Last week I attended the 2013 Architectural Digest Home Design Show, which is a small trade show featuring a carefully curated selection of home and kitchen brands. It's a fun show to go to for that reason, since you know you'll only see the best of the best. Here are 5 brands that caught my eye:

One of the fun things about the Housewares show is discovering kitchenware companies from around the world. This is a blessing and a curse, because while it's cool to see what's coming out of Europe, for example, it's also a bummer not to be able to buy it anywhere in the US. That's exactly how we felt about these thermal cook-and-store pieces from Italian brand Ater. More

All week long we've been sharing our discoveries from this year's Home + Housewares show. We showed you this awesome new Greek Yogurt maker and Bodum's game-changing stand mixers. We revealed KitchenAid's new colors and Dansk's adorable teacups. But now it's time to round up a few of our absolute favorites, the prettiest and most eye-catching items in the bunch:

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Dansk Kobenstyle cookware is a darling of vintage cookware collectors. We love its mid-century styling and the practical enameled steel construction. (I have several vintage pieces that I use regularly!) So, last year, the big news at Housewares was that Dansk Kobenstyle was coming back, reissued and all new, but still in its classic form. We saw it up close this year, and really liked some of the new colors (teal, slate, stainless steel) and new pieces — hello adorable teacups! More

The International Home + Housewares show has literally millions of square feet of exhibition space, but every year, while plowing through it all, there's something that stops us in our tracks. A smart idea whose time has come. This year, that product was this: The Greek Yogurt Maker from Dash. Let me explain why. 

Every year we see a fair share of color at Housewares, but this year we saw an awful lot of pink, in all shades. More

While booking it through the Home + Housewares show yesterday in Chicago (there is so much to see), Faith and I passed these gorgeous pastel machines, and immediately stopped to ooh and aah. "Ankarsrum," I read on the booth sign. "Swedish quality since 1940." The shape of the machine was interesting, and we were particularly intrigued to see a few units lying on their side. What were we dealing with here? A stand mixer? Juicer? Blender? Meat grinder? Turns out an Ankarsrum machine is all those things, and more: More

The stand mixer market is really dominated by KitchenAid (earlier we showed you their new colors for 2013), with some competition from Cuisinart and Breville. So we were really fascinated to see a few fresh new options at the Home + Housewares show yesterday — most notably this stylish machine from Bodum, who is more commonly known for coffee and tea ware than small appliances. Want a closer peek? More

Yesterday Cambria and I spent a day in Chicago at the International Home + Housewares Show, the massive annual trade show where new products for the kitchen and home are introduced. There's always a dizzying array of stuff on display, much of it not worth mentioning, but we spotted a few gems we thought worth telling you about.

And we're starting with everyone's favorite little tidbit: the new KitchenAid mixer colors for 2013! Vibrant green, bubblegum pink, and read on to see a photo of the Watermelon... More

On my short jaunt last week to CERSAIE, the massive European tile show, I saw plenty of gorgeous understated tile. But the designs that really left an impression were more colorful and geometry-inspired — especially the new designs by Patricia Urquiola for luxury tile maker Mutina. Here's a peek at this lovely stuff! More