Even with technical difficulties, which ultimately forced organizers to postpone the show floor portion at this year’s KBIS Virtual Experience, brands BlueStar, Monogram, and LG provided a spark of hope for what’s expected from luxury appliances in 2021. Despite a virtual showing, these three high-end brands put on standout presentations full of the latest appliance features that every aspirational homeowner will love.
From the kitchen to the laundry room, here are our favorite premium appliances from the Virtual KBIS 2021 show.
BlueStar
BlueStar pro-style range customized using BlueStar by Design
Despite 130 years of expert craftsmanship, American-made brand, BlueStar, is seeking new ways for its products to inspire home cooks. With these two latest additions to the luxury brand’s repertoire, it’s another way BlueStar invites you to “Unleash Your Inner Chef.”
BlueStar Brings the Heat
Coming fall of 2021, the BlueStar Dual is the brand’s first ever dual-fuel range, yet despite its debut, audiences at the KBIS Virtual Experience expressed exceptional optimism, thanks to an impressive list of high-end features.
Along with a reinvented star burner design, this pro-style dual-fuel range also delivers 25,000 BTUs of high-heat performance to boil pasta water faster and to achieve restaurant-quality sears on Porterhouse steaks. Just as important, the BlueStar Dual is also capable of low-heat simmers down to 130 degrees, so users can truly exercise their cooking skills to their full potential.
And with a state-of-the-art touch pad with easy-tilt positioning, cooks can enjoy interactive control of cooking conditions on an easy-to-read display.
Refrigeration Innovation
From hefty BTUs to skinny column refrigerators and freezers, BlueStar showed true versatility during the KBIS Virtual Experience. These new BlueStar 30-inch refrigerator columns and 18-inch, 24-inch, and 30-inch freezer columns save you space in the kitchen, but provide ample storage with full-extension drawers and intelligently designed storage bins.
Users will also enjoy customizable configuration, flush installation, and the ability to match kitchen cabinetry, providing a truly designer look. The launch of this line is yet to be announced, but its premiere this year already has shoppers and retailers intrigued.
Your Personality Shines
With BlueStar by Design, the brand’s latest interactive design platform, you are no longer limited to the colors and finishes from a manufacturer. Just upload a hi-res photo (must be hi-res in order for the feature to function) and get a first-hand preview to a truly customized range or refrigerator front. Go bold with a statement pattern. Go minimal with clean lines. Whichever way a user’s palate leans, the BlueStar by Design program lets them express it.
Monogram
GE made big waves with its interactive virtual tour tool that gave audiences a near-lifelike experience of GE, Café, and GE Profile kitchen appliances with a lineup of fun and modern kitchen vignettes. Naturally, Monogram, the brand’s premium line, also had its own moment in the limelight.
Your Range of Style
Monogram Pro Range Feature from GE Appliances Virtual Events on Vimeo.
Monogram really puts the pro in professional with its latest high-end range graced with edge-to-edge craftsmanship. Highlights include upgraded brass burners with 23,000 BTU output, plus precision oven modes, including hot Air Fry. For an extra touch of special detail, the knobs have also been lined with genuine brass, and feature LED backlighting with color customization.
Best of all, the new Monogram pro-style range is ready to embrace the future of home cooking. Engineered with the latest tech features, Monogram Training & Development Senior Manager Alex Ochsner says that, after purchasing, users “can have a pro range that has more features and functionality than the day that they bought it.”
As of now, the new Monogram pro-style range is compatible with interactive cooking tools, including voice-control commands that work with Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant. And with Hestan Cue — a step-by-step guided cooking app — home cooks can also prepare five-star meals with the help of real chefs.
The X Factor
X Series Wall Ovens from GE Appliances Virtual Events on Vimeo.
Coming April 2021, Monogram’s X Series wall oven line is the latest fusion of modern style and professional performance. These 30-inch wall ovens are available as single or double-wall oven units, and come in two distinct style choices: The Minimalist collection and the Statement collection.
With a low-profile trim and extensive black glass, the Minimalist collection is the definition of sleek sophistication. Crafted in a lustrous display of stainless steel, the Statement collection is versatile yet the star of the kitchen.
Monogram enticed viewers with innovative ways to take home cook to new levels. The first is with an exclusive twin-convection direct air system that delivers twice the even oven heat than standard convection ovens. The second is a 7-inch LCD display touch screen equipped with precision cooking modes that monitor the cooking of popular foods, such as steaks, chicken wings, and roast chicken, automatically adjusting time and temperatures for perfect results.
Full of ergonomic features, the Monogram X Series showed audiences an enhanced user experience. With new levels of voice command, busy cooks can now open the oven door just by speaking. Or, use the push-to-open function on the Minimalist series that opens the oven with just the bump of an elbow.
LG
Not to be left behind, LG also caught the attention of participants, with innovative laundry appliances designed to extend the life of beloved garments.
Wash Tower and Styler
Leave it to LG to take the stacked laundry design and improve on it. With a unitized design, the LG Studio Wash Tower gives users access to washer and dryer controls the from a single spot (that means no more reaching up to select dryer settings).
The stacked design also frees up floorspace, and with a small footprint, this all-in-one washer and dryer unit is a fitting addition to master suites, a pool house, or in the basement. Arriving fall 2021, the LG Studio Wash Tower will be available in gas and electric models, but regardless of which users buy, they can expect these winning features:
- Industry-leading 5.0 cu. ft. washer capacity and 7.4 cu. ft. dryer capacity.
- Asthma & Allergy Friendly certification — removes more than 95 percent of pet dander and dust.
- LG’s Proactive Customer Care with the industry’s first personalized and automated customer support; users gain free access to maintenance tips, monthly usage reports, and possible issues before they happen.
So Fresh, So Clean
LG is no rookie when it comes to engineering appliances that brilliantly balance the latest technology with easy user experience. Previously, LG released the Styler, a steam closet designed to get wrinkles out of suits, flannels, and dress shirts virtually hands-free.
At 24 inches in width, the LG Studio Styler is an upgrade from LG’s original 18-inch Styler cabinet. This difference in size provides extra space to steam more garments, including pillows, outerwear, and even stuffed animals.
Besides more room, the LG Studio Styler (S5MSB) also features:
- LG TrueSteam technology that eliminates more than 99.9 percent of allergens, germs, and bacteria.
- Also, Asthma & Allergy Friendly certified.
- 2 years parts and labor warranty
Stay on Trend for 2021
At Grand Appliance and TV, we’re your local provider of luxury appliances. Discover top-performing appliances from name brands, including Sub-Zero, Thermador, Wolf, Miele, and more. With 25 locations throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana, we make finding high-end appliances easy. Browse, shop, and compare in-store or online today!