Can a bare light bulb make a design statement? At one point in my long life in design, bare light bulbs conjured up nothing more than a look destined for a jail cell or a musty basement. But I think differently now. Taking a pure form like a light bulb  and turning it into something beautiful and enduring takes some imagination. Here are some great products to create an industrial look for kitchen or bath design.

Barn Light Electric Co.’s caged pendant lighting made from galvanized metal. LED light bulbs inside the glass “bullet” make it gorgeous AND green.

A “trough” sink from Kohler’s commercial line makes a great sink for a kid’s bathroom.

Restoration Hardware makes these cool commercial laundry carts for the fully decked out laundry room!

Sonoma Forge makes gorgeous faucets for kitchen and bath. This one’s called “Brut.”

The Modern Times factory stool from Sundance is $ 195 and has a great distressed finish.

Modern Object’s Wing Nut knob is 2 1/2 in. long x 1 1/4 in. high

or go for the valve-looking knob that’s 2 1/4 in. in diameter.

DuPont Corian’s Medea solid surface material looks like concrete.

The Wallpaper Collective company sells Scrapwood wallcovering made in the Netherlands. It’s $299 for a 46-sq.-ft. roll, but doing one wall in it would look amazing.

Finally, I must mention sliding door hardware..a hot new look that’s showing up in bathrooms on shower doors. Very cool!

—Patricia Gaylor

I won’t be in Cersaie this year, but Milldue will. And it will be showing Touch, a bath collection by Michele Marcon that comprises freestanding and wall-mounted vanities in a Monolith design, as well as coordinating tubs, showers trays and mirrors.

Available in three widths—40, 63 and 99 cm—the vanities measure 87 cm tall and 39 cm deep. Each Monolith unit is equipped with two drawers and a door, has a matte lacquered interior and is offered in a variety of finishes, including 30 matte lacquered and four eco-friendly mortar colors. Made of water and natural materials, the latter is fire-retardant and recyclable and does not contain cement, lime, plaster, epoxy resins or harmful substances. It is hand-applied in multiple layers for a textured look and comes in cemento (off white), grafite (gray), argilla (putty) and terra (brown).

Personally, I’m kind of digging the wood veneers—hickory or natural or Black Spruce reclaimed silver fir—which lend a soft, organic quality to an otherwise streamlined design. The fir is salvaged from restoration work on historic buildings, which I’m sure are plentiful in Italy, and has been worked over for a softer feel. The Black Spruce version has a burnt look that seems to be gaining some popularity across the pond (Dogi, GD Cucine’s new bath collection, also offers it).

American Vintage: This trend is jumping from fashion on the streets to home interiors.

The trans-seasonal wardrobe pieces that flaunt effortless layering are impacting interiors with motifs like denim, patchwork, distressed finishes and salvaged materials.

This look is a continuation from the current industrial vintage trend, but with a colorful, fun approach.

The French Modern Way: Elegant French design turns away from soft romantic stylings and embraces rich materials, such as shagreen and ebony, with exotic Egyptian and Asian elements in this emerging trend. Expect human imagery/portraits to play a large role in this trend, too.

The Marrakech Express: North African looks take the lead with this trend. Flat weaves and aged color stories set against distressed finishes and aged patina surfaces will be go-to accents.

Graphic Modern: Strong graphic prints in one or two colors will be the hallmark of this trend. Look for “pop” expressed through polka dots, softened geometrics and large-scale florals.

Ann Porter

I’ve been hearing the phrase “mix and match” frequently of late. Just this week, during a KBIS trends talk given by Madcap Cottage and sponsored by Cosentino, it was tossed about in reference to playing with color and pattern as a way to infuse a home with a sense of fun and personality. And in putting together the May/June issue of K+BB, I heard much mention of mixing materials, colors and textures while conducting interviews for the Trends article on kitchen cabinetry and the Abroad piece on EuroCucina.

Eclecticism has been a somewhat longstanding means to personalization in a kitchen and bath, and many k & b product collections boast the opportunity for custom looks by offering a wide selection of pieces that work well with each other.

Bisazza Bagno‘s Wanders Collection, however, seems to take it to a whole new level. Created for the company by famed designer Marcel Wanders, it debuted in the U.S. last month and consists of three lines—Architectural, Antiques, Soapbath—each of which takes its cues from different time periods.

Architectural is contemporary-clean in aesthetic and comprises a variety of lav faucets (love the red handles!), shower fittings, bathroom storage, medicine cabinets and mirrors.

Soapbath features a bathtub and small, large countertop and wall-mounted lav sinks in the shape of a bar of soap, as well as coordinating toilets and bidets.

Antiques offers baroque-inspired consoles and mirrors in black or white lacquered resin.

But what makes this collection particularly compelling is when two or more of the lines are shown together. The result is playful and faintly subversive in feel.