Floor Show: From Stereos in Your Hot Tub to Polished Concrete on Your Countertops, the Buffalo Home & Garden Show Offers All That is New

Mar. 2--A spa with a built-in stereo and illuminated waterfall. A freestanding fireplace that revolves. A refrigerator that gives you extra freezer space when you need it. These are just a few of the enticing products available to today's homeowners.

And just a few likely to generate buzz at this year's Buffalo Home & Garden Show.

The nine-day annual show, which opens Saturday at the Buffalo Convention Center, offers more than 500 exhibits -- from awnings and generators to play sets and windows -- as well as seminars, workshops and attractions guaranteed to cure the wintertime blues.

Decks delight. Sheds catch the eye. And this year's "model" home and attached gardens will have the owners of Victorian-style houses in this area rethinking their decor and landscaping.

New this year: The Show floor is organized by category, which will make it easier for visitors to navigate, says Bob Degenhart, show manager. The seminar stage has been expanded. A character acting as the "Hot Stuff Genie" will be on hand to demonstrate the Show's hottest products. And this year's feature home will, well, hit home for many show-goers.

The three-room structure -- with its turrets and high ceilings -- will remind many of the Victorian-style homes found in the city.

Step inside, however, and discover that this is not your Grandmother's Victorian.

A team of designers from the local Interior Design Association created an urban interior suited for today's lifestyles.

"Metro is where we are going with the theme," said Cathy VanGalio.

On Wednesday, with the floors being installed and the furniture yet to arrive, she and fellow designer Mimi Fierle gave a tour of the feature home, which includes a living room, kitchen and bedroom with doors leading to gardens that will surely inspire.

Among the highlights and trends visitors will see in the model:

--An old-fashioned turret transformed into a bar area -- with steel and glass shelves that double as a "hard" window treatment as well as a place to showcase contemporary barware.

--A kitchen with polished concrete countertops from Crimmen Concrete Surfaces and maple cabinets from New York Kitchen & Bath.

--Prefinished, low-maintenance hickory flooring, installed by M.P. Caroll Hardwood.

--A traditional four poster-bed in a dark espresso finish with nickel trim -- a big trend today.

The focus, the designers say, is on "natural colors and natural elements blended with nickel."

One thing to check out: the painted wall treatment in the living room.

Three horizontal stripes in three shades of tan, with the darkest at the top, visually bring down the 12-foot walls to make the room more cozy -- a design challenge often shared by homeowners dealing with high ceilings.

But there is plenty more to see. Spas, for one, always are a big attraction to winter-weary show-goers. And today's options offer features that make many want to take the plunge.

Robert Kneer, sales manager at Pool Brite which sells the Sundance line of hot tubs, points out some of them: built-in stereo systems; iPod docking stations; waterfalls with colored lights; aromatherapy systems; synthetic polymer decks for lower maintenance, and advanced high-tech filtration systems that eliminate the need for harsh chemicals.

The biggest thing is the MicroClean Plus Filtration System for pure water and an odorless hot tub, Kneer said.

Also scheduled is a series of "Make 'n Take" seminars offered by Lockwood's Greenhouses, JoAnn Etc. and Space Innovations, celebrity presentations by the JunkMarket Girls Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer beginning Thursday, and much more.

Check out www.buffalohomeshow.com for show highlights, exhibitors, seminar times, information on ticket discounts and everything else you need to know.

e-mail: smartin@buffnews.com

Buffalo Home & Garden Show Saturday through March 11 at the Buffalo Convention Center Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday; 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. March 9 and 10; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 11 Tickets: $9 for adults, $3 for children ages 6 to 12 (5 and younger are free). Discount tickets are available online at www.buffalohomeshow.com and at Wegmans.

-----

Copyright (c) 2007, The Buffalo News, N.Y.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.