BYU-Idaho Students Win Top Spots in National Design Competition

With their great skill and talent in interior design, five Brigham Young University-Idaho students—Kevin Anderson, Hillaree Harris, Clarisse McCann, Brittany McPheters and Angela Miller—took first and other top spots in each of the four competitions of the 2009/2010 National Kitchen and Bath Association competitions.

With their great skill and talent in interior design, five Brigham Young University-Idaho students—Kevin Anderson, Hillaree Harris, Clarisse McCann, Brittany McPheters and Angela Miller—took first and other top spots in each of the four competitions of the 2009/2010 National Kitchen and Bath Association competitions.

The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) manages nationally known interior design competitions in which over 50 schools across the U.S. compete. The NKBA manages four design category competitions: the NKBA/GE Design Charette scholarship, student kitchen design, student bathroom design and student essay competitions. Winners are first verbally informed and then awarded at the Kitchen and Bath Industry show held in Chicago on April 16–17.

Wendy Harris, an interior design professor at BYU-I and NKBA accredited program director, believes entering and competing in national competitions is good for college-aged students.

“At the beginning of each year, I give my students a list of national competitions that they are eligible to enter,” Harris sad. “It’s not a class requirement, but entering these contests give students a chance to earn scholarship money, build resumes, and helps them get internships and jobs.”

Angela Miller, a junior from Idaho Falls competing for her second year in the comeptition, agrees. She feels that entering into NKBA competitions has given her great experience in the interior design field. “All the finishing touches I had to put into my projects to get them ready for competition is just an amazing learning experience,” Miller said. “I don’t get the opportunity to go into that much depth in normal class work, it really takes something like a competition to reach a certain level of education.”

FEATURED SPONSOR

Miller entered into the kitchen design and again into the essay contest. She took second place last year in the essay competition, and winning has helped her in her interior design career.

“Since I took second in the essay contest, I was published in the Kitchen and Bath Business magazine, and my name has been out there and it has give me a different edge from the rest of those who am I competing with for internships and jobs,” Miller said.

Clarisse McCann, a junior from the Philippines who entered both the essay and kitchen and bath design competitions, states that she had to do a design project for a kitchen and bath class her sophomore year, and then she perfected those projects and made them eligible for competition. “I spent three hundred hours designing my kitchen and one hundred fifty hours designing my bathroom.”

McCann felt that by entering the competition and winning, she learned that if she thinks she can do something, she can. “Doing this competition gave me self confidence and shows me that I can do things I never thought possible.”

Except from internship experience, students participating in the competition must neither have worked in a professional design capacity nor have been paid for design services rendered. Names of students and their schools are anonymous so that the competition erases bias and unfair judging. Each competition entails different requirements and skills from each student.

The NKBA/GE Design Charette Scholarship sponsored by General Electric requires a hand-drafted kitchen solution utilizing GE appliances and must be designed in three hours. Requirements include a design statement, floor plan (NKBA presentation standards, dimensions, nomenclature), and one wall elevation or perspective. The BYU-I students who participated in this competition built their models in just three hours in front of Professor Harris. In this competition there were 509 entries from 31 schools. Hillaree Harris took first place with a $5,000 cash prize award, and Brittany McPheters won third place and received $3,000.

The NKBA Student Design Competition sponsored by American Woodmark and Sub-Zero/Wolf requires students to remodel a kitchen or a bathroom, or both. The competition provides the student with the client’s name and his or her wants for the kitchen or bathroom. The student provides design layouts, drawings of floor plans, mechanical and electrical designs, a sample board of materials and products used, specifications and much more. There were 253 entries for the kitchen design from 50 schools. Hillaree Harris placed first with a cash prize winning of $2,500 and the awards trip to Chicago. Clarisse McCann finished in second place and received $1,500 and the awards trip to Chicago.

McCann also finished first in the student Bath design where there were 199 entrees from 26 schools. She also earned $2,500 for that winning and the awards trip to Chicago.

The NKBA Student Essay scholarship sponsored by Kitchen and Bath Business Magazine is a 1,000 word or four page essay describing what or who inspired the student to become a kitchen and bath designer and why, and what they hope to bring to the profession. Kevin Anderson, Angela Miller and Clarisse McCann are the three finalists out of 48 entries from 29 schools.

For her part, McCann explains that she chose interior design as her career because she wanted to help people out in a different way. “I like how I can influence other people lives by designing specific spaces for them,” McCann said. “And when the people I work for feel good in their environment, it makes them feel confident and inspired to do their best and I know that I helped with that.”

Anderson, Miller and McMann will attend the NKBA show in Chicago to learn what places they took in the essay contest. Hillaree Harris was also invited to Chicago, but is leaving on her mission to Thailand three weeks before the awards ceremony takes place.

Miller plans on entering the competition again next year. “I have gained a higher level of confidence in my own work, and the just the skills I have learned from competing has been the most beneficial to me.”

Wendy Harris is proud of her students and was blown away with how well they did at the NKABA competition. “Winning this competition says a lot about these students and that they are motivated and dedicated to meet a goal.”