By Donna Heiderstadt

Established and on-the-rise design stars will shine brighter than ever before as the kitchen-and-bath industry gathers for the opening of KBIS 2023 in Las Vegas. The all-new, redesigned Kitchen & Bath Design + Industry Awards, taking place on January 30 in the Encore Ballroom at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, will feature more categories than in years past—10 in total—with 24 innovative designers vying for first, second and third place honors and accompanying cash prizes totaling more than $100,000. Winners will be determined by a panel of NKBA-Certified Master Kitchen & Bath Designers (CMKBDs) and the dynamic awards ceremony and gala party that follows is the place to be as KBIS kicks off another year of kitchen-and-bath design innovation. 

In the kitchen field, awards will be given for Large Kitchen (over 300 square feet), Small Kitchen (under 300 square feet), Specialty Kitchen (a new category focused on spaces such as outdoor kitchens or guesthouse kitchens), and People’s Pick Kitchen (another new category). The awards for bathroom designs will be in four newly created categories: Primary Bath, Secondary Bath, Powder Room, and People’s Pick Bath.

First-place winners in each of these eight categories will receive a $5,000 prize, second-place winners will receive $2,500 and third-place winners will get $1,500. The People’s Pick winners will receive $3,000.

The final two awards—Best Overall Kitchen and Best Overall Bathroom—will be selected from among the eight individual category winners and the two designers who come out on top will each walk away with $20,000.

Designed by: Gina D’Amore Bauerle, D’Amore Interiors, Denver, Colo. Photos by: Tim Gormley, TG Image

At 2022’s Kitchen & Bath Design & Industry Awards in Orlando last February, Gina D’Amore Bauerle of Denver-based D’Amore Interiors took home the Best Overall Bathroom prize with “Smoke & Mirrors,” a nature-inspired powder room she designed for a mountain home. “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,” says D’Amore Bauerle, who also won first place in 2021 for Large Contemporary Bath after “not making the cut” for a few years. “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.”

Designed by: Jonas Carnemark, CKD, CR, CLIPP. Konst — Kitchen Interior Design, Bethesda, MD. Photos by: Ron Blunt, Ron Blunt Architectural Photography

The 2022 Best Overall Kitchen winner was Jonas Carnemark, principal of Bethesda, MD-based Carnemark Design + Build. The space, “The Connected Kitchen,” incorporated stylish work zones and a 75-inch LED panel for recipes, video conferencing, and more into a modern, all-black kitchen. “I wanted the kitchen to be timeless and enduring—but still strikingly modern. Black fit the bill perfectly,” he explains. “The design’s intent centers on connectivity…. Never has creating connections to family, friends and the flow of information been more critical to individual well-being.”

Encore at Wynn Las Vegas will provide a glamorous setting for the event, which will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. As always, the party following the awards ceremony will feature a lavish buffet with an open bar and live musical entertainment.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for reveals of the three finalists in each of the eight award categories as well as previews of the finalists for Student Kitchen, Student Bath and Innovative Showroom.