A Spectacular 14th Run of the Annual Peak Design Awards
It takes a full year for our Rocky Mountain Chapter to put on their annual Peak Design Awards Gala–the most prestigious design awards event in Colorado. Modeled after the NKBA’s own national Design Competition, the Peak Awards recognizes excellence in four categories: dining, living, bedroom, and specialty detail.
To accommodate a growing attendance, chapter president Delilah Collins and Events + Peak Committee Lead Amber Howard chose the event venue Social Capitol in Arvada which has an in-house caterer. The black-tie event on June 18, 2026 drew 220 attendees for this year’s theme–A Mid-Summer Soirée–which transformed the venue into an enchanting and elegant garden setting.
“The decor team absolutely nailed it,” proudly said Delilah.
The awards are open to all designers in Colorado, and NKBA members–who comprised 95% of entries–received a discounted submission rate. This year brought in a record 142 submissions.
Judging is done by certified NKBA designers nationwide. Additionally, media sponsor Colorado Homes & Lifestyles Magazine reviews all submissions and chooses the most dramatic kitchen and bath makeovers. Over $5000 in prize money was awarded.
All designers who submit a project for consideration can also include a design board to be judged at the event by their peers in attendance.
Given their success, the Peak Committee now mentors for other chapters wanting to put on their own local awards.
“Every year there are one or two chapters that reach out to us asking about our competition, and we connect them with everything they need,” said Rocky Mountain Events Lead Amber Howard. “Right now we’re judging the Nebraska Chapter’s first design competition.”
“We’ve developed a rubric for it, including how to set up the submissions portal and determine awards categories,” added Delilah. “We share what works, and what doesn’t.”
But before they get hit with a deluge of new requests from chapters, the Rocky Mountain officers admit that putting on a design competition is no small feat, and they don’t have it all figured out.
“It’s almost a well-oiled machine,” joked Amber, “It’s having the right people in place to make it happen. But no matter what happens, it always ends up being an amazing event.”
