To modify the words of H. L. Mencken, no one ever went broke understimating the desire of the American people to organize their homes. At least that’s what a lot of the exhibitors at K/BIS 2008 were thinking. Having just completed the bulk of my spring cleaning, I’m with them.

Kitchen Organization
One significant problem in the kitchen: having storage that is not easily accessible. The folks at pegRAIL addressed this issue with a modular storage system that keeps everything out in the open and at the ready.

pegRAIL puts your dishes and cook’s tools in easy reach.

Start by installing a 36-, 54- or 72-inch rail capable of holding up to 350 pounds (it comes with the appropriate hardware). Then add a pot rack, shelf, basket, utensil holder or wine rack, or any combination thereof. pegRAIL also makes storage systems for bathrooms, closets, utility rooms and home offices.

Available now through dealers, pegRAIL plans to launch in June a line of starter kits ranging in price from $175 to $350.

Bathroom Organization
Another genius idea: Taking the storage accessories that have long been available for kitchen cabinets and bringing them into the bathroom. More than one manufacturer did this, but the widest range we saw was at the Diamond Cabinets booth.

Diamond Cabinets’ Logix organization system now includes this Vanity Cosmetics Cabinet.

Offerings include drawer inserts for toiletries (instead of utensils), linen cabinets (instead of pantry cabinets), hamper pullouts (instead of trash pullouts) and hair dryer/curler racks (instead of spice racks).

The representatives at the Coway booth thought their new air purifiers looked iPods. I thought they looked more like a Sony Cybershot, but we both agreed they looked pretty cool. Of course, don’t take our words for it.

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A six-foot long kitchen sink probably seems more superfluous than functional, unless you find yourself washing off and preparing marlin on a regular basis. Yet two of Elkay’s newest sinks, the six-foot long Ripple and Cascade don’t scream “too much sink!” rather, the first thing that grabs your attention is all their custom accessories.

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There’s no denying that everyone wants to be (or even claims to be) green these days. Products are laden in the right earthy colors and textures to convey that warm, fuzzy, eco-friendly feeling. And occasionally, a product will be as eco-friendly as it looks.

That’s the case with Sea Stones, a new line of hardware made of natural stones picked from the eastern seaboard. Owners Arra David and Anne Johnson handpick each stone and then “plant” a new stone (purchased from a quarry) back into the water as its replacement. Their wood backplates for display are enviro-conscious too, made from FSC-certified wood. (Arra and Anne also plant ten times the number of trees that they use for their backplates each year.)

The Serena line of Sea Stones is available in two color palettes—naturals and neutrals.

Design trends come in all shapes and sizes, but squares stole the show this year. While squares are nothing new and sweeping curves are by no means on their way out, we couldn’t help but notice lots of booths flaunting squares as their “new” shape. Here is just a sampling of the four-sided stuff we saw.

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Is the Amana Jot the type of novelty item that grabs everyone’s attention at trade shows but is unlikely to be seen in many homes? Probably, but that didn’t stop us from channeling our childhood urges into writing all over the Jot, a fridge that has a door doubling as a whiteboard.

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Once again, the novelty of a whiteboard accessory caught our attention at IBS. This time it happened at the Wellborn booth, where they showcased their new wall-message-center cabinet (shown in Sage Mocha, one of Wellborn’s new finishes). As you can see in the attached photo, the whiteboard is placed inside the cabinet door, and the shelving has very little depth, which works for storing erasers, notepads, etc.

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Space-saving was a buzz word on the show floor this year. While making the most of what you’ve got is nothing new, smart space planning takes on new meaning as homeowners plan to weather the housing crunch and waning economy. There were plenty of compact appliances, clever space-savers, and new storage options at this year’s builders’ show.

