Pumarejo won first place for Primary Bath plus the Best Overall Bath prize, and a certification bonus in the NKBA Professional Design Competition.
By NKBA Staff
The winners of NKBA’s 2025-2026 Professional Design Competition created dramatic environments with luxurious materials and exquisite design that captured their clients’ personalities. The winners were announced at KBIS last month, and Shea Pumarejo, CMKBD, won the Best Overall Bath honor (a $25,000 prize) for her “Paris After Dark” design, which took first place ($5,000) in the Primary Bath category. And, because she is an NKBA-Certified designer, she earned a first-ever $25,000 bonus as a “Best Overall” winner, bringing her total cash award to $55,000.
Pumarejo, CEO of her boutique renovation and design firm, Younique Designs based in San Antonio, Tex., is a member of NKBA’s Texas South Plains Chapter, whose projects have been featured in Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Houston Lifestyles and Homes Magazine, and other local and national design media.
Her winning design transformed a dated 1990s bathroom with poor storage and no style into a luxurious Parisian Art Deco–inspired retreat. She drew inspiration from the home’s French architecture and the homeowner’s love for bold, dramatic design. “I saw this as the perfect opportunity to create a Parisian Art Deco-inspired sanctuary with custom marble floors in a bold geometric pattern, unlacquered brass accents, reeded glass, the brass pocket door with walnut inlay monocles, and of course, the backlit onyx bathtub and vanities,” Pumarejo recalled. “I knew I had to have the onyx slabs for this project the minute I saw them. They are even more stunning in person. They are a beautiful soft pink, with black and taupe veining. We backlit them with a wet-rated. LED grid system, and the lights are on a dimmer so that they can be dimmed to your liking.”
Pumarejo described her vision and the challenges for this project.
NKBA: What was your biggest challenge in reimagining this space, and how did you meet it?
Shea Pumarejo: The original bathroom had two small closets angled in the corners that didn’t offer sufficient storage. I suggested that we take in a spare bedroom next to the primary bedroom to create a new primary bath and walk-in closet, but the client nixed that idea, which created a challenge for closet space. The space simply wasn’t large enough to create a walk-in closet, so I designed wardrobe cabinets and added antiqued mirrored glass and unlacquered brass-and-horn cabinet pulls to create a beautiful boutique-like dressing area.
NKBA: What living-in-place and wellness features did you include?
SP: Every bathroom I design includes living-in-place features, regardless of the age of the homeowner. I believe a well-designed space is first and foremost a safe one. The shower is curbless to remove barriers and reduce the likelihood of tripping. The shower is an aromatherapy steam shower by Mr. Steam, with a built-in bench for a place to relax and enjoy the steam. The shower and water closet also feature beautiful unlacquered brass grab bars that are reeded and look more like jewelry than utility. The floors are slip-resistant due to the many grout joints, and the tub was designed with a ledge to sit on when getting in and out. The Toto toilet has built-in lighting, a bidet, and an automatic heated seat — all the bells and whistles. We also added a motorized shade over the leaded glass window, so the client doesn’t have to get into the tub to lower it.
NKBA: You were inspired by the French architecture of the home — what elements were most characteristic of this theme in your design?
SP: The architecture of the home is French, and the clients’ taste tends toward the dramatic. Functional elegance defined this era, and the use of exotic and high-end materials, such as the rock crystal cabinet knobs, Murano glass light fixture, and custom leaded glass window helps to recreate that elegance. Operable transoms also recall European design traditions. Using every inch of space made it user-friendly and created functional storage, like the pull-out storage between the vanities and the door, and the custom wardrobes.
NKBA: What else is important to know about this project?
SP: There were so many amazing things about this project that really made it special. The 24-inch crown molding was custom-made out of Styrofoam and then plastered, as were the walls and ceilings. My incredibly skilled cabinetmaker created the concave makeup vanity, the paneling, and the walkthrough, with a pocket behind them for the brass pocket door. I added the pull-out storage between, and he rose to the challenge. The pocket door was imported from Portugal and almost didn’t arrive in time. It had shipped and arrived in New York without the proper paperwork, and instead of waiting for the paperwork, the importer sent it back to Portugal. As luck would have it, it was damaged upon arrival in Portugal and had to be remade. These are the behind-the-scenes challenges that keep life interesting. The new door arrived just in the nick of time!
NKBA: It’s fantastic that you earned the certification bonus, too.
SP: During the pandemic, my projects came to a screeching halt. I made a promise to my employees that we would get through it, and I wanted to use the time productively, so I paid for one of my employees and me to get certified. We studied during work hours since we had no projects to work on, and as she received her CKBD, I received my CMKBD. I have to say it was time well spent. I had no idea about the additional bonus until after I had already entered the competition, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out! It did make the stakes higher and the nerves more on edge, but it ended well. I plan to use the money to remodel my own kitchen or bathroom; I haven’t decided yet. I may just enter that project next year!
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This year, NKBA awarded $140,000 in cash prizes to winners of the professional Design Competition in seven categories: Small, Large and Specialty Kitchen; Primary, Secondary and Powder Room Bath, and Smart Home Technology in partnership with CEDIA. The NKBA will begin accepting entries for the professional Design Competition in May, with winners honored at KBIS 2027 in Las Vegas, Feb. 2 to 4. Learn more about entering here.
