Kimball Starr Wins 1st & 2nd place at Design Excellence Awards 2014

Nov 11, 2014 | Posted in Starr Spotlight | Share

Two winning projects by Kimball Starr Interior Design were honored with Design Excellence Awards at a ceremony held in San Francisco, California on September 18, 2014.

The awards, produced by the American Society of Interior Designers California (ASID) North chapter and hosted by NIDO living contemporary furniture showroom, reflect the highest standards of design excellence for interiors in 21 categories spanning commercial, residential and product design. Kimball Starr defeated competitors in each category to win First Place for “Residential: Best Individual Room – Contemporary” and Second Place for “Residential: Modest Budget, Big Impact”.

Kimball Starr Interior Design’s First Place winning entry is a Contemporary Guatemalan Living Room, created for a retired couple who spend half their time in a contemporary 2-bedroom condo with views of downtown San Francisco, and the rest of the time in Antigua, Guatemala. Travel is an integral part of the homeowner’s lives, and they wanted to bring back the rich woven textiles and vibrant colors of their Central American journeys to their stateside home.

To reflect this cultural reference in the living room, a table base used in a Guatemalan wedding precession supports a custom-cut glass top to create the couple’s coffee table. The adjacent dining room highlights an art piece created from textured paint on plaster, inspired by the weathering, layering and patina of a building’s exterior in the Central American climate. Colors and fabrics used throughout the space were thoughtfully selected to remind the couple of their Guatemalan experiences.

The theme of cultural and personal identity developed through foreign travel is also celebrated in Kimball Starr Interior Design’s Second Place winning entry for “Residential: Modest Budget, Big Impact”, the Moroccan Mid-Century Loft.  Combining elements in this San Francisco loft from Morocco, mid-century modern design, and a little Asian inspiration all reflect the homeowner’s globe spanning residences of Hawaii, France, and the San Francisco Bay Area, along with his exotic travels on African safari when he’s not rocking the Kasbah!

Moroccan features are reflected in the pattern and texture of fabrics such as the area rug in the living room, stenciling pattern on the rolling bookcase surrounding the spiral staircase, and the hand-tooled oversize teardrop brass pendants. The slipper chairs, sofa, and dining room table are all mid-century modern design, while the alabaster china hutch and Buddha sitting in the colorful stairway alcove bring in Asian elements.

The modest budget constraint of keeping under $50,000 was achieved by mixing vintage finds such as the red lacquer media cabinet and the dining table set, with high-end items such as the automated draperies, custom upholstered pieces, and rug custom-shaped for the space.  See more information about this project in the Loft Design series of blogs!

Starr says “It was exciting to work with the homeowners and bring what they love about their life and travels into their homes.  Not only was I able to make their interior spaces function better for their individual lifestyles, I was also able to give them beautiful homes they loved and reminded them of their happiest moments and experiences in their lives.”

The judges of the 2014 Design Excellence Awards agree. One judge’s comment on the Contemporary Guatemalan Living Room was “Fabulous result and spot-on regarding meeting [the] client’s purposes and goals. Creative, appropriate and artfully done!”

Congratulations Kimball!

The complete list of winners can be found at ASID Design Excellence Award winners 2014

 

Kimball Starr Interior Design, Allied ASID, is a San Francisco award winning interior design firm whose interior design has been featured on national television and globally published in a series of hardcover books.  Interiors spanning contemporary design to traditional interiors show the variety of style expertise provided by this San Francisco Bay Area designer.