Learn about this week’s featured Student Design Competition winner. By Dianne Pogoda
The NKBA Student Design Competition gives student members the opportunity to flex their creative muscles and create spaces that are both beautiful and functional. The 2020-2021 competition, sponsored by Fisher & Paykel, featured the challenge of blending cultures in an Upstate New York cottage for a fictional couple named Owen and Deepa. Each week we’ll highlight one of the winners starting with first place winner in the kitchen category.
Rania Bouza, who graduated from Mt. San Antonio College’s interior design program in 2020, took top honors for her bohemian rustic kitchen design. To achieve the desired aesthetics, Bouza mixed earth tones and natural wood with a pop of vibrant color.
Submissions for this year’s Student Design Competition are open through Monday, June 6. Click here to submit >
“The core of this style is personal and relaxed, opting for carefree layers of fun pattern, texture and color. It’s the style that gracefully interweaves earth tone colors and natural wood with a pop of vibrant colors,” said Bouza, adding that she has lived in different countries, inspiring a love of travel and learning about different cultures, and helping to inform the aesthetic of her designs.
Bouza removed walls to open the floor plan, making the kitchen the hub of the living space. She included a new transitional space, and extended the interior kitchen out to the new outdoor kitchen with eco-friendly quartz countertops, creating bar-top seating and continuing in an L-shape to the Wolf gas grill on the new deck. The quartz countertops and porcelain backsplash designed to emulate stone are timeless, and will go with any future style changes the family might choose.
She maximized natural light, and installed a garden window so Deepa can bring in herbs from the backyard in the cooler months. The chef’s island features a Wolf gas cooktop and griddle and powerful 1,200 cfm Wolf ceiling-mounted hood with LED light bars. The Wolf double oven and microwave drawer, Sub-Zero refrigerator, Cove dishwasher, generous prep space and storage, including custom pull-out cabinets for baking trays, can accommodate all the family’s cooking needs, from everyday to holiday meals.
Finally, to satisfy health and sustainability requests, Bouza chose reclaimed wood and specified an Aquverse water filtration system with refillable water bottles. To utilize space under the stairs, the design features a walk-in pantry with adjustable shelves and a nook with a dog bed and bowl-holders.
Submissions for the 2021-2022 Student Design Competition are open, and students must submit their projects here by Monday, June 6.
