The wait is over — here are the results of NKBA’s Professional Design Competition.

By Donna Heiderstadt

KBIS 2023 got off to a spectacular start last night in Las Vegas with the NKBA Kitchen & Bath Design + Industry Awards, where the 2023 Professional Design Competition winners were revealed to an enthusiastic audience of industry business leaders and creatives, as NKBA kicked off its 60th anniversary celebration. The lavish ceremony and afterparty was held at the Encore Hotel’s Ballroom in Las Vegas and was hosted by NKBA Chief Executive Officer, Bill Darcy, and Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President, Suzie Williford. 

To top off the evening, the afterparty was kicked off by a surprise guest appearance by Kool & the Gang, who got attendees up on the dance floor with hits that included “Celebration,” “Ladies Night,” “Joanna,” and other chart-toppers from their Grammy Award-winning songbook. Quite an evening to say the least. 

What Did They Win?

The revamped design competition featured new kitchen and bath categories and more than $100,000 in prize money. It received hundreds of entries and winners were ultimately chosen by a panel of 10 industry judges, based on factors that included innovative design, presentation, superior function, creativity, safety and ergonomics, and adherence to NKBA Planning Guidelines.

On top of the national recognition of their talent, the 2023 winners received $5,000 for a first-place finish, $2,500 for second place, and $1,000 for third place. In addition, the first-place winners in each of the six kitchen and bath categories were eligible for the Best Overall Kitchen and Best Overall Bath prizes of $20,000 each.

An exciting new category was also added this year: the People’s Pick. Winners for both People’s Pick: Kitchen and People’s Pick: Bath were chosen via an online vote and each top vote-getter took home a $3,000 prize.

Best Overall Kitchen 

The top honor of Best Overall Kitchen was awarded to Sarah Robertson, Principal of Mamaroneck, NY-based Studio Dearborn for her “Creek Lane” design, which the judges called “a case study in how to mix materials” and “just a flawless design.” Robertson said that the inspiration was “for a client who loved the outdoors and wanted to bring that indoors, but also with a little bit of glam…so there was a lot of playing with finishes and surfaces.” According to Robertson, one of the most special finishes in the kitchen was the brick that was sourced from Wisconsin, close to the client’s home town.

Best Overall Bath

The winning design for Best Overall Bath was “Serene Luxury,” a primary bath by Mary Maney, Designer at Crystal Kitchen + Bath in Crystal, MN. The judges liked that Maney’s clients “wanted elegance and luxury, and this design delivered.” Maney noted how the homeowner wanted to have lots of different patterns and tiles, and also mix them all together. “The design was made up of really pretty leafy patterns and the light fixtures were all glittery,” she said. “I had a really fun client to work with.”

List of the 2023 Design Competition Winners

Congratulations to all the finalists. The winners for this year’s awards are:

To see how these three compact spaces create a big impression, check project details here.

To see how design meets lifestyle aspirations in these remodels, check project details here.

To see the specifics for all three of these secondary gathering spaces, check project details here.

To see how these small spaces inspired creative solutions, check project details here.

To see how personal style met function in these winning designs, check project details here.

To see how these spaces were personalized by each of the finalists—check project details here.