That’s why when homeowners told us they wanted the area under their sink to be durable and easy to clean, we came up with the Merillat CoreGuard™ Sink Base — a smart solution that helps to protect your kitchen investment.

This revolutionary sink base cabinet is made of an engineered polymer material that helps protect against common under-sink damage that can be caused by minor leaks, drops and spills. It’s durable, requires minimal maintenance and alerts homeowners of minor leaks and spills.

If you are sick and tired of the mess you’ve got going on down under your sink, then CoreGuard™ is right for you – and now is the time to do something about it with our Down Under Promotion.

What’s the Down Under Promotion?

When you purchase Merillat Classic^® kitchen cabinetry and include a CoreGuard™ Sink Base in your new kitchen, you become eligible for a $100 mail-in rebate! However, time is running out.  This great deal ends May 28, so be sure to visit a Merillat dealer by you today.

Visit your local Merillat dealer or browse Merillat.com for more information about how to make your dream kitchen a reality.

Attendees couldn’t resist stopping by the booth to check out the displays and participate in activities.  In the innovation zone we featured our latest products, the CoreGuard™ Sink Base, a smart solution that helps keep the cabinetry under your sink dry and clean.  We also gave a sneak peak of two products that will be available soon: CornerStore™, a solution to bring more storage and easy accessibility to the challenging corner cabinet area, and the CoreGuard™ Vanity, like the kitchen sink base, but special for the bathroom.

Special guests drew a crowd!

Our favorite Australian chef, Curtis Stone, was in the booth cooking up an all-time favorite, spaghetti and meatballs, and his delicious vanilla pana cotta.  Not to mention, some lucky audience members were able to sample his champagne cocktail with poached strawberries. Curtis also shared his favorite Merillat cabinetry features, while demonstrating how easy it is to cook in a Merillat kitchen. Visitors were also able to get autographs and pictures.

In addition, home improvement celebrities Eric Stromer from HGTV’s Over Your Head and Cindy Dole, host of CBS radio show “Home Wizards”, were in the booth discussing Merillat’s product innovations  and one of the most important design realities today – Universal Design. Cindy and Eric explained that since more and more families are living together in multigenerational households, it is important when building a new home or remodeling that the kitchen should accommodate different ages and abilities. Merillat kitchens at the show included many examples of how products and design come together to meet these needs.

Knowledge Leadership

Before KBIS, Merillat was part of a Masco Cabinetry study to gain insight into kitchen design as it relates to current generational needs. And Merillat, along with the other Masco Cabinetry brands, was excited to release the latest findings from the study, GenShift 2011: Lifestages Redefining the Kitchen.  The study illustrates how recent social, economic and generational influences impact kitchen design. The study was well received and attracted a lot of attention as homeowners, dealers, builders and designers are all noticing shifts in kitchen living and use.  For more information or to download a copy of the complete study, visit GenShiftKitchen.com.

Well, at Merillat we’ve been thinking about the area under the sink – we’ve been thinking about it a lot! And this is how we came up with the new CoreGuard^TM Sink Base cabinet. It helps protect against under-sink damage, alerting you of minor leaks and keeping cabinets stain free. It’s durable and an overall great investment to add to your kitchen.

And because we think it’s so cool, we want to get the word out and build excitement around this innovative new product.  So, we’re launching the Merillat Down Under Promotion.

What’s the Down Under Promotion?

When you purchase Merillat Classic^® cabinetry and include a CoreGuard™ Sink Base in your new kitchen, you become eligible for a $100 mail-in rebate!  The promotion runs until May 28, 2011 at any participating Merillat dealer.

Wait, there’s more…

You know what else goes great in a Merillat kitchen – products from our favorite Australian chef, Curtis Stone.  So while you’re learning more about CoreGuard™ on Merillat.com, be sure to tell us what goes on Down Under your sink and you could win prizes from Curtis Stone’s must-have product line including:

• A copy of Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone
• Go With the Flow Oil Can
• Hold Me Mixing Bowls
• Flipper Cutting Board

We’re giving away prizes daily until May 1, 2011, so come back often!

ENTER NOW!

To say last week was busy would be an understatement.  Why was it so busy? Merillat was one of the standout exhibitors at the largest building products trade show in the world, the International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando.  During the event, which ran from January 12-14, we had a lot of fun showing off how Merillat makes life in the kitchen easier.

For example, with our three latest products in the innovation zone, passersby couldn’t resist stopping in to check out the CoreGuard™ Sink Base, a smart solution that helps keep cabinetry dry and clean, and CornerStore™, a solution to bring more storage and easy accessibility to the challenging corner cabinet area.  We also gave a sneak peek of a product that will be available later this year, the CoreGuard^TM Vanity. Like the CoreGuard kitchen application, this bathroom vanity also has drawers made from a durable engineered polymer and helps protect cabinetry.

