The industry’s biggest show, distilled for Nashville homeowners
Every January, the kitchen and bath industry converges on one city for the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS). KBIS 2026 drew tens of thousands of designers, contractors, and manufacturers to Orlando. It’s the kind of show where you can walk 80,000 square feet of showroom floor and still miss something.
Laura, Hantel’s designer and an officer in the Tennessee chapter of the National Kitchen & Bath Association, was there. She wasn’t looking for what’s flashy. She was looking for what’s useful: products and innovations that suit Nashville homes, and design trends worth paying attention to before they show up on every Pinterest board.
Health and wellness technology is moving into the kitchen and bath
Wellness features have been building for years, but KBIS 2026 made clear the category has moved beyond spa finishes and soaking tubs. Manufacturers are now integrating technology that monitors, filters, and supports health as part of daily routines.
InSinkErator’s LED disposal flange
A disposal flange with built-in LED technology designed to kill bacteria at the source. Even in a well-maintained kitchen, the area around a disposal flange is one of the hardest places to keep truly clean. This addresses that problem passively, without adding anything to your routine. The technology is new, and the jury is still out on long-term performance. But it’s worth watching.
Kohler’s bathroom-health monitor
Kohler showcased a device that’s placed inside a toilet bowl and analyzes waste. Dekoda flags potential health indicators, not to diagnose anything, but to prompt a follow-up with a physician. The science draws on the same principle used in community wastewater monitoring.
Laura’s first question was a fair one: where does that data go? Privacy considerations are real. The technology is early, and homeowners should go in with eyes open.
Toto’s zero-gravity tub
Developed in partnership with NASA, this tub simulates weightlessness – closer to a floating pod than a traditional soak. Accent lighting is available as an add-on purchase. It’s available in one size at 67”, with an adjustable back pillow.
Your subfloor needs to support it, which is a real consideration in Nashville’s older houses. Hantel evaluates subfloor capacity before any tub goes in. In one current project, removing old flooring layers revealed particle board underneath. A change order and additional plywood were required before the project could move forward. Finding that early keeps everything on track.
Curious whether any of these features would work in your home? Talk to our designer before you decide.
2026 kitchen trends: Texture, warmth, and deliberate color
Flat surfaces are giving way to layered texture, particularly in tile. Cool grays and blue-whites are being replaced by warmer browns, natural wood, and stone. The direction favors organic materials that age well and don’t demand frequent updating.
Classic, neutral foundations hold up over time. Personality comes through in the details: hardware, backsplashes, fixtures. One of Hantel’s current clients is installing an all-stainless appliance kitchen with the exception of a white Wolf range, swapping the signature red knobs for gold. The stove becomes a focal point without locking the entire kitchen into a trend that may not age as well.
Invest in materials with staying power. Let the accents do the talking.
Browse our portfolio to see how that balance plays out across real Nashville kitchens and bathrooms.
Large format tile: What it looks like and what it costs
Fewer grout lines mean easier maintenance and a cleaner visual, two things that rank high for most of our clients. The most economical large format option is 12” x 24”. Larger sizes are more complex to install and carry higher labor costs. That’s worth knowing before selections are made, because the difference between tile sizes can meaningfully affect your overall project budget.
Texture within the category is also evolving. Some manufacturers now produce tiles where each piece carries a slightly different surface variation, so the installed result reads as a continuous scene rather than a repeated pattern. Floral textures, fresco-style surfaces, and dimensional relief work are showing up in ways that weren’t practical at scale a few years ago.
The visual payoff is real, and so is the installation premium. At Hantel, that conversation happens before anything is ordered.
Tile trim profiles: A small detail that makes a big difference
When tile ends at a wall, doorway, or shower edge, it needs a finished edge. For decades that meant bullnose tile. Most manufacturers have stopped making it. What replaced it is a category of metal and plastic trim profiles, and the options have improved significantly.
Hantel primarily works with Schluter profiles. The three most commonly used are Jolly, Quadec, and Rondec. Jolly is the thinnest and disappears most into the installation. Rondec replicates the rounded look of traditional bullnose. Quadec is the thickest and most architectural. The right choice depends on the tile, location, and desired finish.
What KBIS 2026 introduced: 3D-printed profiles matched precisely to the tile itself. Not the grout, the tile. The edge becomes nearly invisible, and the transition reads as seamless.
Hantel Kitchens and Baths is Schluter-certified. Schluter is the only manufacturer in the category that warranties both materials and labor. What does that mean for homeowners? If the product fails, they cover replacement tile, grout, and the cost of repairs. That’s a different standard than a typical product warranty.
What this means if you’re planning a Nashville remodel
Not every trend from KBIS belongs in every home. Some health technology is promising but in the early stages. Large format tile adds cost that isn’t right for every budget. A zero-gravity tub starts with a subfloor conversation.
That’s what the design process is for. Hantel evaluates what’s practical for your home and your lifestyle before making any recommendations. The KBIS show informs that process. It doesn’t replace it.
Hantel offers complimentary initial consultations for Nashville homeowners considering a kitchen remodel or a bathroom remodel.