Innovation
In 1883 the earliest example of a cast iron enameled bathtub, which could also be used as a hog trough, entered the marketplace. This was the earliest in a long line of plumbing products that would be manufactured by Kohler.
In 1911 Kohler unveiled the first built-in, one-piece bath with an integrated apron. At the time this was cutting edge. The earliest one-piece lavatory came soon after, followed by the first one-piece sink for the kitchen. Ever since, Kohler has remained on the leading edge of bathroom and kitchen products.
In 2008, Kohler came out with a multi-sensory bath integrating water, vibration and light, including four relaxing, individually choreographed music programs.
According to Ann Roever, Kohler’s business director for bath products, “The science of sound vibration and the art of ergonomic design come together in this bath to provide an unprecedented level of relaxation. Four expert-designed sound and vibration experiences are designed to help the bather achieve consistent, slow, and deep breathing, or the phenomena of ‘Entrainment’ – the connection of internal body rhythms with external influences. The four experiences are original compositions that integrate music, vibration and lighting in order to encourage the bather’s breathing rate to align with the beats or chord structures. The bather cannot help but relax physically because the mind is able to shift into a focus on internal, physical feelings.”
In 2011 Kohler introduced the Numi toilet, which included a built-in bidet. This “smart toilet” also uses an interactive touch-screen LCD interface, heated seat, music system, foot warmer, and more. This product doesn’t double as a pig trough, but it’s pretty versatile nonetheless.
Marketing Vice President Jim Lewis says, “It’s truly an innovative product that makes a bold design statement. We envisioned a toilet that creates a category in a calibre of its own. Numi packs technology into a compact toilet and is controlled by an advanced and intuitive interface. It’s an astounding example of modern industrial design where form and function go hand in hand.”
There are more examples, but you can already see that Kohler’s name is synonymous with innovation.
Choice
Kohler’s products are popular with homeowners and professional designers alike, partly because they offer such a broad variety of styles to choose from. Whether your bath or kitchen features a sleek, modern style, a rustic country look or an elegant traditional theme, you’ll find Kohler fixtures to suit it perfectly.
The beauty and creativity of Kohler faucets are also worth mentioning. It’s hard to find a manufacturer that offers as many choices of finish as Kohler, whether you’re looking for brushed stainless steel, brushed nickel, pewter, brushed bronze, oil-rubbed bronze, or now even black.
Who else offers farm sinks in beautiful finishes like Mexican Sand, ember, Suede, Caviar, and several others? Kohler also offers bidets and toilets in a variety of colors such as Dune, Cashmere, Ice Grey, Tea Green, and more. And of course, there are plenty of bathtubs to match.
Best Quality and Unique Materials
Kohler uses a wide range of high-quality materials in creating their innovative designs. Faucets, tubs and sinks may be made of Kohler’s signature metals (such as their own cast iron), vitreous china or fireclay. Function and form come together perfectly in the Artist Edition Fixture Collection for Kitchen and Bath. Competitors have produced fixtures that are decorated nicely on the surface, but nobody comes close to what Kohler can do. These fixtures are really functional pieces of art for your home.
Kohler’s signature styles and materials have earned the company many awards for design, innovation, quality and durability. It gives you a special kind of confidence to install an award-winning fixture in your home. You know it will perform well, last long, and provide good value for the money you spend.
Several of Kohler’s kitchen sinks and faucets were awarded the “Best Buy” Seal of Product Excellence from Consumers Digest in March of 2010. These include the STERLING line of stainless steel kitchen sinks, the Delafield and Langlade self-rimming cast iron sinks, and the Kohler Indio line of cast iron enameled sinks.
The Kohler Simplice kitchen faucet collection was amongst the best faucets. The editors were impressed by the easy-to-use pull-down high-arc spray wands, which provided good value at the price. They also noted that the spray buttons were designed not to be slippery when handled with wet hands.
The Torq deck-mounted kitchen faucet also received the Best Buy Honor for its easy-to-use extended levers featuring large areas of grip. The editor of Consumers Digest said that this faucet was commendably easy to use compared to its competitors.
Hands down, Kohler is the best company of its kind because of their commitment to providing consumers with the best of innovation, design, value, quality, choice, and unique lines of products.