Tap jewelry

The world of faucets continues to amaze with increasingly intelligent accessories, new finishes and innovative lines that contribute not only to decor, but to comfort. Overview of new products and strong trends of the moment.

A choice of colors

Chrome finishes are still present and remain timeless, but whereas they monopolized the bulk of sales, they now share the market with matte black, the perfect all-rounder, and brushed gold, which have emerged in recent years. Copper, more delicate to arrange, offers a timid presence and remains a nested choice, while brushed nickel tends to slip away. Newcomers such as graphite – and mainly matt white which is shaping up to be a strong trend – may however make us hesitate for a long time when choosing kitchen or bathroom faucets. With some brands, boldness is pushed further with color accents that add a touch of fantasy to the environment and remind us that the fittings are indeed a jewel in the decor.

Simplicity and naturalness

The obtuse lines have given way to curves. “Even when it is graphic in its design, the fittings are rounded in the corners, observes Jennifer St-Cyr, co-owner of the Eau tendency boutique. The natural is really on the rise. The shapes of the fittings follow with flowing lines. I think we need to do good. People are turning to softness, color, less clinical and more enveloping environments. » Make way for organic design with "living" materials such as copper, which acquires a patina over time, and wood which is displayed in bathroom furniture and accessories, as well as on high-end taps such as the one from the Frank Lloyd Wright collection for Brizo. "It's kept simple and without frills," says designer Arianne Palermo of the Ossom boutique. The very massive models disappear. »

The mix of genres

It is no longer excluded to combine different finishes in the same decor or on the same accessory: a black faucet with gold, copper or silver accents, for example. The same goes for lines. The more traditional models are revisited in a transitional style that combines the old with the contemporary, while the more graphic accessories rub shoulders with curves. “We are much less “little kit”. We decompartmentalize by having fun varying styles and eras to go from modern to classic or by integrating a piece of mid-century furniture into a very refined bathroom, illustrates Jennifer St-Cyr. Round handles can also be paired very well with a more square faucet. »

For big brands, offering versatile and modular accessories is a consideration. “You can opt for a spout with the handle of your choice or choose the height of your faucet according to your preferences”, gives as an example Donald Bouchard, marketing manager at Lixil Americas, which includes, among other brands, American Standard, Grohe and DXV faucets. “This versatility makes the decors more personalized and more timeless,” adds his colleague Anne-Marie Hébert, representative for luxury products. Being able to buy a rainhead, mixer and diffuser separately allows customers to place them wherever they want in the shower and opens the door to greater flexibility in design, notes Arianne Palermo.

Bringing the spa home

“People invest more in having comfort at home. If we can no longer go to the spa, we bring it home, with steam showers, for example, to which can be added the diffusion of essential oils, ”describes Jennifer St-Cyr. This comfort, already seen in the past, is however expressed with sobriety and new functionalities. Columns with multiple jets, spraying water over the whole body, have given way to more efficient, more ecological hand showers, and now rain heads which adopt these features to offer a more or less powerful jet depending on the tastes of the user, whether it is to obtain a massage, a deep rinsing of the hair or to feel the caressing effect of a "champagne" trickle with hydrogen peroxide which pearls gently on the skin. The "wet room", in which the freestanding bath and the shower share the space behind a common partition, is also gaining ground. "The effect is very interesting and visually enlarges the bathroom," says the designer. This allows you to have a very open shower that can accommodate a faucet for two, each having their own. »

The industrialist migrates to the bathroom

Have the catering taps had their day? This is what we see in specialized shops. The beaded spouts, massive and difficult to clean, give way to more discreet combined taps. The industrial style nevertheless remains present in the bathroom with handles replicating industrial valves or borrowing bumpy textures from hardware and support bars. The effect adds to the ergonomics, if not the aesthetics which becomes most elegant in the context.

Increasingly “intelligent” faucets

Technology is at the service of comfort. “We invest a lot of money to improve the kitchen or bathroom experience, while maintaining aesthetics. And I believe that this is where the trend will be expressed the most in the coming years, ”says Anne-Marie Hébert. Already, “touch” or “touchless” fittings (without touching) are in favor and make it possible to reduce handling or eliminate it thanks to motion detectors. They not only activate the faucet, but change the flow of water or the degree of heat. Water filters, integrated into the kitchen faucets, now add sparkling chilled water with fine bubbles or large bubbles to their offer. In the shower, faucets remember the preferences of their different users. “Our research is pushing in this direction,” adds Anne-Marie Hébert. In making people more comfortable, and making showering go from ordinary to extraordinary. »