BlueStar has officially announced the winners of its highly anticipated annual Kitchen Design Contest, celebrating the ingenuity, exceptional vision, and inspiring creativity of architects and designers who seamlessly incorporate high-performance BlueStar appliances into their luxury residential projects. This year’s competition drew an extraordinary array of submissions from across the design community, showcasing how professionals balance bold color, functional layouts, and refined architectural details to elevate the modern home.
A total of six standout professionals—comprising one grand prize winner and five regional winners—were selected for this year’s top honors by an esteemed and curated panel of judges. The panel brought together a wealth of industry expertise, featuring notable designers and previous Kitchen Design Contest winners Garry and Suzanne Shumaker of Shumaker Design Associates, who are also responsible for selecting the upcoming 2026 Color of the Year. They were joined on the judging panel by Jenn Feldman of Jenn Feldman Design and Lindsay Woolf of Woolf Architecture, all of whom carefully evaluated each project based on its creative merit, execution, and integration of professional-style appliances.
The prestigious grand prize for this year’s competition was awarded to Mark Schwebel, a talented designer and builder at Big Art Building Corp based in San Jose, New Mexico. Schwebel earned the top honor for his remarkable work on a project known as Calle Largo Ranch. The design immediately captivated the judging panel with the extraordinary attention to detail required to make a minimal, organic aesthetic feel both exceptionally luxurious and deeply welcoming.
At the heart of Calle Largo Ranch sits a custom Fawn Brown BlueStar 48-inch Dual Fuel Range, which serves as the undeniable anchor and visual centerpiece of the kitchen. The surrounding material palette was meticulously curated to complement this centerpiece, featuring stunning white oak cabinets paired with matching white oak floors that establish a warm, cohesive foundation for the space. Elevating the design further, floor-to-ceiling silver travertine—imported directly from a quarry located just east of Rome, Italy—is paired with exquisite Taj Mahal quartzite countertops. These countertops were finished with a subtle whitewash treatment designed specifically to prevent yellowing over time, ensuring the surfaces maintain their pristine, timeless appeal.
The project’s exceptional craftsmanship extends far upward and outward through thoughtful material sourcing. Overhead, striking ceiling beams were custom-milled from white fir that Schwebel personally sourced from dead timber left in the wake of the devastating 2021 Caldor Fire near Lake Tahoe. Meanwhile, the white oak utilized throughout the kitchen was cut by a friend in New York’s Hudson Valley before being carefully shipped across the country to its final destination in New Mexico. Rather than opting for traditional upper cabinetry, which would have visually crowded and weighed down the intentionally compact kitchen space, Schwebel chose to eliminate upper cabinets entirely. This bold spatial decision allowed for the inclusion of a generous window that floods the room with natural light, while all necessary extra storage was cleverly routed and concealed within an adjacent butler’s pantry.
The judges were deeply impressed by the restraint, thoughtfulness, and execution of the space. Garry and Suzanne Shumaker offered high praise for the winning project, noting that the space stands out for its honest design and calm, inviting atmosphere. They highlighted how the BlueStar range is thoughtfully integrated into the layout, creating a beautiful and striking contrast against the minimalist materials. According to the Shumakers, every single detail within the kitchen is executed with absolute precision, serving as concrete proof that achieving the cleanest lines requires the highest level of professional craftsmanship.
In addition to naming the grand prize winner, BlueStar also announced five regional winners whose exceptional projects highlight the diverse ways designers are leveraging professional appliances to transform residential spaces. While the regional winning projects showcase a wide variety of architectural styles and regional influences, they all share a common commitment to elevated residential design, practical functionality, and sophisticated aesthetics.
Reflecting on the success of this year’s competition and the remarkable talent displayed by the entrants, Ann Muth, vice president of marketing at BlueStar, shared her appreciation for the broader design community. She noted that each year, the company is deeply honored by the incredible work that the design community creates with BlueStar in mind. Muth explained that these submitted projects offer the company a fascinating look into the dynamic and innovative ways architects and designers are utilizing color, engineering practical everyday layouts, and ultimately enriching their clients’ homes. Furthermore, she emphasized that collaborating with past winners to serve as judges helps the entire BlueStar team explore emerging industry trends while discovering new, meaningful ways to support and recognize the talented professionals within the design community.
The annual competition has firmly established itself as a coveted honor within the architectural and interior design fields, celebrating the most extraordinary kitchen projects that incorporate BlueStar’s signature professional-style appliances. These include high-performance ranges, wall ovens, advanced ventilation hoods, and premium refrigeration systems designed specifically for residential use. As recognition for their outstanding achievements, the Grand Prize winner receives an impressive package of BlueStar appliances boasting a retail value of up to $20,000, providing them with top-tier tools for future residential projects. Meanwhile, each of the regional winners is awarded a high-end cookware set retailing between $400 and $600, celebrating their craftsmanship and continued dedication to design excellence.
