A Tauranga kitchen designer has received top recognition in a prestigious nationwide competition.
Chelsey Mathieson of Vekart received six awards, including a supreme recognition, in the annual 2020 National Kitchen and Bathroom Association Excellence in Design Awards.
Mathieson won the Excellence in Design Supreme Kitchen Design Award for the kitchenshe designed for a Tauranga family who love to entertain.
She was also awarded the Excellence in Design Kitchen Distinction Award $60,000 to $80,000 Award, the Excellence in Design Lighting Design Award and the Excellence in Design Bay of Plenty Chapter Kitchen Recognition Award.
Mathieson also snapped up the BOP Chapter Bathroom Recognition Award.
The Excellence in Design Supreme Kitchen Manufacturer Award went to Vekart for the company's extraordinary work on the kitchen fabrication.
The 33-year-old said she has won runner-up in a local category before but never anything "this big" and thanked owners Kevin and Tracy Murphy for their support.
"This is the first time the Bay of Plenty has ever had a supreme award so it is pretty massive.
More than 100 designs were entered this year, and 18 designers were recognised for their work located around the country.
Mathieson's Supreme kitchen design was described as having a calm, luxurious and relaxed vibe with natural materials and texture.
"The kitchen is for a small family who have a love of entertaining, a strong passion for interior design and a vision for the overall outcome," she said.
"The coastal inspiration was pulled from the Tauranga environment of warmth and texture, looking out across the beach with a view of Toi Toi, grasses, wood and water.
"The clients have lived in Sydney and so a strong influence came from interiors and themes often seen in Australian homes."
The founder of Niche Design Co in Tauranga said she also wanted to acknowledge her clients.
"It was a huge input from them. It wouldn't have been what it is without her. It was a real joint effort ... Client satisfaction is why I do what I do."
Mathieson said she had been designing kitchens and bathrooms for 16 years after leaving school and began working in the family business alongside her father and brother who are both cabinet makers.
"I just started drawing kitchens and found a passion for it and became a certified kitchen designer in 2011. I've just always loved design and everything that goes along with it."
To win an award post-Covid-19 lockdown with a prestigious award was "incredible", she said.
Mathieson said she was lucky to be able to continue working through lockdown and since then more people were spending money on their homes either building or renovating.
"Now with this award, it is just onwards and upwards."
The kitchen, in an architectural new home with a prime beachfront location, was praised by the judging panel for its restricted pallet, coastal vernacular, and structured elegance.
