ASID 2008 Award Winners

Best Kitchen [Construction Over 350 Square Feet]

Designers: Linda M. Engler, ASID, and Becky Kohout, ASID
Firm: Engler Skogmo Interior Design

Design challenge: To take a room planned well by the architect to an even higher level. The client requested a space that allowed family and friends to comfortably gather, but that still felt intimate for two. Efficiency and convenience were to come together with drama and beauty, technology with natural materials. “Minimal clutter and maximum WOW was the client’s directive,” the designers shared in their submission statement.

Best Kitchen [Construction Over 350 Square Feet]

Solution: Identifying the dining area as the best opportunity to make a dramatic statement. The island was divided into two shapes and functions: a rectangle for food preparation, a circle for dining. The entire space radiates from a blown-glass “bubble” light fixture suspended overhead. Key materials include distressed walnut for the table surface, granite countertops in a tactile “leather” finish, and a glass tile backsplash that bridges the pale quarter-figured anigre upper cabinets and the dark quarter-figured walnut lower cabinets.

Best Kitchen [Non-Construction Over 350 Square Feet]

Designer: Tricia Bayer, Allied Member ASID
Firm: Belle Kitchen

Design challenge: To work closely with a custom builder to develop an exceptional family kitchen in a spec home.

Best Kitchen [Non-Construction Over 350 Square Feet]

Solution: Creating an open kitchen that balances drama and comfort. The scale of a grand window called for a large cast-limestone range hood on the opposite wall; the feature makes a statement without overwhelming the space. Cream glazed cabinets and the island’s walnut countertops soften the space, as does a custom stone sink. Ceilings in what designers call the “casual kitchen” adjacent to the main space drop to a nine-foot height, creating a comfortable atmosphere for china cabinets and the dining table. A black walnut floor connects the spaces to the family room.

Best Multiple Rooms [Construction Over 4,000 Square Feet]

Designers: Bruce Kading, ASID, CID, and Rob Edman, Allied Member ASID
Firm: Beson Kading Interior Design Group

Design challenge: To integrate a new home’s interior with the spirit of a heavily wooded site. The clients wanted to balance casual with sophisticated moods, mixing Prairie, classic modern, Asian, and simple traditional styles.

Best Multiple Rooms [Construction Over 4,000 Square Feet]

Solution: Defining spaces architecturally while maintaining an open feeling. Finishes and fabrics largely free of pattern and in such earthy colors as sage green, khaki, and ochre create a comfortable scheme that suits the owners’ desired mix of styles. The double-sided fireplace between the living room and kitchen brings exterior elements inside via rough-cut stone, limestone, and cedar.

Best Individual Room

Designer: Lisa Peck, ASID
Firm: LiLu Interiors

Design challenge: To create a year-round lakeside retreat for empty nester clients that would welcome visiting adult children and accommodate gatherings of different sizes and styles. The clients also requested low-maintenance features.

Best Individual Room

Solution: Designing a low-maintenance boathouse cozy enough for two, but comfortable for entertaining larger groups. Swivel rocking lounge chairs provide relaxed seating near the fireplace; upholstered in a bright nautical stripe fabric rated for outdoor use, the look suits all seasons. Clear-finish rift-cut fir paneling pairs with a white ceiling and rafters to create warmth in the winter and an airy quality in the summer. A wool area rug can be quickly swapped with an easy-to-clean painted floor cloth when entertaining. A beverage sink and kitchen windows opening onto an exterior counter invite guests on the deck to enjoy the boathouse, expanding the entertaining area.

Best Multiple Rooms [Construction 1,0004,000 Square Feet]

Designer: Marcia Morine, ASID
Firm: Morine Design Associates, Inc.

Design challenge: To collaborate with the architect to create a gallery-like loft for clients who collect modern art and like to entertain family and friends.

Best Multiple Rooms [Construction 1,0004,000 Square Feet]

Solution: Forming a “refined industrial” backdrop for the art, exemplified by the architect’s suspended steel-and-glass stair and the interior designer’s Italian kitchen of aluminum, stone, and wood. To accommodate the clients’ gallery request, the space was laid out to allow an expanse of white wall space to be viewed from many perspectives. The furnishings provide comfortable seating and accommodate dining, work, and storage needs, while creating what the designer calls “grounding points for the art.” The scheme ensures that the focus remains on the art, which the owners rotate for an engaging, ever-changing look.

Best Multiple Rooms [Non-Construction]

Designer: Brandi Hagen, Allied Member ASID
Firm: Eminent Interior Design

Design challenge: To add interest to what started as a simple brownstone with no visual interest. Limited windows prevented natural light from permeating the interior. The client had recently downsized from a large home, so the goal was to celebrate his past while providing an elegant, simplified sense of comfort.

Best Multiple Rooms [Non-Construction]

Solution: Combining contemporary design and eclectic art in a welcoming way throughout the home. The great room’s white marble fireplace and curved hearth serve as a simple, sophisticated focal point while bringing the warmth of natural stone to the room. Rich leathers, textured fabrics, and light-catching silks come together to create a personal, inviting conversation area. The dining room, devoid of natural light, feels bright nonetheless, thanks to a layered lighting plan.

