Appliance News

General Electric (GE) recently announced it is in an agreement to sell its home appliances business to Swedish white-goods group Electrolux for $3.3 billion.

It’s hard to imagine GE, a household name for more than a century, leaving the consumer appliance industry.

This deal is a major shake-up in the home appliance industry, pairing the second- and third-largest companies in the industry.

Under the deal, GE has a long-term agreement with Electrolux to keep using the GE Appliances brand alongside its own Frigidaire brand in an attempt to leverage the company’s long history.

Although the boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction, it is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and is due to close next year.

Electrolux said the acquisition, the single biggest deal it has made, represented “an attractive strategic fit” for its operations in North America, expected to generate “significant synergies” particularly in procurement and day-to-day running of the combined business.

GE has sold devices to people for its entire 122-year history, starting with the light bulb, which was invented by company founder Thomas Edison. The lighting division will stay, but it’s just a tiny part of GE. Now GE will sell its products almost exclusively to other companies.

GE is the only remaining member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, first calculated in 1896. But, GE has frustrated shareholders by underperforming both the Dow and broader stock indexes for much of the last decade.

There was no mention of what would happen to FirstBuild which is a partnership between GE Appliances and Local Motors to create a new model for the appliance industry and manufacture those designs in its Microfactory.

My trip to the Monogram Experience Center last October. Being able to cook on
the appliances is an incredible educational tool and meeting designers and dealers
from around the country was very insightful.

September 17, 2014

Energy Star and Water Sense Sales Tax Holiday

There’s a sales tax holiday this weekend for Energy Efficient Appliances and Water Sense Products September 19 – 21, 2014 starting at 12:01 a.m.

Floridians will pay no sales tax on purchases of up to $1,500 of ENERGY STAR appliances and WaterSense products. However, a person is limited to a single purchase of each specific type of Energy Star or WaterSense product that has a sales price of $500 or more. There are no quantity limits for qualifying items with a sales price less than $500.

Qualifying ENERGY STAR products:
Air purifiers
Ceiling fans
Clothes washers
Dehumidifiers
Dishwashers
Freezers
Light bulbs
Refrigerators
Room air conditioners
Swimming pool pumps
Water heaters

Qualifying WaterSense products:
Bathroom sink faucets
Faucet accessories
High-efficiency toilets and urinals
Showerheads
Weather- and sensor-based irrigation controllers

Dryers are not listed because they do not meet Energy Star qualifications. Installations Charges may be tax exempt too. It get’s a little tricky but if you purchase a qualifying product that does not become part of the home and remains tangible personal property when installed, the item plus the labor are exempt if their total is less than $1,500.

Example: An Energy Star window air conditioner unit for $350 plus $100 install. The $450 total purchase qualifies.

Example: A WaterSense toilet is sold by a contractor for $465 with installation for $125. The $590 total does not qualify.

If you want to buy a Service Warranty on your new Dishwasher, it too may be exempt. If the retail sale of an item is exempt from tax, the charge for a service warranty sold with the item is also exempt when the total is less than $1,500.

Understanding Coupons and Rebates. The price of a qualifying item is not limited to the amount paid by a customer.

Example: The Energy Star refrigerator you want is $1,795. The retailer is offering 10% off. Your purchase of $1,615.50 qualifies for the first $1,500 to be exempt. You pay sales tax on the remaining $115.50

Example: You purchase an Energy Star freezer for $1,549. The manufacturer is offering an instant $50 rebate at the time of purchase. Although you pay $1,499, the price remains the same for the retailer. They will receive $1,499 from you and $50 from the manufacturer. The first $1,500 is exempt and you pay sales tax on the remaining $49.

If the retailer – not the manufacture;, were offering the rebate in the example above, the $1,499 purchase would have been tax exempt.

If you like to shop on the internet the good news is that if your order is accepted within the holiday period for immediate delivery, it qualifies for exemption – even if it ships after the tax holiday ends.

Shipping and handling charges are part of your purchase total and follow the same exemption rules. If you purchase multiple items on a single receipt, the shipping and handling charges must be fairly assigned to each item to determine if an item is exempt during the holiday.

September 7, 2014

Colormix 2015 Inspiration: Unrestrained

From bold, ethnic-inspired colors and designs to the Bohemian lifestyle, the Unrestrained palette celebrates a carefree spirit, wanderlust and pulsing color. The palette features saturated primary hues, including sunny yellow, lively turquoise and bright blue, as well as black and white. Each can be used on its own for a pop of color, or combined, to create a vibrant, energetic space.

“South Africa’s colorful art scene and focus on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro have strongly influenced a Carnival-like spirit. This spirit is inspiring design with a zest for life, and the vibrant colors of Unrestrained are a reflection of that design aesthetic,” – Jackie Jordan. director of color marketing, Sherwin-Williams

More Unrestrained Color Inspiration

Love the throw and the chair color with the yellow lamp

Turquoise makes this room pop

Bohemian Chic Outdoor Space

An Entrance that Pops with a Tanger Sofa

Vibrantly Painted Kitchen Island

Amazing Bold Paint Color with Yellow Mantel

Unrestrained is a perfect description for this bathroom

September 3, 2014

Colormix 2015 Inspiration: Buoyant

Buoyant - Colormix forecast 2015 | KitchAnn Style

The colors of Buoyant are reminiscent of vintage floral patterns – light and deep greens, violets and a pop of coral. In addition to renewed optimism, the palette is also inspired by the natural healing of botanicals, as well as the incorporation of green spaces into even the most densely urban environments. When you return home from your daily grind, you will be surrounded not by colors of a concrete jungle, but by colors found in a lush rainforest or tropical garden.

“We’ve weathered the recession and are finally seeing hopeful signs of growth and expansion. Our revived good spirits echo the optimism that followed World War II, when GIs returned home from exotic locales, bringing a wave of tropical prints and tiki-inspired looks,” says Jackie Jordan. “Like that era, we’re expressing our enthusiasm with big, bright florals in fashion and interiors.”