The Pinnacle of Success

Category 9 – Other Rooms – 1st Place
Laundry Room Combines the Best of Entertainment and Function

When is a laundry room not a laundry room? The answer is “when Alan Vaughn Hilsabeck, Jr. designs it.”

You see, when Hilsabeck, CKD, CBD, ASID, of Dallas, TX-based Premier Kitchens and Baths, Inc. began work on this unique laundry area, he was faced with three specific requests: Include large-capacity appliances, maximize storage and integrate an expanded butler’s pantry.

Indeed, Hilsabeck, along with co-designer Allison W. McKinney, were able to address these issues and earn themselves top honors in the “Other Rooms” category of this year’s Design Competition.

Hilsabeck explains: “Specifying a large-capacity, front-loading washer and dryer [from Bosch] was the first ingredient. “This allowed for a beautiful bamboo countertop with full-height backsplash.”

Complementing the countertop are custom auto-body finished metallic cabinets from Acorn.

“The upper wall cabinets, with full-height adjustable shelves, include aluminum with frosted glass doors to provide visual privacy while maintaining an open feel,” he offers. “These doors coordinate with the aluminum and frosted glass sliding wall system across the room, which provides a ‘moveable wall system,’ hiding the laundry area and storage while the room is being used for entertainment.”

The design also includes Sub-Zero drawers, and wine storage from Viking Range Corp. For additional storage, a tall, freestanding linen tower was included.

The streamlined look is completed with maple hardwood flooring and enhanced by Juno lighting, Hilsabeck concludes.

Placing second was Burke Cheney and co-designer James Whitehouse of Wilton, CT-based Country Kitchens LLC, who converted a client’s basement into a suitable area for the client – a competitive ballroom dancer – to entertain and dance with friends. The space includes a full bath, a media area and a bar area, and features a Sub-Zero refrigerator and icemaker, a GE microwave and Dutch Mill cabinets.

Third-place honors were earned by Peter Ross Salerno, CMKBD, of Wyckoff, NJ-based Peter Salerno, Inc., who submitted a wine cellar design that features CraftMaid Cabinetry along with a slate floor and backsplash for added warmth.

Category 10 – Non-Residential Spaces – 1st Place
Inspired Break Room Breaks from Convention for Clients and Staff

If you ever need a break, or should we say, breakroom, just ask Patricia Davis Brown.

Brown was able to create this eye-catching company breakroom that could be enjoyed by the company’s staff, or its clients, should it be required.

As a result, Brown took first-place in the “Non-Residential Spaces” category of this year’s NKBA Design Competition.

“Every ounce of space is used in this design – from the corner base turnout to the pull-out trash,” Brown offers. The space also features a 10-cup coffeemaker that is built into the wall for ease of use, she notes.

Brown also chose a Northland refrigerator, Grohe fixtures and fittings and Corian countertops.

“The built-in refrigerator is great food storage, leaving ample counter space,” she offers.

Lighting was an integral part of this design too, she points out.

“The design has general recessed incandescent can lights placed so that the beam spread does not intersect the face of the wall cabinets,” she explains.

Low-voltage clickstrips were used for undercabinet lighting to illuminate the hand-painted, mosaic tile backsplash under the cabinet, Brown concludes.

Second-place honors were earned by Esther E. Kaminski of Middlefield, OH-based KraftMaid Cabinetry, Inc., who submitted a contemporary conference room design with a fully functional kitchen for catering during large meetings.

Third-place honors were earned by Patricia Davis Brown, who created a drafting room, complete with television monitors that will alert staff to incoming clients, and computers equipped with AutoCAD software.