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Meet Our Impact of Design Showcase Winners
Houzz and the ASID team up to showcase residential designs of today that could represent where we are headed next
Houzz has joined forces with the American Society of Interior Designers to celebrate the ASID’s 40th anniversary by launching the Impact of Design Contest and Showcase. The aim is to highlight residential designs today that represent where design is headed over the next 40 years. Designers submitted photos of their work that they believe represents the future of interior design and shows the impact that design will have on the human experience. Winners were determined by the number of times Houzz users saved their photos to their ideabooks. And those winners are …
O’Hara says her early years as a business consultant, combined with a knack for staging homes for sale, led her to merge her passions for business and decor into a 25-year career as an interior designer. As for the future of interior design, O’Hara says “it’s about customizing a home to suit the lifestyle and personal aesthetic of the homeowner, rather than designing for a particular style category. It’s less and less about traditional versus contemporary and more about designing a home for the person who lives there.”
O’Hara says her team was elated to learn that they had won the Impact of Design Showcase award because it was their first opportunity to win a design award determined by a public community rather than a panel of judges. It’s a community that her firm appreciates. “Houzz has changed our business and the interior design industry. It’s given us professionals a way to reach people that we previously struggled to reach,” O’Hara says. “We have worked from coast to coast and internationally as well. Houzz has made the world smaller and our clients more accessible.”
See more of this home
See more of this home
Runner-up: Michael Abrams Ltd.
Chicago interior designer Michael Abrams says, “I believe that good design is about finding a way to bring comfort and intimacy to personal spaces without compromising the principles of beauty, order and harmony.” He believes that as the chaotic pace of daily life continues to increase over the next 40 years, the home environment will become more and more of a critical outlet for calm and relaxation. It’s his goal to create uplifting spaces that allow people to embrace the present. He feels the bedroom is an especially private space that calls heavily upon these principles.
Chicago interior designer Michael Abrams says, “I believe that good design is about finding a way to bring comfort and intimacy to personal spaces without compromising the principles of beauty, order and harmony.” He believes that as the chaotic pace of daily life continues to increase over the next 40 years, the home environment will become more and more of a critical outlet for calm and relaxation. It’s his goal to create uplifting spaces that allow people to embrace the present. He feels the bedroom is an especially private space that calls heavily upon these principles.
“The bedrooms I have chosen are soothing and inviting,” Abrams says. “They create a peaceful environment to draw people away from the stress of their high-impact lifestyles, so the first and last thing they experience at the beginning and end of each day is peace and serenity.”
See more of his work
See more of his work
Honorable mention: Robeson Design
“We see the next 40 years of design moving into small-space apartments, high-rise condos downtown, redesigned Airstreams and even shipping containers,” designer Rebecca Robeson says. “The millennial generation is shifting away from single-family homes in suburbia and is moving towards multifamily units or other alternatives in the city.”
With that in mind, Robeson Design transformed a vintage Airstream in the U.S. Virgin Islands that can go completely off the grid with solar panels and a battery-operated generator. The Airstream connects to a storage unit 20 feet below ground; the idea helps solve the storage problem many compact homes face.
“We see the next 40 years of design moving into small-space apartments, high-rise condos downtown, redesigned Airstreams and even shipping containers,” designer Rebecca Robeson says. “The millennial generation is shifting away from single-family homes in suburbia and is moving towards multifamily units or other alternatives in the city.”
With that in mind, Robeson Design transformed a vintage Airstream in the U.S. Virgin Islands that can go completely off the grid with solar panels and a battery-operated generator. The Airstream connects to a storage unit 20 feet below ground; the idea helps solve the storage problem many compact homes face.
Designed for a family of four, the space includes custom furniture pieces that promote convertible living spaces: The bench seat becomes a full dining booth, the doors slide rather than swing out, and the cabinets are have touch latches, eliminating the need for protruding hardware.
See more of this Airstream
More: See all of the contestants’ entries here
See more of this Airstream
More: See all of the contestants’ entries here
Prize: $1,500 in photography services from the Houzz Photographer Network, one year of ASID membership (if eligible) and one ticket to a 2016 ASID event of the winner’s choosing (up to a $195 value)
“Forty years from now, we hope that this home design marks the emergence of a new style — one that is neither traditional nor modern, neither transitional nor eclectic. We don’t have a name for it, but we love it and hope to explore it often in the decades to come,” designer Martha O’Hara says.
Honoring the home’s original architecture while making it functional for a modern lifestyle was the goal for this complete remodel of a 1922 Georgian home in Minneapolis. The design focuses on creating openness and light with classic lines, gallery white walls, bold art and diverse furnishings for a fresh take on a historic home.