A multi-category, multi-year design competition winner talks about what the victories have meant to her and more.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
Gina D’Amore Bauerle isn’t exactly the shy, retiring type.
In fact, her social media identity is “Design Boss Gina,” and she’s not afraid to take chances with her designs. Having grown up in a family home furnishings design business, the partner and interior designer at D’Amore Interiors in the Denver Design District says she’s been “surrounded by all things design my entire life. With formal degrees in advertising and marketing, my passion and upbringing has always been design.”
She’s entered the NKBA Design Competition for about five years. “The first couple of years, I didn’t make the cut! I had to study the NKBA guideline book and relearn to draw my plans so that I wasn’t losing points on that subject.”
Her efforts paid off. In the 2022 Design Competition, she took third-place honors in the Large Contemporary Bath category and first place for her Small Contemporary Bath — which also earned the Overall Best Bath grand prize. And in 2021, she won first place in the Large Traditional Bath category.
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She says the key to successful projects is to “constantly absorb and often question what is considered to be the standard or trends. I have made it a priority in my career to create highly personalized, yet functional, spaces that are as unique as my clients. The results are often dramatic, colorful and daring.”
Bauerle’s projects have been published more than 20 times in the past four years and have won over 30 interior design awards, including five national awards this year from the NKBA and NAHB. She was also named “Top Five Under Forty” in 2020 by Colorado Homes & Lifestyles magazine, as well as “Top Forty Under 40” by Home Furnishings Business Magazine.
For 2023, NKBA has pumped up the prizes for its professional Design Competition. More than $100,000 is up for grabs, and best overall kitchen and bath winners each take home a grand prize of $20,000.
Bauerle spoke with NKBA about the competition and her hopes for the future.
What do you find appealing about entering NKBA’s Design Competition?
The recognition received from this organization far exceeds most others. Not only is this competition on a national level (that alone makes it a big deal), but it coincides with one of the biggest industry trade shows and makes you feel like a celebrity throughout the event. The additional PR you receive as a winner prolongs your exposure and really makes you feel celebrated. Of course, the cash prizes are a huge bonus on top of all the recognition and beautiful trophies.
Has winning the NKBA Design Competition helped your business or career?
I do feel like winning awards at the NKBA Design Competition has solidified my success as a designer. Clients expect to pay more for my services, and to have to book far in advance. The recognition and support I have received from industry peers have probably been the biggest benefit, though. It’s a lot easier to get responses, samples and support when someone knows who you are.
How do you select which of your projects you enter in the NKBA Design Competition? Do you look at unique designs or product applications?
To be frank, I don’t do projects that aren’t unique! I am blessed to be busy enough to decide which projects I will take, so my first criterion is that I have clients who are willing to let me go for it and are excited to do so. Photography is the next crucial step in having a project that can take you all the way. I submit all of my projects. You can’t win if you don’t enter!
This past year you won the Best Overall Bath award at KBIS 2022. What was special about this particular project?
That bathroom was part of a new build that took a couple years to complete. It was a ‘mountain modern’ home, so I wanted to pull in natural elements, but use them in a modern way to create the look I was after. This was the powder bath, and my logic with those is that it’s the bathroom that everyone uses, and there are less rules in this space. It should always be a conversation starter.
One of the last choices I had to convince my clients about was the black topography design on the wallpaper. It was a bold choice, and they were nervous at first. My mom, who is also a brilliant designer and the reason I do what I do, happened to walk by when I was showing them the wallpaper and commented on how much she loved it. That was enough for them to say, “OK, let’s do it — and if we hate it, we can always change it later!” In that moment, I told them, “We just won an award by choosing this.” Little did I know…. that bathroom would go on to win multiple awards locally and nationally, and was published three times in national magazines.
Anything particular you are looking forward to in the next year?
I have started working on my own licensed product designs to develop with home furnishings manufacturers branded under my social media identity, Design Boss Gina. My hope for the future is to gain a wider audience to share my insights on design, as well as the psychological effects it has on our lives and how to improve them. I am excited that we are all back in person, and more and more, people seem to be comfortable getting together again. I feel like next year’s KBIS attendance will be even bigger than this year’s, and I hope to see even more vendors at the show. And OMG — you guys doubled the prize money in the competition! I have some work to do!
The NKBA Professional Design Competition is accepting entries through July 25. Winners will be honored at KBIS 2023 in Las Vegas, on Jan. 30 — the night before the expo opens. NKBA members earn a discount on entries; second and subsequent project entries also are discounted. Non-members are welcome to submit projects. For more information and to enter, go here.
