Richard T. Anuszkiewicz
Passionate, multi-talented young designer blazes his own trail
A passion for design and an appreciation of style are two driving forces behind Richard T. Anuszkiewicz’s accomplishments.
The creative director of Richar Living lifestyle brand and executive director of ABS Architects Casework division is a 2010 graduate of Virginia Tech’s NKBA-accredited Residential Design program who has received numerous accolades. Since being named to the inaugural NKBA “30 Under 30” list in 2013, Anuszkiewicz has quickly become recognized as a kitchen design authority with creativity and passion.
Unafraid to forge his own path, he notes, “For me, innovation is trail blazing, and my main goal has always been to change one’s perception of what the kitchen and bath could or should be.”
Launching the renowned #FASHIONFORWARD Tour in 2014, Anuszkiewicz’s love for public speaking has led him to present nationally at premier industry events including KBIS and Dwell on Design Los Angeles. In 2016, he was a part of the DXV by American Standard Design Panel, commissioned to design a kitchen for their national advertisement campaign.
Anuszkiewicz has been highlighted in various media, including Vanity Fair, House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Traditional Home, The Washington Post, Robb Report, HGTV and more. He enjoys staying up to date with trends and technologies and most recently was abroad at Salone del Mobile in Milan and The London Design Festival as part of Modenus #designhounds.
James Baloga
Entrepreneur acts as architect of a multi-location retail giant
James Baloga has carved out more than simply a major entrepreneurial presence in the kitchen and bath industry’s retail sector. Along the way, he also established the very blueprint for the kind of high-volume, full-service, multi-location retail business model that has seen his company grow into perhaps the largest independent kitchen and bath dealership in the nation.
As owner and founder of the Holbrook, NY-based Consumers Kitchen & Bath Specialists, Baloga envisioned, and then ultimately spearheaded, the growth of a corporate entity whose success has been fueled both by traditional word-of-mouth referrals and an aggressive, savvy media advertising campaign.
Since its founding in 1977, Consumers Kitchens & Baths has served literally hundreds of thousands of Long Island homeowners through its highly systemized ordering/warehousing/service operation.
Operating from five “Specialty Supercenters,” the company boasts display facilities in excess of 100,000 sq. ft., and spotlights more than 650 full-size kitchen cabinet styles, along with an expansive selection of vanities, countertops, plumbing products, accessories and custom closet systems.
Bob Black
Company principal offers legacy of community service, fine design
Bob Black has long recognized the value of fostering a corporate environment that encourages community service. He should. It’s in his bloodlines.
Black is a principal at Morris Black and Sons, Inc., a multi-faceted building supplies company that has been a major presence since 1908 in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley.
Company founder Morris Black and his sons set examples for community service through their involvement with various local organizations, and the family has upheld that tradition, along with the firm’s role as a trendsetter.
The company’s kitchen and bath division, Morris Black Designs, established in the 1970s, grew from a separate department specializing in stock and custom cabinets into an award-winning entity whose kitchens have been featured in national magazines and on cable TV.
In 1976, Morris Black and Sons predicted the do-it-yourself trend by opening a free-standing home center to market building products directly to homeowners. In 1986, the company consolidated its operations in an Allentown, PA facility that includes a 4,000-sq.-ft. kitchen and bath showroom. An architectural millwork department was created to supply the commercial and institutional markets. Soon afterward, Morris Black and Sons was manufacturing its own custom casework. Today they are on the cutting edge of innovation, embracing current technology trends, including 3-D augmented reality, to provide homeowners the opportunity to stand in their virtual kitchen.
Danielle Burger, CKBD
Designer grows business through continuing ed and marketing savvy
Danielle Burger’s aptly named design firm, Kitchen Vitality, is the perfect descriptor for the high-energy design professional who made a big splash in the kitchen and bath industry when she was named NKBA U Professional of the Year in 2016.
Her design knowledge, marketing savvy and enthusiasm continue to serve her well as the 2017 Vice President of Professional Development for the Chicago Midwest Chapter of the NKBA, and her Houzz badges for customer service (in 2015, 2016 and 2017) attest to her ability to connect with her clients.
