Award-Winning Bath Goes Baroque

I just returned from the 2013 Kitchen and Bath Show in New Orleans giddy with so many great design ideas and product developments to share. As promised, I want to show you the winners of the 2013 Design Competition. I had the honor of attending the Awards Night and meeting the fabulous and talented kitchen and bath designers in person and talking with them about their design inspiration and challenges with their wining projects. This year more than 500 designers entered the competition in a variety of kitchen and bath categories. In this post, we'll meet Interior Designer Shea Pumarejo who won this year's Best Bath Award. I sat down with Shea at the Award's Show to learn more about the project.

[caption id="attachment_750" align="aligncenter" width="560"] The "Forward Fashionista Bath" winner of the 2013 NKBA Best Bath Award. Designed by Interior Designer Shea Pumarejo at Younique Designs www.YouNiqueinteriorDesigns.com[/caption]

Interior Designer Shea Pumarejo calls her winning bathroom, “The Forward Fashionista,” drawing inspiration from her stylish teen-age clients’ shoe and handbag collection to create a space that feels as if you stepped into a Beverly Hills boutique.

A hand-cut, stained glass wall displays a hand-drawn pattern of ribbons in red, silver, and white complimenting a serpentine red hand-blown sink and faucet. “I love the way the light plays off the different textures of glass to give it a 3d effect,” says Pumarejo, who works with Younique Designs based in Helotes, Texas.

The vanity itself was custom made with a fuchsia metallic finish, and Swarovski crystal drawer pulls that were repeated in the towel holders, toilet paper holder and drawer pulls on the closet drawers. The sink and faucet are both hand blown glass in a custom color to match the wall behind them.

[caption id="attachment_749" align="aligncenter" width="560"] The "Forward Fashionista Bath" winner of the 2013 NKBA Best Bath Award. Designed by Interior Designer Shea Pumarejo at Younique Designs www.YouNiqueinteriorDesigns.com[/caption]

Artist, Jim McKelvey created the glass sculptural sink that sits upon a vanity finished in pink metallic with a Thassos marble top. “ I just couldn't see using a metal faucet in the space, and needed something with more fluid lines and couldn't believe my luck when I found this faucet by Jim McKelvey. The acrylic piece behind the display shelves was custom colored to match as well, and adds enough color to balance out the space,” says Pumarejo.

The white lacquer Baroque-style mirror is announced on each side by Swarovski crystal pendant lights. Bling also appears in the white bedroom with drapery crystal tiebacks and an upholstered headboard with crystal buttons. “I wanted the bedroom to be peaceful and tranquil in contrast to the vanity of the bathroom that would become the Wow factor and focal point of both spaces,” explains Shea. The white bedroom has splashes of fuchsia.

[caption id="attachment_753" align="aligncenter" width="560"] The "Forward Fashionista Bath" winner of the 2013 NKBA Best Bath Award. Designed by Interior Designer Shea Pumarejo at Younique Designs www.YouNiqueinteriorDesigns.com[/caption]

Inside the closet, Pumarejo backlit the pink acrylic open shelves with LED strips in bright, white light to highlight her client’s shoes and handbags. “I came up with the idea of the glass display shelves to show off the shoes and bags. The lighting design incorporates recessed cans with LED bulbs giving off a white light. LED strips also illuminate the closet’s acrylic panel. In the bathroom, Shea used pendant lights with halogen blubs and so is the MR16 in the middle of the arch. She installed dimmer switches on the recessed can lights in both rooms that are switched separately from the display shelves and vanity so that those can be illuminated alone for a more dramatic effect.

[caption id="attachment_748" align="aligncenter" width="560"] The "Forward Fashionista Bath" winner of the 2013 NKBA Best Bath Award. Designed by Interior Designer Shea Pumarejo at Younique Designs www.YouNiqueinteriorDesigns.com[/caption]

Pumarejo’s award-winning bathroom design captures all the whimsy, style and youthful sophistication of her client and makes it a standout in this year’s NKBA Design Competition.  “I really got to have fun with materials on this project. So often we have homeowners who want to keep the design ‘safe’ as to not offend any potential buyers for resale. This homeowner really wanted the space to be personalized just for her.”

In my next posting, you'll meet the designer of the Best Kitchen Award in this years NKBA Design Competition. So check back soon. For a look at all the contenders, I invite you to browse through my Kitchen and Bath Contenders Ideabooks on Houzz and sign up to follow my regular posts and contributions on Houzz as well.

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