole and then bring in the individual elements that operate to bring the room to life. |
| Moderator Brian Pignanelli pursued architecture for several years, in both Colorado and New York, and later stumbled into the world of systems architecture (kitchens). He opened his first showroom in Cambridge and then eventually moved it to Boston. In 2004, he took his kitchens on the road to San Francisco, Santa Fe, and eventually back to Colorado. At Rifugio Modern, his new Denver design showroom, he offers kitchens (ArcLinea), baths (Agape), closets and doors (Rimadesio), and furnishings (Zanotta). |