There’s no doubt about it, Merillat’s booth was the place to be.  Show goers even got to meet home improvement celebrities Eric Stromer from HGTV’s Over Your Head and Cindy Dole, host of CBS radio show “Home Wizards”, who were there to give their impressions on Merillat’s newest innovations.  Some were lucky enough to get autographs and pictures.  In addition, on the morning of the first day of the show, Lynn Kegan from HGTV’s Designed to Sell, spoke with several TV and radio stations across the country about the best new products at IBS, and Merillat’s CoreGuard™ and CornerStore™ were among his favorites!

The Merillat booth at IBS 2011.

Eric Stromer and Cindy Dole visit the Merillat booth at IBS 2011.

David Kerrigan from Christian Kerrigan Designs receives an 8gb iPod Touch by winning our "Stop the Glop" competition.

Merillat's Susan Cross talks to "Home Wizard's" Cindy Dole.

In addition to the excitement on the showroom floor, Merillat was featured in two high profile demonstration homes.  Merillat had products in both GreenBuilder Media’s VISION House and BUILDER Magazine’s Concept Home.  The VISION House incorporated the essentials of sustainable design and construction and was designed to show building professionals and consumers great products and techniques for green building.  The BUILDER Magazine Concept Home was built by KB Home, and Martha Stewart partnered in the innovative design.  Also, this was KB Home’s first net-zero energy home, which means it produces more energy than it consumes over the span of a year.

Overall, Merillat was a hit at IBS! Check back  to keep up with the latest Merillat happenings.

Our revolutionary CoreGuard ^TM Sink Base was such a hit in the kitchen, we took it into the bathroom. The new CoreGuard^TM Vanity addresses issues specific to the bathroom — like moisture build up, stains and spills. What makes CoreGuard^TM Vanity so different? The ridges on the floor are spaced closer together to address the smaller sizes of bottles in the bathroom vs. the kitchen and the vanity comes with the option of either two drawers or a tilt-out tray.  This adds function, and since these are also made from engineered polymer, clean up is a breeze.

Making life in the kitchen easier is out top priorities, so Merillat has tackled one of the most challenging areas of the kitchen – the corner. The CornerStore^TM corner access cabinet is a smart solution that brings more storage and easy accessibility into corner cabinets. In comparison with the typical Lazy Susan, this corner base cabinet option features three full extension drawers, two pull-out pantry trays and is a new and dramatic styling interpretation for inside corners.

Lastly, new door style and finish options have been added to Merillat Masterpiece, our premier line of semi-custom cabinetry. Merillat Masterpiece Galina is an eye-catching transitional door that complements a variety of styles from a weekend cottage look, to coastal or country styles. The Merillat Masterpiece Lucca door style presents an option for homeowners who want an elegant look. The full-overlay door has a delicate pearl bead outlining its recessed center panel giving it a gentle highlight.  And we’re all about drama with new finishes including Rye, a soft warm brown; Vintage Onyx a deep painted black; and Vintage Cardinal, a vibrant painted red.

Be sure to watch for updates on the Round Table blog, as we’ll be filling you in on all the excitement after the show. 

Under your sink, leaky pipes will send drops and glops splashing to the floor, decreasing your Oops! Bar. Liquid from leaky bottles of soap, bleach, and household cleaners can also damage your cabinets and floors. Luckily, the CoreGuard cabinet channels harmful liquids into its grooves until you can catch them with your bucket. The grooves of the CoreGuard Base Cabinet slowly fill up, and then let loose with a “GLOP!” Catch drips and glops in your bucket to score points.  When your bucket is full, you’ll advance to the next level.

When your Oops! Bar is empty, your game ends, and you’ll have a chance to enter your score. A global leaderboard tracks the top 10 scores from around the world, while a local high score list lets you see your personal best score. You can even post your score to your Facebook wall and challenge your friends to beat you!

Ready to get your game on? Stop the GLOP! is accessible via Merillat’s Facebook fan page or on the Merillat website, and can also be downloaded as an application on your iPhone or iPad. Click to play or download the game now, and show those glops who’s boss!

CoreGuard Sink Base

If you haven’t seen our recent blog post on CoreGuard, you may be wondering what exactly it is. The CoreGuard Sink Base is made of a durable material that makes cleaning easier and protects your kitchen investment from bumps and knocks to drips, spills and glops for years to come. Features include:

1. Resists damage – Engineered polymer sides, back and floor resist damage caused by spilled liquids and stains.
2. Protective lip – Overlaps the bottom rail.
3. Easier cleaning – Simple and efficient clean up of under-sink leaks and spills.
4. Keeps things dry – Raised ribs on the cabinet floor help keep stored items dry.
5. Easy access – Wood front butt doors for easier access to cabinet interior. Also available with utility tray option.
6. Faster detection of spills – Floor is slightly inclined to direct flow to front of cabinet for easier detection.
7. Helps protect your kitchen investment.
8. Available exclusively with Merillat Classic® cabinets.