Best Kitchen [Non-Construction Up To 350 Square Feet]

Designer: Mary Dworsky, ASID
Firm: Mary Dworsky Interior Design

Design challenge: To create a “clean, modern, and edited kitchen” for a rear addition overlooking a pool and a lake. The space needed to integrate an adjacent family room and complement the home’s open floor plan.

Best Kitchen [Non-Construction Up To 350 Square Feet]

Solution: Anchoring the scheme with dark-stained-wood lower cabinets and featuring upper cabinets built of anodized aluminum with doors that lift up, allowing easy visual access to what’s inside. Large matte and glossy glass tiles on the backsplash are a soothing silver green color that plays off the lake in the distance. Quartz countertops resembling concrete were chosen for their durability and easy maintenance. Particularly eye-catching is the cantilever of the island bar, which carries through on the six-centimeter-thick countertop.

Best Kitchen [Construction Up To 350 Square Feet]

Designer: Jacalyn Millea, ASID
Firm: Shelter Architecture + Interior Design

Design challenge: To create an energy-, materials-, and space-efficient kitchen that would land the highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating possible for the home while adhering to a tight budget.

Best Kitchen [Construction Up To 350 Square Feet]

Solution: Keeping the kitchen open and clearly organized with shallow, easily accessed pantry storage near the refrigerator. Wood is Forest Stewardship Council–certified, plumbing is PVC-free, and adhesives are low in volatile organic compounds. Appliances feature the highest possible Energy Star ratings, and concrete countertops are made from postindustrial waste products. Although the budget was tight, it didn’t compromise aesthetics. LED lighting changes the color of the glass backsplash with cool effect at little cost, and stoplight reflectors were made into striking pendant light fixtures over the island.

Best Showcase House [Construction]

Designer: Bonnie Birnbaum, ASID
Firm: Bonnie Birnbaum Interiors

Design challenge: To produce a personal and contemporary interior design for the master suite added onto a 1905 colonial-style home.

Best Showcase House [Construction]

Solution: Creating an engaging design with a barrel vault that reinforced the home’s original arched portico and drew the eyes to a wall of French doors opening onto a Lake Harriet view. A bed surround with bookshelves and built-in night tables—made from two different woods in contrasting tones—accommodates part of the client’s book collection and his love of reading. A similarly graphic treatment extends to the mix of woods in the master bath’s custom vanity. Elegantly curved faucets, vessel-style sinks, a freestanding tub, and a frosted-glass shower enclosure complete the simple yet sophisticated scheme.

Best Multiple Rooms [Construction Up To 1,000 Square Feet]

Designer: Patricia Finlayson, ASID, CID
Firm: Patricia Finlayson Design, Inc.

Design challenge: To develop a totally different look for a contemporary condominium at the clients’ request. The new space would be more colorful, open, environmentally responsible, and accommodating of the clients’ physical needs (one member of the couple is short, the other uses a cane).

Best Multiple Rooms [Construction Up To 1,000 Square Feet]

Solution: Enhancing the open feeling and letting light flow through the condo by using glass elements, such as custom shelves and vertical divider panels. Green materials used include wall coverings, cabinets, water-based paint, and floor finishes. A whole-house lighting system with smart programming technology further improves energy efficiency. Kitchen cabinet heights and depths address accessibility, as do the easy-to-use oven with a side-hinge door and the microwave drawer and freezer drawers.

Best Showcase House [Non-Construction]

Designer: Mary Ellen Gardiner, Allied Member ASID
Firm: M E Gardiner Interior Design

Design challenge: To design a powder room in keeping with the modern overall style of a showcase house.

Solution: Creating a dramatic, inviting look in a small space. The ramp sink and wall-mount faucet were chosen for their simplicity and contemporary feel. Pendants, which are controlled by a dimmer, add drama with their beautiful reflective quality, which contrasts with the dark ceiling color. The custom-made medicine cabinet conceals a rope light that glows from behind the mirror, adding interest to the niche above the sink. The interior of the cabinet is deep enough to hold rolls of toilet paper, minimalizing clutter in the sleek room.

Best Bathroom

Designers: Linda M. Engler, ASID, and Becky Kohout, ASID
Firm: Engler Skogmo Interior Design

Design challenge: To add interest, impact, and a softened demeanor to a room originally planned by the architect with cabinets on three walls, an undermount tub, and a relatively small shower. The client used such terms as tranquil and oasis when describing the desired look.

Best Bathroom

Solution: Modifying the plan with an enlarged, glass-enclosed shower and removing the cabinetry under the large window, creating space for a more distinctive tub. The sculptural, freestanding tub delivers quiet drama. Honed Calcutta Luna marble on the vanity tops and shower walls combines beautifully with the golden honed limestone flooring and dark-stained walnut cabinets.