Unlimited Living in Any Footprint with Häfele

Archdale, North Carolina, USA, January 21, 2020

  • Being able to fully realize the space you have starts with the right hardware
  • Products like Loox LED lighting, wall bed fittings and the right design make it all possible
  • MKCA has essentially created a master class in micro-living for KBIS 2020 attendees


The spaces we live in are getting smaller, but that doesn’t mean we should ever have to sacrifice when it comes to comfort, functionality or style. Enter Häfele America Co., one of America’s leading suppliers of unique hardware components and solutions, which will debut and reintroduce a full suite of products during the 2020 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) show which will allow designers and owners the chance at Unlimited Living in any footprint.

This innovative display was conceived and designed by industry leader Michael K. Chen Architecture (MCKA) specifically for the 2020 KBIS show. The micro-living exhibit makes use of Häfele wall bed hardware, wardrobe lifts, flap fittings, TV lifts and much, much more — all built into a tiny space which freely allows for cooking & eating, relaxing & sleeping, entertaining and beyond.

“The very first projects our office designed made use of Hafele's products in rather unconventional ways. This project gave us an opportunity to build even further on that experience a new, unique direction,” said Michael K. Chen, Founder and Principal of MKCA. “Hafele's global reach allowed us to explore how smaller spaces can offer more convenience, purpose and utility, and how they can work like much larger ones."

Häfele’s Loox LED Lighting offers functional, task and ambient lighting throughout the micro-living display — including in drawers, glass-edge shelf lighting, in cabinets and beyond. In addition to motion-detection switches, this display marks the U.S. debut of the Häfele Connect Hub which offers voice activation for various lighting scenes as well as control over other Häfele elements such as the display’s integrated Electronic TV Lift.

The kitchen area of the display is purposefully built to hide all you’d expect to see and use in a kitchen when not in use and reveal it again when it’s time to get cooking. The heavy lifting here performed by a Fulterer FR 777 Bottom Mounted Pull-Out Cabinet Slide which allows the countertop to move effortlessly in and out to expose all one needs for culinary greatness. Food storage and preparation in the space are made possible via a 24” Integrated Wall Oven, 12” Induction Cooktop and Integrated CoolDrawer™ Multi-temperature Drawer all provided courtesy of Fisher & Paykel.

All drawers throughout the display are the sleekly styled Grass Vionaro Drawer System in graphite finish. Vionaro offers an incredible level of easy, tool free adjustment with under mounted Grass Dynapro slides featuring built in synchronization. Additional, available finishes include silver gray and white. Blind corner storage is made possible via a Kesseböhmer Lemans II Model 40, which discreetly stores items and then allows them to be brought out to the user as needed. Counter storage is achieved with the EKU Forte Cabinet Slide in differing lengths to allow for both fluid shelf movement and adequate clearance.

The closet and clothing storage area features the Häfele Wardrobe Lift — which allowed for the casework to be built up to maximize space — elegantly concealed behind pocketing doors riding on Hawa Concepta hardware. A Tilt-Out Wire Hamper means never having to trip over a pile of clothes. Other clothing storage is available with TAG Hardware’s Synergy Elite Wardrobe Tubes.

Anyone unfamiliar with the micro-living concept invariably asks one simple question: where do you sleep? The answer, in this case, is hidden in the wall. Behind the sofa lives a queen-sized wall bed supported by a Wall Bed Fitting Set from Häfele including gas pistons, angular feet and everything else necessary to raise, lower and support a restful slumber. Bedside storage includes a Rapid Pull-Out Table System as well as Grass Vionaro drawer outfitted with the all-new Docking Drawer Blade Duo USB-C with Power Delivery (PD), an in-drawer charging solution which can charge devices up to 70% faster than standard 12W charging.

Rounding out the micro-living area — and bringing plenty of functionality for entertaining and everyday use — is a convertible island featuring a pull-out, folding table set in motion with the Accuride Linear Motion Track System, integrated Häfele Electronic TV Lift and bar area concealed behind a Häfele exclusive Free Up Lift Up Fitting.

Any space — no matter the size — can benefit from the display MKCA has created with Häfele products at KBIS 2020. The goal, regardless of how much space a designer has to work with, is to add intelligent purpose and infinite usefulness with every project.