Vote Now for Interior Design’s Prestigious Best of Year Awards

Interior Design‘s Best of Year Awards spotlight the most innovative work in the industry, from striking hospitality destinations to standout furnishings. And when it comes to Product winners, the input of the architecture and design community is not just valued—it’s essential. Product design plays a pivotal role in transforming spaces, influencing perceptions, and enhancing the overall experience of the built environment, which means Interior Design‘s editorial panel is counting on you to call out the best of the best.

Help shape the future of design by voting for Interior Design‘s Best of Year Awards Product winners. Participating in the voting process is easy. You can peruse your favorite product designs and cast your vote, making one selection in each category within a 24-hour timeframe. The public voting period is open now through October 18, 2024. Once the voting window closes, Interior Design‘s editorial panel will step in, carefully reviewing each finalist to determine this year’s winners.

Take a look at past winners of Interior Design‘s Best of Year Awards.

Behind the Design: Explore Sebastian Herkner’s Latest Collection for Davis Furniture

Sebastian Herkner’s earliest memories of design center around family trips throughout his native Germany, exploring cities with rich histories of craft traditions from ceramics to chocolate. As a renowned industrial designer, Herkner’s work reflects this deeply rooted appreciation of craftmanship, which makes for a synergistic pairing with legacy brand Davis Furniture.

Marking the fourth collaboration between the two, Davis Furniture unveiled the Elora Lounge Collection, Herkner’s latest design for the brand, at NeoCon in June. Featuring a fusion of bold and curvaceous forms, the collection includes a sofa and lounge chair that double as artful accents.

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Experience the Elora Lounge Collection with Sebastian Herkner and Interior Design’s Cindy Allen as they walk through the Davis Furniture showroom at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.

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Crafted with a rigid inner shell and foam over a plywood frame, the collection beckons those nearby to sink into its plush forms, making Elora ideal for a range of interiors, including bustling hospitality locales, modern workspaces, and residential buildings alike. Featuring an optional memory-return swivel, the lounge chair effortlessly offers a full 360-degree rotation, inviting an enhanced user experience through its seamless movement. As for the sofa, it’s a standalone statement designed to elevate any aesthetic.

“Sebastian Herkner’s innovative design combined with our commitment to quality craftsmanship has resulted in a collection that embodies both style and comfort,” shares Danny Davis, president of Davis Furniture. 

Perhaps what most sets apart the Elora Lounge Collection is the attention to detail throughout, from its chic yet organic silhouette to its luxuriously comfortable seat designed from the inside out to lessen environmental impact. “We found a way to reduce the amount of soft foam inside, which is important in a sustainable way,” Herkner tells Interior Design Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen during NeoCon. “I think it’s fantastic for contract and hospitality, but I also see it in my future home,” he adds.

Designers Talk Client Relationships At Arizona re:Source

What happens when innovative manufacturers and designers come together in a beautiful locale? Lasting and impactful relationships, for one. Just ask the nearly 80 attendees at Interior Design‘s latest re:Source event in Arizona, which took place September 15-17 at the Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain.

Kicking off re:Source, ThinkLab‘s Erica Waayenberg, head of research and content development, shared pivotal insights into factors that influence how clients make design decisions. “Decisions around the built environment are taking longer. We wanted to know why,” she notes. From a shift in benchmarks to stakeholders with conflicting priorities, Waayenberg offered a look at data-driven pain points. But it wouldn’t be re:Source without an interactive discussion and attendees were quick to weigh in, offering solutions around transparency in pricing data, how to ease the overall decision process, and more.

Throughout re:Source, attendees participated in informative but brief meetings, exchanging ideas and learning about novel products all while soaking up the Arizona sun. Activities also included desk yoga, a mala bead-making session, as well as an apothecary workshop. Once the sun set, designers and manufacturers were treated to cocktails on the lawn complete with a powerful telescope for a special star gazing experience.

This year, Metropolis launched Metropolis Connect during re:Source, bringing even more creatives into the mix, including architects and architectural product manufacturers. The event, which fosters meaningful connections between brands and top architects, will co-locate with re:Source in Fall 2025 as well. “The quality of the architect attendees was exceptional,” said John Bergstrom, director of business development for Accurate Lock & Hardware. “This group truly consisted of key specifiers who were highly engaged in learning about our products.” The same can be said of all industry attendees who gathered in Arizona for three packed days dedicated to furthering connections—and their craft.

