The Decorative Plumbing and Hardware Association’s (DPHA) annual three-day summit took place at the Houston Hyatt Regency with 344 attendees and 48 exhibitors representing 62 manufacturers. The event was a fabulous mix of serious fun and serious business with a product awards ceremony; a dynamic keynote session with futurist Crystal Washington, who adeptly tailored her presentation to the attendees; and the Product Showcase where premium and luxury products, not frequently seen at other trade shows, were on display and accompanied by brand representatives and product designers.
Plumbing Trends
At the meeting, manufacturers focused on delivering luxury to the consumer, not just with beautiful designs and finishes but more specifically, the user experience. Faucet handles with ultra-smooth operation, hand-held shower hoses that do not tangle or twist, shower heads that deliver a relaxing experience for everyday hygiene, bathtubs and saunas that that offer health and wellness benefits and product customization all put the consumer in the design driver’s seat on the quest to make their projects unique.
Concrete fixtures were displayed by multiple manufacturers. Concrete exudes a tactile and visual presence, soothing our senses from our screen-centric world and is amenable to being crafted in a variety of shapes and sizes that are hard to achieve with vitreous china, making the material a desirable choice for an organic design style. Notable concrete fixtures displayed at DPHA included Barclay’s Krete line with beautiful, ribbed fronts; Lacava displayed Concrete sinks in a dozen colors and eighteen sizes/shape options; and Native Trails’ concrete Arcata sink took home the 2025 DPHA Bathroom Fixture Product of the Year.
Krete Zaros Sink by Barclay. Photo: Barclay
The Dornbracht Vaia Feather faucet, recipient of the DPHA’s Product of the Year Best Bathroom Faucet & Fittings award, has a graceful shape and a stunning on-trend green finish.
Vaia Feather Faucet by Dornbracht. Photo: Dornbracht
Jaclo demonstrated how knurling works as well with cabinet/door hardware as it does with plumbing fixtures in its stylish, offset Metropolis shower valve handle.
Art Deco is getting hot and Franz Viegener’s debut of the Zephyr faucet collection, an elegant and fresh take on linear geometry, reflects this trend.
Making functional plumbing a statement piece was a common theme at the Summit. The Jaclo Deca bottle trap drain, which won a 2025 KBB Product Award in the bath category and Oatey’s linear shower drain with integrated clean-out basket, elevate mundane products into something to spotlight rather than hide.
Flusso’s waterfall wall-mounted tub filler with a shelf from their Cascade collection does dual duty in one fixture, provides a landing space for bubble bath, candles and more while providing a sensuous bathtub filler. A coordinating shower head is available, too.
Cascade Tub Filler by Flusso. Photo: Flusso
The Thermasol Solaris Sauna, recipient of the DPHA Product of the Year award for Innovative Engineering, is a solar-powered sauna designed to be installed outdoors. Suitable for retrofit projects, it allows designers and consumers to potentially reduce installation costs by not having to build-out an existing home or run additional power and utility lines. Fitted with a large window, it has the added amenity of capturing views of the surrounding landscape while enjoying the health and wellness benefits of a sauna.
Solaris Sauna by Thermasol. Photo: Thermasol
Door, Cabinet, Decorative and Functional Hardware Trends at DPHA
Amba featured the Modello I. The 2024 DPHA Accessory Product of the Year. It is a single heated towel bar/radiator that can be installed alone or in a group. The single vertical installation offers sufficient contact for drying and heating towels and works well in bathrooms with limited wall space or when the bathtub and shower are separated for several feet, a single bar can be installed near both bathing fixtures.
Bathroom Furnishings
Similar to other product categories, fluting, curves and customization are at the heart of bathroom furnishing trends.
Lacava’s Flutti series speaks to several trends including soft curves, fluting and wall-mounted vanities/sinks. It comes in several finishes and includes a linen tower, freestanding bathtub, decorative hardware and faucets for a customizable mix-and-match design.
Flutti Vanity by Lacava. Photo: Lacava
DPHA Attendee Feedback
Here is what two participants, from different areas of the kitchen and bath industry had to say about the merits of attending the DPHA Summit:
Manufacturer’s representative Kim Kilgore, owner of The Rain Company, summarized the Summit as “the place where one gets to view leading-edge design for plumbing and hardware product trends and meet the company owners and designers who are bringing innovative products to market.”
Molly Switzer, a Portland, Ore.-based designer, helped judge the product awards and attended the Summit because, “I find the intimate setting has an excellent concentration of luxury products not seen elsewhere. As well, the opportunity to have one-on-one time with company founders, owners and national sales reps deeply supports my design practice.”
The DPHA was founded in 2001/2002 to support and elevate the kitchen and bath community by promoting the plumbing and hardware industries through networking and education. The Association comprises plumbing and hardware manufacturers, dealers, sales representatives and industry professionals. The 2026 DPHA Summit is scheduled for October 22-25 in Salt Lake City.
—Molly McCabe, AKBD, CLIPP, CGP, CAPS is owner/principal designer at McCabe By Design LLC