With a background in art history, her decade-long career has spanned the gamut from decorating model condo units to working at a high-end DPH showroom to running her own business, first in Chicago, and most recently in North Carolina.
She explains, “I work with clients in a collaborative way. Adjectives such as ‘cozy’ or ‘inviting’ can be easily misinterpreted. Instead, I study a client’s ideabook on Houzz or Pinterest or an adored object in the home, such as a piece of art or furniture. This helps me tap into their unspoken aesthetic and create a design concept that is unique and personal.”
Burger actively pursues continuing education opportunities, and believes these have really helped to taker her career to the next level.
Nar Bustamante
Designer, contractor and artist defies traditional boundaries
Nar Bustamante, president and principal designer of Nar Design Group in Sacramento, CA, was born in Mexico City and raised in San Francisco. His world travels deeply influence his appreciation for art, culture and good design. This, along with client’s artwork, provide the inspiration for his numerous award-winning projects.
Bustamante is ambitious in his goals for his new and growing firm, and his more than a dozen design awards suggests he may get there. He seeks to “reinvent kitchen design rules in California by producing some of the most sought-after kitchens and homes with a unique take on modern and eclectic designs.” To his point, a powder room featuring oversized imagery of peeling paint was a KBDN Design Award winner this year.
“Every design must be a deep reflection of the client, executed in accuracy and quality,” Bustamante explains. “I want the spaces I create to be not only highly functional, but they should also evoke a feeling, a conversation and a desire for art. Clients hire me to create the largest commissioned art installation in their home. Over the years I have come to realize I’m no longer designing kitchens and bathrooms, I am designing a lifestyle reflection of how the clients see themselves in a material world.”
Bustamante has also shown a knack for cultivating young designers. Last year, 26-year-old Ashlee Richardson, a Nar Design Group associate, was named one of the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s 30 Under 30.
MaryJo Camp, CKD, CBD, CAPS, CID, CGP, CLIPP
Educator brings kitchen designers, appliance manufacturers together
Award-winning designer and educator Mary Jo Camp has been a major player in the kitchen and bath industry for decades. However, the principal of Denver, NC-based DesignCamp is best known for her work in bringing appliance manufacturers and kitchen designers together, and helping these manufacturers to better understand the needs of the kitchen design community.
Never has this been more essential than today. With technology changing at such a rapid-fire pace, it’s critical for all players to be on the same page to meet demand for today’s technologically savvy spaces.
Camp has held positions ranging from Principal of Great Kitchens in Menlo Park and Adjunct Professor at Canada College to Vice President of Marketing and Lead Designer for Standards of Excellence’s State of the Industry appliance showrooms. She’s designed numerous state-of-the-art appliance showrooms and has served on design councils for Thermador and Jenn-Air.
Camp authored the Kitchens With Confidence training program designed for Lowe’s, and her kitchens have been featured in the Bosch Kitchen Design app.
Proud of her work in helping to bring designers and appliance manufacturers together, she notes, “Appliance manufacturers are finally understanding the needs of the design community,” adding, “I think there’s a broader knowledge now and that helps to create a sense of teamwork, which further advances the industry.”
Lori Carroll, NCIDQ, ASID, IIDA, NKBA Member
Multi-award-winning designer honored as ‘woman of influence’
With 40+ national design awards, Lori Carroll is well known for her creative talents. Her professional accolades began early, winning countless ASID and IIDA awards over the years, including eight local Best of Show awards since 1998. Most recently, she brought home the Gold in KBDN’s 2017 Kitchen & Bath Design Awards, Master Bathrooms Over $50,000 category, and has also won the NKBA Pinnacle of Design, the 2016 NKBA Kitchen of the Year and 2017 NKBA Bathroom of the Year awards.
Neither are her talents confined to the U.S.; in 2016, she won the Kitchen & Bathroom Designer Awards’ International Designer of the Year award.