A very special thank you to our re:Source event partners: Accurate Lock & Hardware, Andreu World, Arktura, B+N Industries, Chemetal, Craftmade, Davis Furniture, Expormim, FiberBuilt Umbrellas & Cushions, Four Hands, Fyrn, Garden on the Wall, Haworth, Infinity Drain, Kaswell Flooring Systems, Lutron, Mak Studio, Matter Surfaces, Mizetto, Moroso USA, MPS Acoustics, Nichiha Fiber Cement, Oyster Wellness, Parla Design, Perennials and Sutherland, Pure + FreeForm, Regupol, Rockfon, Sancal, Sloan Valve, Turf, Tuuci, Versteel, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Business to Business, and Yellow Goat Design. The carbon footprint for the event was generously offset by Material Bank.

Best Of Year Awards 2024: Testimonials And Awards Details

Eager to win a Best of Year Award? Interior Design just extended the deadline for 2024 Best of Year Awards submissions, so don’t wait another second. Read on to learn what it takes to earn the honor and hear from past winners who offer insights into what makes Interior Design‘s Best of Year Awards the leading global design awards program.

Show off your top projects and products and enter for a chance to win an Interior Design Best of Year Award before submissions close September 27.

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All You Need to Know About The Best of Year Awards

Celebrate 40 Years Of Hall Of Fame With 2024 Inductees—And A Philanthropic Mission

Just as Hollywood has the Academy Awards, the A&D industry has Interior Design‘s Hall of Fame gala, an event that brings together the crème de la crème to honor individual achievements and showcase innovation throughout the decades. This year, Hall of Fame turns 40, which makes for an extra celebratory evening.

For the event’s anniversary edition, Interior Design will recognize five standout creatives as well as two special tributes during the black-tie gala, which will take place December 11 at The Glasshouse in Manhattan. The newest group of inductees, selected by Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen as well as a nominating committee of Hall of Fame members, includes: Adam Rolston, Drew Stuart, and Gabriel Benroth, founding partners of INC Architecture & Design; David Galullo, CEO and chief creative officer of Rapt Studio; and Holly Hunt, founder of HOLLY HUNT and House of Hunt. Special tributes will be made to DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS), which is also celebrating 40 years, as well as the late architect, Jeffrey Beers.

“As we look back on the past four decades, we are excited to honor the legacy we’ve built and the incredible work that lies ahead,” says Allen. “And this year’s stellar talent certainly honors the past, but their vision and impact speaks to the future of design.”

Interior Design‘s 2024 Hall of Fame gala will feature award-winning documentaries, 2024 inductees, and—for the first time—a silent auction, which will take place throughout the event with all proceeds going towards supporting DIFFA’s mission to support those affected by HIV/AIDS and food insecurity, as well as mental health and housing challenges.

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Get ready for the big bash: See what’s next for Interior Design‘s Hall of Fame event with a peek at what we’re planning for the 40th annual gala. Discover Hall of Fame details.

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Get to Know Interior Design‘s 2024 Hall of Famers

Founding Partners of INC Architecture & Design

David Galullo, CEO and Chief Creative Office of Rapt Studio

Holly Hunt, Founder of HOLLY HUNT and House of Hunt

DIFFA

Jeffrey Beers, Founder and CEO of Jeffrey Beers International (1956-2024)

The Leslie-Lohman Museum Of Art Examines Queer Design

What distinguishes queer design? Earlier this summer, The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in Manhattan, a space dedicated to preserving LGBTQIA+ history, teamed up with legacy paint brand Farrow & Ball to delve into this concept. The queering of design is not new, of course, but more prominent visibility for these forms is cause for celebration. In the decades since the museum’s founding, which traces back to a SoHo loft exhibit hosted by its founders in 1969, the demand and interest in works by queer designers is stronger than ever.

Capping off Pride month, multimedia artist and designer, Liz Collins; fashion designer, Christopher John Rogers; Leslie-Lohman executive director, Alyssa Nitchun; and Editor in Chief of Elle Decor, Asad Syrkett, gathered at the museum for a conversation that centered on queerness and design. Following the talk, Nitchun and Collins, who also co-curated the “Design Dysphoria” show held in a Bushwick studio during the NYCxDESIGN Festival this year, shared their thoughts on what makes queer design stand out with Interior Design.

Interior Design: What led the museum to host a conversation centered on queer design at this moment in time?  

Alyssa Nitchun: Our friend Jesse Smiley introduced us to Farrow & Ball to makeover our offices—it was a love match. They were joined in supporting us by queer designers and queer-led design brands. This led to some fascinating conversations and we thought it would be valuable to bring together some of the folks involved to have a public conversation around the notion of queer design.

