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New Kitchen Lifestyles Explored at Builders’ Show
 Want to build the perfect house? Start with the kitchen. It’s the center of home life, and if you get it right, everything else falls into place, says designer Mary Jo Camp.
Camp is one of three speakers for the “Lifestyle Kitchens: Designs, Materials and Techniques That Guarantee Great Kitchens” seminar at the International Builders’ Show, which will be held on Feb. 7-10 in Orlando, Fla.
Sponsored by NAHB, the annual convention and trade show is expected to again attract more than 100,000 home builders, architects, developers and other members of the housing industry to four days of education, exhibits and special events.
Camp’s seminar is one of 34 scheduled for the Architecture and Interior Design track, one of 18 areas of study scheduled for the show. Some of the other tracks include Trends and Forecasting, Housing Finance and Green Building.
“This is the fun stuff,” said Camp, a 29-year industry veteran. “The three of us know that kitchens sell homes, and we want to help builders differentiate themselves in the marketplace.”
A big trend right now: Clients want to incorporate more light into their kitchens, and they want bright, airy and well-ventilated space in a room they use not only for cooking and eating, but also for craft projects, homework, family gatherings and entertaining. The answer to that is incorporating green-building techniques such as “daylighting,” which entails positioning windows to best take advantage of outside light. Morning light is especially important in kitchens, Camp said.
While kitchens have long been the hub of the house, their importance has grown as families have gotten busier. The kitchen is a center of activity, but it’s also a place to get rid of stress, relax and recharge — literally. Charging stations for mobile phones, portable stereos and laptops are an important component in new kitchens, Camp said. “Plus, you’ll know where to find them all,” she added.
“People have a lot of stress and they come back home to alleviate that stress. We are entertaining people at home instead of being out in the hustle and bustle of a restaurant or club. We have such busy lives that cooking in the kitchen is a time to have conversation and family time,” she said. “The kitchen really is the life of the home; it’s interesting to see what the world throws at us and how we come home and talk about it in the kitchen.”
Also on tap in the Architecture and Interior Design track are seminars on universal design, regional design and trends in “green” development.
The 2007 International Builders’ Show is not open to the general public. Building industry professionals and their affiliates throughout the housing trades are welcome to register by visiting the show’s newly redesigned Web site at www.buildersshow.com.
Discounted online registration and hotel reservation assistance are available through Jan. 5, 2007; onsite registration begins Feb. 4.
Visitors can preview the show at www.BuildersShow.com/VTS, a virtual showcase for exhibitors and their products.
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