But for all her design expertise, Carroll is equally skilled as a savvy business woman, having been honored as Tucson’s 2015 Women of Influence – Female Business Owner of the Year.
“Being a small town girl from Iowa, it’s hard to believe all that has happened in my career over the past few decades. Although my business is still based in a smaller market, with a diverse demographic, I have been fortunate to go from winning Best of Show at local ASID Design Excellence competitions to being recognized nationally and internationally for my designs. I still see myself as a relatively simple person; embracing a profession that looks glamorous on the outside but takes an elevated level of drive and dedication to succeed.”
Ellen Cheever, CMKBD, ASID, CAPS
Educator and role model acts as mentor to the design community
Ellen Cheever is the very embodiment of a Certified Master Kitchen & Bath Designer, having forged a matchless legacy across four-plus decades as a designer, author, business leader, consultant, educator and mentor to literally thousands of homeowners and design professionals.
A member of the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s “Hall of Fame,” and former director of educational services for the NKBA, Cheever is the author of more than 20 books and manuals on kitchen and bath design, and has served as a contributor to Kitchen & Bath Design News, for which she created a highly regarded seminar series melding cutting-edge design techniques with profit-making business management strategies.
In addition to heading her award-winning Wilmington, DE-based residential design firm, Ellen Cheever & Associates, Cheever has also combined her talents, expertise and experience to design showrooms, help launch products, develop kitchen/bath dealer networks and create trade-show exhibits and editorial sets. She continues to write, consult, design and present CEU programs on space planning, project management, product specification and related topics, including an annual series of live and online courses offered by Jenn-Air for maintaining AIA-, IDCEC- and NKBA-accredited design certifications.
Sean Clarke
Family business leader spearheads debut of urban design center
Family and business are closely linked for Sean Clarke, president of Clarke, a premier kitchen and bath showroom destination. His grandfather opened a Connecticut-based appliance store back in 1955 and, several decades later, his father Tom Clarke continued the family tradition when he became the country’s first Sub-Zero distributor and opened the first Clarke showroom in Hopkinton, MA.
Operating the very first Sub-Zero showroom in the U.S., Clarke is now New England’s exclusive distributor of high-performance appliance brands including Sub-Zero, Wolf, ASKO, Best and Scotsman as well as Waterstone Faucets and Dawn Sinks. Top-tier cabinet and countertop lines are also featured in vignettes at Clarke, which now has three showrooms.
Under Sean Clarke’s direction, the company took on its most ambitious project, opening 7 Tide in the Boston Seaport a year ago, the company’s first urban-based showroom. The prestigious project led to an invitation from Sub-Zero and Wolf for Sean Clarke to become the co-chair of their new Distributor Marketing Advisory Board.
“At 7 Tide, we have built our most ambitious showroom and test kitchen to date, and have already doubled its size within a year,” he remarks. And, since the building provides more space than the company needs, it has attracted synergistic companies including Marvin Windows & Doors and Kohler to open inspiration centers at the address.
Siobhan Daggett-Terenzi
Hands-on designer helps shepherd in the next design generation
Throughout her 25-year design career, Siobhan Daggett-Terenzi has found that giving clients a personalized experience is the key to success. After 12 years as the senior designer at a local kitchen dealer where there wasn’t enough time to be hands-on with clients, Daggett-Terenzi started Branford, CT-based Cucina Design in 2004. On her own, she has been able to work one-on-one with clients providing individual, specialized attention. This customized approach at her boutique design firm often extends past kitchen cabinet design into excursions to granite yards, tile companies and appliance stores. As she caters to individualized designs, she has made it a point to step outside of her comfort zones into such areas as Midcentury Modern, popular with the millennial population.
Additionally, Daggett-Terenzi is also active in bringing the next generation of designers into the industry. What began as a project with a local high school design teacher, interested in getting kids local apprenticeships, has led Daggett-Terenzi into mentoring three interior and kitchen design students from nearby University of New Haven. “We’re always trying to bring new blood into the industry,” she stresses, “to spark an interest in kitchen design.”