ID: In your view, what are some prominent examples of queer narratives reflected in design?

AN: If a designer is queer, I’d argue that inherently a kind of queerness is reflected in their work by virtue of their personal experience of holding that identity in the world. Queerness functions as a political and ideological framework alongside sexuality, gender, and desire and those intersections play out within design. Queerness is in the eye of the beholder. 

ID: The Leslie Lohman Museum of Art offers a vital look at lesser-known aspects of queer history. How does design factor into this account?

AN: Working in a queer art museum, I’m all too frequently reminded of how queer history is marked by omissions and erasures. Leslie-Lohman offers a history—both from the past but also the history we make on a daily basis—of queer creativity in action. Design meets at the crossroads of creativity and functionality, offering us a different way to engage and to perceive, an opportunity to queer space. Historically we’ve originated several design oriented exhibitions. We were the originating institution of the exhibition “Queer Threads,” with that catalogue edited and design by Todd Oldham, the show has toured for 10 years. The show included twenty-four artists from around the world who use thread-based craft materials and techniques to examine the diversity queer experiences. In the exhibition “On Our Backs,” the  installation involved art within a peep show architecture and a bedroom, design and desire inextricably entwined. And the exhibition “Omniscient” featured a rug by Liz Collins.

ID: In the last few years, I’ve heard artists and designers talk about the “queering of design,” in terms of mixing mediums and moving beyond binaries. Do you feel your work speaks to this idea and, if so, in what ways?

Liz Collins: I work fluidly between art and design in a feedback loop and am always pushing against the compartmentalization of the two areas. The fabrics I design and produce with textile mills are a bridge, functioning as upholstery as well as base canvas for my paintings. Creating environments that function as social space in queer focused contexts with queer collaborators, I use interior design strategies to build worlds that give a feeling of comfort, pleasure, and celebration of queer community and life as we know it and want it to be. 

Explore Queer Designs Featured in “Design Dysphoria,” Co-curated by Liz Collins and Hosted in Studio S II in Bushwick, Brooklyn

Take A Seat In This Lounge Chair Bursting With Personality

While Svoya Studio cofounder Denys Sokolov was designing furnishings for fellow Ukrainian company Noom, there was a moment when he sensed that a nearly finished lounge chair was, well…winking at him! In the spirit of greeting the seat back, he named it Hello, a moniker that also captures the inviting nature of the soft, ample, injection molded–foam forms. The design begat a mini-collection comprising the chair in low and high variants, a three-seater sofa, and two coffee tables, all equal parts art piece and functional furniture. Topping off the series (figuratively and, in the case of the seating, quite literally) is a spherical pillow that just begs to be tossed around. noom-home.com

Harness The Power Of Color With This Yinka Illori x Momentum Collab

Color the world with British-Nigerian designer Yinka Illori’s vivacious textile and wallcovering collection in collaboration with Momentum. Brought to life in the Momentum showroom at NeoCon 2024, join Illori, who has enlivened the design scene for more than a decade, and Interior Design editor-in-chief Cindy Allen as they walk through the experiential space. Be mesmerized by Illori’s signature love of color, exemplified by geometric patterns and energizing hues like bold pinks, limes, oranges, and reds.

The result is a vibrant collection that conjures happiness and embraces the power of dreams and affirmations, something Illori himself is also passionate about. Made of 100% silicone and sustainable, Illori imagines this wallcovering collection to take residence in healthcare and hospitality spaces, bringing joy to people everywhere. Learn more about this bold collection below!

Want to explore more conversations with innovative designers and brands? Check out the full library of videos on DesignTV by SANDOW.

Piero Lissoni Awarded Prestigious Compasso d’Oro

Have A Ball With These Groovy Sound-Absorbing Spheres

The term noise-dampening and the word joy don’t often show up in the same sentence, but that’s about to change. The shape and vivid color palette of Cloud sound-absorbing spheres are sure to infuse any interior with energy. And the good vibes don’t end with the groovy aesthetics: The balls are manufactured using sustainably hand-picked reindeer moss, whose soft and spongy feel makes it a natural for buffering ambient sound. The plant, native to mountain ranges in northern Scandinavia, is also fire-resistant, hypoallergenic, and maintenance-free. Cloud can be specified in three sizes and both bold and natural hues, so you can create a visually compelling arrangement. In other words—you’ll have a ball! scandinavianspaces.com

“Cloud delivers architectural interest in a whimsical way”