Cañada Students Win Scholarships for Kitchen Designs
Two Cañada College Interior Design students won cash prizes in this year’s National Kitchen and Bath Association GE Charette Competition.
Miriam Frost of San Mateo placed fourth in the competition and received a $2,500 scholarship while Shannon Schaeffer, formerly of Foster City, earned Honorable Mention honors and a $1,000 scholarship.
“There were 509 entries from 33 schools and two of our students finished in the final ten,” said Nancy Wolford, professor of Interior Design at Cañada. “This competition included students from four-year universities, community colleges, and professional schools from around the country. To place two finalists in a design competition of this magnitude is outstanding.”
Frost said students received a list of GE appliances and cabinetry, a list of requirements from a prospective client, and an 11-by-17 drawing paper with a floor plan. “The challenge was to design the kitchen using the specified cabinetry and appliances, without moving walls, using the NKBA planning guidelines, in compliance with codes and to satisfy most, if not all, of the client’s requirements.” All of this had to be done, Frost said, in a three-hour sitting.
Competitors needed to draft a fully dimensioned elevation or sketch a perspective and write a half-page design statement describing the reasoning behind the design.
“The most difficult aspect of the competition was the time limit,” Frost said. “My arm started to get numb after a while. I could barely read my own writing in the end.”
Frost was a management accountant with a business background and wants to use the skills she learns at Cañada to open a kitchen and bath design shop. She wants to earn her NKBA certificate at Cañada and transfer to San Jose State or San Francisco State.
“The faculty at Cañada work in the industry and share their experience with the students,” Frost said. “You can’t put a price on that kind of education. I’ve met a large number of fabulous designers and future colleagues through this program. It’s a challenging program but things get easier with practice.”
If you are thinking about a career in interior design, Cañada offers an associate’s degree, a transfer program, and four certificate programs. More information can be found at the Interior Design website or by calling, (650) 306-3451.
