The organizations behind two of the industry’s biggest tentpole events are getting collaborative.

This morning, High Point Market Authority and the National Kitchen & Bath Association announced a strategic partnership—the details of which are still in the works, but which will be aimed at harnessing each organization’s stronghold in their respective categories, with the goal of driving attendance at their respective trade shows and fostering industry conversations about the whole home.

“We started talking about the future of the home: The kitchen is getting bigger, the island is getting bigger. The kitchen is sort of the living room too,” says Bill Darcy, the global president and CEO of NKBA. According to recent NKBA research, the size of the average U.S. home is shrinking for the first time in decades, but the square footage devoted to kitchens and primary bathrooms is growing. Yet in a recent conversation with a kitchen designer, Darcy heard a familiar refrain: While the designer was deeply enmeshed in their field, they lacked the resources to make complementary selections. “[They had] just finished this kitchen project and it’s like, ‘Sorry, the stools in the kitchen are your problem,’” recalls Darcy. He spotted a missed opportunity.

Where design professionals are traditionally siloed—where one specialty ends and the next begins—the teams at NKBA and HPMA see potential for growth. Their partnership hinges on the idea that designers of all types benefit from more cross-pollination between the worlds of kitchen and bath design and home furnishings.

The partnership unites two organizations with key similarities and differences—and both bring something unique to the table. HPMA was founded in 2001 as the official organizer of the twice-annual High Point Market, overseeing everything from registration to on-site transportation, wayfinding and programming for the 75,000 Market attendees each April and October. NKBA, meanwhile, is a trade association specifically for the kitchen and bath category. In addition to offering programming and professional certification for its 55,000 members, NKBA also owns the annual Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, a three-day trade event in February that is produced by event organizer Emerald Expositions.

“We are different but the same. NKBA is an association that’s looking to bring value to its members. [HPMA is] a market—but at the same time, we kept coming back to ‘This is good for the industry,’” says Tammy Covington, president and CEO of HPMA. “It made sense to come out and say: We’re interested in working together, and ultimately our goal is that both groups are better off in the end.”

This more formalized partnership grew out of a series of conversations between the two groups, followed by NKBA’s pop-up activation at High Point Market in October, called “The Tent,” a temporary structure that featured product installations, panels and cooking demonstrations. For the NKBA team, the positive reception to the installation affirmed the decision to deepen its presence in North Carolina. (NKBA also previously hosted a day and a half of tours and educational programming at Market in 2018.)

For HPMA, meanwhile, the partnership creates the opportunity to capitalize on attendees’ enthusiasm for the kitchen and bath category. “Whether on-site at Market or in after-Market surveys, when you ask designers what they need and want, kitchen and bath comes up every time,” says Covington. “[They say,] ‘We’re leaving money on the table because we’re not doing that whole-home concept.’ And so, from our standpoint, this feels like the natural next step.”

While the details of the partnership have not yet been finalized, Covington and Darcy say attendees should expect to see an “immersive experience with mini activations” at future editions of High Point Market; they are also exploring how High Point Market could make a cameo at future KBIS events.

“Even though the consumer is not our customer, if the consumer has the best possible project solution, everybody wins. So how do we help our members give the consumer the best value? The more knowledgeable they are, the more connected they are—I think we’re doing a disservice if we don’t facilitate relationships,” says Darcy. “We want to be seen as the primary events you must attend—these are two you can’t miss. There are still two big populations [that haven’t been to one show or the other]. But if you’re trying to do the interior of a home and you go to High Point and KBIS, you’re going to get most of what you need.”