Clean and Compact
This compact washer-dryer set from Bosch has 3.4 cubic feet of capacity (room for 14 pairs of 32×32 men’s jeans) while only taking up a 24-inch footprint. The condensation dryer doesn’t require any ventilation—when you run the dryer, a condenser takes all that hot air, turns it into water, and drops it down into the washer for your next laundry load. You’ll still need to be hooked up to a water line, of course, but for condos or under-the-counter laundry stations, this appliance is a pretty good space-saving bet.

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I’m not normally one for bells and whistles when it comes to my appliances. Form and function, without all the fuss, is my creed.

But with Miele’s new MasterCool refrigeration line, these bells and whistles are more than sound—they’re substance too. An alarm alerts you if you’ve left your fridge door open for more than five minutes. (Don’t worry about obnoxious beeping—if you’re keeping that door open for a reason, like a refrigerator deep clean, you can turn the alarm off.)

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Like the metric system, soccer and Capri pants for men, tankless hot water systems have never been fully embraced in the United States despite decades of popular usage in Europe and Asia.

For those not familiar with tankless hot water units, they heat up water on demand, as opposed to a hot water tank, which constantly heats up water even when it’s not being used. Because tankless units just heat up incoming water, they can supply an endless amount of hot water, whereas hot water tanks can run of hot water temporarily.

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According to the Color Marketing Group, environmental concerns will be the strongest influence on color choices for products from paint to cars next year. CMG’s top predictions for popular colors and color themes in 2008 include:

Looking “green,” regardless of the color. For fabrics, that means handmade, with no dyes or bleaches. Think natural style, with textures and imperfections considered part of the beauty. In countertops, flooring and tiles, expect to see colors such as off-white, sand, linen, moss and other hues inspired by the Earth.

Beautiful blues reminiscent of the sky and of water. Also watch out for a deep, dark navy that’s almost black.

Warm metallics As we’ve already predicted, look for growth in copper and bronze finishes for fixtures, tiles and trim.

Ethnic accents. Globalism grows in the home, with reds, oranges, pinks, yellows and turquoise from Morocco, India, China and Latin America used to add punch.

If you haven’t heard of them, potfillers are faucets placed near the range or cooktop that are pretty much exclusively used for filling pots with water. Their unusual setting—nowhere near a sink—leads to this question from a visitor:

“What is the best place to place a potfiller—right, left or in the middle? I thought to put it in the middle, but when I see displays they show it on the right or on the left side. So confusing, especially when my plumber is waiting for my decision. I wish I could see a Web site with kitchens that have them.”

The Ladylux Pro wall-mount potfiller from Grohe has a 20-inch spout reach.

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E-mails, to be precise, and I have decided to share some of them, as well as my responses, with all of you. I hope some of our readers will take this opportunity to help each other and weigh in with their own opinions.

Choosing the right colors seems to be one of the hardest parts of putting together a new kitchen. Here’s a perfect example:

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Questions about appliances are never ending. I get them from our readers. I have them myself. So allow me to address a few of the frequently asked questions.

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While cabinet finishes seem to be trending toward whites and creams or blacks and browns, every other item in the kitchen seems to be popping in every shade of the rainbow. Here at the 2007 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in lovely Las Vegas, we’re checking out kitchens with more bling than Elvis’ jumpsuits.

Just this morning, I checked out BlueStar, a manufacturer of ranges (and now wall ovens and cooktops, too) in 190 colors. That’s not a typo. So if stainless steel bores you now that everybody has stainless appliances, pick out a color like “heather violet” or “curry” to make your kitchen unique.

I am told, however, that ruby red, steel blue and jet black are the company’s most popular color choices.

BlueStar 48″ range in ruby red

Instead of hanging a painting on the kitchen wall, the wall itself can be the artwork with the right tile. And if you’re paying $450 a square foot for the new Iznik tile from Ann Sacks, you won’t want to cover it up. Made primarily from quartz and handpainted in a Turkish tradition dating to the 16th-century, these tiles feature jewel tones and nature themes.

Ann Sacks Iznik tile