Stephanie McDowell

 Kenwood Kitchens

Baltimore/Washington Chapter

One might wonder how Stephanie McDowell found time to sleep over the past five years. Not only did she complete more than 45 renovations in her role as a designer at Kenwood Kitchens —  generating more than $2 million in sales — but also major kitchen, bathroom and basement remodels in the home she shares with her husband. As designer, project manager and client, she even assisted the electrician in totally rewiring her kitchen. “I feel like this gave me a ton of new valuable information that I wouldn’t necessarily know about by just being a part of the design process,” she says.

“I also gravitate toward kitchens, I think, because I was brought up in the Italian culture where pretty much everything revolves around food!”

Stephanie also oversaw Kenwood’s 1,000-square-foot Columbia showroom expansion, which added five new kitchen and bath displays, a sample room and an office. In addition, she spearheaded the company’s adoption of AutoCAD, which she then taught to her coworkers. Classic overachiever, right? Indeed, Stephanie describes herself as “tenacious,” but she also has a soft side, volunteering with the Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter, where she adopted her “75-pound lap dog,” a yellow lab named Ryleigh.

 A 2014 graduate of the University of New Haven with a B.A. in Interior Design, Stephanie only recently decided that her own personal design style is eclectic. “I also gravitate toward kitchens, I think, because I was brought up in the Italian culture where pretty much everything revolves around food!” she says. As is the case with many other designers, her creativity blossomed young. She constantly rearranged her bedroom furniture and once even painted the ceiling and walls semi-gloss Fire Engine Red — accented by crown molding with rope lights inside. These days, you’ll find her knitting, crocheting, refinishing old furniture, tending her vegetable garden and dreaming of returning to Italy, where she once studied. “I’d love to be able to go back,” she says, “and just stroll through a vineyard and eat bread and cheese — with no homework hanging over my head!”