Sustain Design Studio will launch their new California SOLO 1 series at the Dwell on Design show in Los Angeles, CA this week. The California SOLO 1 is a prefab modular dwelling – at the forefront of green building and home construction. Employing the highest standards of modern residential design, materials and technology – the California SOLO 1 is beautiful, energy efficient and enduring. The objective of the home is to keep operational and maintenance costs low while reducing the home’s overall environmental footprint.

Sustain Design carefully selected a BLANCO SILGRANIT^® II PRECIS Truffle Super Single bowl and CULINA^TM water saving faucet. The SILGRANIT II sinks are maintenance free and offer legendary durability to resist scratches, heat, stains, chips and more. Plus they are backed with a lifetime warranty. The CULINA offers a breakthrough magnetic hook up and a flexible hose that’s easy to clean. The CULINA water saving faucet reserves 20% more water than a standard faucet.

Other sustainable features of the California SOLO 1 include: green non toxic finishes and materials, energy efficiency, durability, low maintenance to limit waste, indoor air quality to insure healthy home, using natural ventilation to passively cool and a green roof with indigenous vegetation to name just a few.

If you are at Dwell on Design, visit Booth D815 to learn more or http://www.sustain.ca.

BLANCO and Bosch Home Appliances partnered together to hold a Blogger Retreat May 31-June 1 in the new Bosch Experience and Design Center in Irvine, California. The event was attended by some of the industry’s top design bloggers including members of the BLANCO Design Council. The theme of the event was centered on how European designs are shaping the Modern Kitchen and included interactive sessions on the future of kitchen design, the process of appliance design and a trend panel discussion led by Dwell Magazine’s editor Erika Heet.  Bloggers also worked under the guidance of Bosch’s executive Chef Kyle Jakobi to create a California-inspired lunch in the new state-of-the-art Experience Center kitchen. Bosch’s Experience and Design Center covers over 3,000 square feet and is exclusively outfitted with BLANCO sinks and faucets. Other showroom materials include Top Knobs Cabinet Hardware and Wood-Mode cabinetry and Caesarstone surfaces.

Click on http://youtu.be/1t_CFkRq_io or the the picture below to see our photo slideshow from the event.

BLANCO + Modenus recently held a Tweet Up event at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York City to promote water conservation – in particular to raise money through tweets for Water for People. Water for People is a charitable organization that ensures sustainable clean/safe drinking water for all people. Hundreds of tweets raised funds and reached almost one million people during the Champagne and Cupcakes themed event. Modenus also drew names to select one blogger to attend their popular BlogTour in London this fall. BLANCO celebrated the launch of three new collections including the CERANA™ Fireclay Apron Front Sink, CRYSTALLINE™ Hideaway Sink and a new collection of water saving faucets. Watch the video to catch all the action at http://youtu.be/1e9B6-RWI0c

Click on images below to watch the video!!

iPads, champagne and cupcakes!

Bloggers tweeted to raise money for Water for People!

If you’re in Boston this week, take a swing by designer Andie Day’s studio on Hanover Street. Andie’s Window on Design display features the new BLANCO CERANA fireclay sink and CULINA Semi-pro faucet, in a fun “champagne and cupcakes” city living theme. Sweet!

BLANCO on display in Boston.

You can also enter to win the CULINA Semi-pro faucet by leaving a comment on Andie’s blog.

The window display will be up through the end of this week.

Special thanks to BLANCO Design Council member Andie Day and her team for this opportunity!

Sweet window display.

Newly expanded BLANCO Color App helps homeowners virtually see counters and sinks together before they buy

BLANCO expands the BLANCO SILGRANIT II Color App for iPhone and iPad by adding a greater selection of kitchen sinks to assist designers and homeowners in creating the ideal kitchen. The new Color App includes 63 SILGRANIT II color sink choices and nine new BLANCO stainless steel sinks. In addition, the groundbreaking BLANCO CERANA™ Apron Front Fireclay reversible sink will also be available, giving the user the choice of either going for the contemporary or traditional look.

The user-friendly application makes the experience of creating a personalized kitchen exciting with a selection of 72 stunning BLANCO sinks and 26 popular counterstones including CaesarStone^® and Zodiaq. App users may snap a photo of any countertop and add it to the collections to create their own combinations, or modify the current countertop selections by uploading their own images. The selected sink and counter composites appear together as in a real kitchen installation and can be saved to a Favorites Folder to be shown to a builder, contractor, residential designer or friends. The free BLANCO SILGRANIT II Color App is available for download on iTunes (iPad) and iTunes (iPhone). The basic version of the app is also available on Google Play for Android smartphones.

“The updated BLANCO SILGRANIT II Color App is fun and easy to use with even more sinks and countertops to choose from,” states Tim Maicher, Director of Marketing for BLANCO. “It’s very hard to imagine what your sink and countertops will look like together. The BLANCO SILGRANIT II Color App lets you see and play with different combinations before you make a decision. By adding the additional sinks in stainless steel and especially the new CERANA fireclay, we are giving homeowners, designers and fabricators the flexibility and tools to see how their sink will look when paired with various countertop materials.”

BLANCO SILGRANIT II Color App Details:

• Easy and intuitive iPhone/iPad/Android App lets user mix and match BLANCO sinks with countertops to find the perfect match
• 63 different styles of SILGRANIT II sinks
• NEW: Ten styles of BLANCO’s stainless steel and hand-finished CERANA fireclay sink selections
• 26 colorful countertop choices
• Ability to search by sink or counter to start
• Ability to photograph a counter and add it to the App (for devices with cameras)
• Users can store designs in a Favorites folder to share or save for later
• The Store Locator function allows users to locate where to purchase a BLANCO sink by simply entering their home zip code and connecting with a retail outlet where BLANCO products are available
• Users may also connect with www.blancoamerica.com to learn more about their selected sink options

Available free on iTunes (iPhone), iTunes (iPad) or Google Play for Android smartphones.