Barrington, IL— Designing a space with tight dimensions is a challenge for any designer. For Lisa McCauley of McCauley Design, based here, the challenge was all about having a fun, modern design.

“The project was loads of fun for my entire team; [doing it] felt like we were back in design school,” she says.

McCauley, who has been designing for over 20 years, won Dacor’s recent showroom design contest with a design which confidently blended three visually diverse styles.

The appliance manufacturer launched the contest in search of an innovative and visually appealing design for a series of vignettes to be installed in the Dacor Showroom and Culinary Center in Schaumburg, IL. The contest was open to members of the National Kitchen & Bath Association.

“It was exciting to see how these talented designers envisioned our showroom. We reviewed so many exceptional designs and it was a challenge to select only one winner,” says Marcia Ianno, manager of the Dacor showroom
in Chicago.

“Dacor is heavily invested in the designer and specifier community and we wanted to provide them with a platform to showcase their talent for everyone to see – so they can be recognized by their peers as well as their current and future clients,” she states.

Designers were invited to submit drawings, along with estimated costs and a list of materials required. Entries were evaluated based on creativity and originality, visual appeal and integration of their vignettes into the overall flow of the showroom. A panel of judges made up of kitchen and bath industry professionals selected McCauley’s design from dozens submitted by Chicago-area designers.

A Tight Fit

“I love a challenge,” McCauley says. “We found out the about the contest at the last minute. I’m definitely motivated by that kind of challenge.”

After learning of the contest from her Dacor representative, McCauley and her team, a pair of designers from her firm, visited the showroom to take down the dimensions. They quickly formed a plan, despite the late start.

“We realized right away that fitting in everything the guidelines indicated would be the real challenge,” McCauley says.