Maitland-Smith Names Design Competition Winners

April 19, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Markets on April 20, 2010

Maitland-Smith has announced the winners of its national "ONE Design Competition," which ran from October-mid December 2009.

Cecilia Staniec from Wexford, Pa., won "Best Professional Designer Submission" for her design of an entertainment center. She used Chablis Silver and Black Lacquer premium painted finishes, verdigris hardware and antique mirror to create a modern interpretation of one of Maitland-Smith's best selling items.

Steve Hodges, judge, said the piece was chosen as the winner out of more than 200 designer entries because it is "visually appealing and functional with nice lines and detail. Good choice of mixed media on essentially a traditional design."

Sandra Hankins of SH Designs in South Carolina won "Best Maitland-Smith Dealer/Designer Submission" for her design of a chest of drawers. Hankins made use of black and tortoise painted finishes with penshell to create a unique look. According to Barclay Butera, Sandra's piece was won out out of more than 100 dealer/designer entries because "this small chest has tons of detail and truly looks like an antique. The tortoise, black accents, tiger penshell, drawer and door combination make for a perfect entry piece. ... It is a stand-alone piece."

Dana Marpoe of Kernersville, N.C. won "Best Consumer Submission." Marpoe paints pet portraits, and won the hearts of the judges by creating an occasional table that used a contrast of Truffle Black and Irish White painted finishes with champagne silver hardware and black tooled leather top.

"Formal roots stretch to encompass transitional sensibilities, but the classical integrity of the original is never compromised," said one judge, Mark McMenamin. "The piece is completely transformed."

Cecilia Staniec of Pennsylvania also won the popular vote out of more than 900 submissions for her design of a four-poster bed. With more than 200 votes in an online poll that took place over a 10-day period in January, her piece was the undisputed winner. She created a bed that features black hair hide on the headboard, with Black Vendome and Irish White premium painted finishes. 

The winners were honored at a cocktail reception at High Point Market, and their designs will be prominently displayed in the Maitland-Smith showroom throughout Market.

Each of the winners received their pieces, which were custom-made for them at no charge and had retail values ranging from $4,000 to $18,000.

The Maitland-Smith ONE Design Competition was held to celebrate the company€™s 30th anniversary. The contest generated almost 1,000 entries from across the United States and Canada and was designed to showcase Maitland-Smith's "ONE" customization tool.

"This was a very successful promotion that turned into a business development tool for us," said Dan Bradley, president of Maitland-Smith. "We received designs from so many people we had not done business with prior to the contest and as a result have made some terrific new contacts.  And just as importantly, we€™ve spread the word about how easy it is to use our new online customization tool to create unique, one-of-a-kind pieces."