Want to learn more about CoreGuard? Check out our video for more information and to see it in action!

Even in today’s economy, we continue to offer homeowners, builders, dealers and designers new and innovative products, such as our revolutionary water resistant sink base, CoreGuard^™ as well as 100,000 new product offerings.

We do this by following a series of steps through our Six Sigma efficiency process. This process allows us to develop new products and innovations in a structured and progressive way, which ensures that the products we are developing meet the standards that our customers and homeowners expect from Merillat.

Our philosophy of customer loyalty and constant improvement challenges us to continuously look for ways to create and develop innovative – and in some cases revolutionary – products that our customers need and want; all in an effort to give them more product options and make their kitchens more functional for their lifestyles.

We would love to hear your feedback and thoughts on what products you feel would be helpful to have in your kitchen!

Merillat Classic Avenue in Maple Chiffon

Attendees of the K∙BIS Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Chicago April 16-18 aren’t going to want to miss the new innovations, functionality and exciting new looks we have on display. Here are just some of the Merillat product introductions and events taking place at K∙BIS:

Cooking Demonstration with Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone
Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone is cooking LIVE today, April 16, from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. in Merillat’s booth #S1217. Curtis will put our kitchen to the test, demonstrating how important a well-designed, functional space really is. In between demos, he’ll be signing autographs and taking photos, so be sure to stop by if you’re at the show!

Over 100,000 New Merillat Classic® SKUs
Get a sneak peek of some of the great new products and product enhancements that will be available on April 27, including our new Chiffon and Amaretto finishes, new Desert, Tuscan and Java glazes, the new Merillat Classic® Tolani door style, decorative accents and lots of storage solutions.

Revolutionary New CoreGuard^™ Sink Base Cabinet on Display
We’ll also be showing off our exclusive new CoreGuard™ water resistant sink base that re-thinks base cabinet construction by specifically addressing issues such as spills and plumbing leaks. Available this fall, CoreGuard makes detection and cleaning of leaks and spills a breeze.

Corner Storage Made Easier with CornerStore^™ Cabinet
Check out cool new storage options like the CornerStore^™, our prototype corner access cabinet. Available December 2010, this product brings more storage and easy accessibility to that notoriously tight corner cabinet area and provides a high capacity alternative to the traditional Lazy Susan.

Plan Your Space with Our Virtual Selection Center
Envision your kitchen before you build with our new interactive planning tool, the Virtual Selection Center, which we’ll be unveiling at the show.

If you’re at the show, come by booth #S1217 and say hello as you browse our latest trends, styles and designs!

A lot of interesting presentations are already in the KBIS lineup. Here are just few we look forward to checking out:

• The Connected Kitchen
• Trends in Kitchen Ventilation
• Appliances in Unexpected Places
• Shades of Green
• Designing Kitchens for Gourmet Chefs

Check out the 2010 KBIS full lineup and schedule here.

About KBIS

KBIS is the world’s largest international trade show event dedicated to the kitchen and bath industry. It is the ultimate destination for viewing the latest and greatest products, designs, trends and education that the industry has to offer. Year after year, KBIS continues to showcase more products than ever, bringing you star-studded celebrity guests, providing the most informative educational sessions and delivering the best networking opportunities.

Merillat CoreGuard Sink Base

If you’re at the 2010 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas January 19-22, you’ll be one of the first to see a demonstration of the new Merillat CoreGuard™ Sink Base, a revolutionary water-resistant base cabinet that will be available this fall.

It’s something everyone can relate to. Mark Ayers, our Vice President of Marketing, says “A lot can happen under your sink. Leaks and spills can lead to stains and damage. CoreGuard helps protect your cabinetry investment.”

The Merillat CoreGuard Sink Base is made of an engineered polymer specifically designed to resist damage from spills and leaks. The face, frame and door assembly are wood, but behind them, everything is a water-resistant, non-wood material that’s easy to clean and is stain-resistant.

The floor has a slight forward tilt and a rib design to direct any spills forward. With CoreGuard, you can see a problem right away and clean it up. It’s a low-maintenance solution in a cabinet that’s built to last.

Merillat brings new solutions to the kitchen, and CoreGuard is one we’re especially proud of. According to Mark Ayers, “It’s a revolutionary addition to the kitchen, and we think it’s something homeowners are going to demand.”

If you’re at the IBS show, stop by booth #C4143 and see it for yourself. We think it might just make a big splash. And that will be okay.