ISFD Celebrates 30 Years of Pinnacle Awards and Opens Submissions

May 6, 2026  by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Industry   

“In 1996, the American Society of Furniture Designers (ASFD) held its first Pinnacle Design Achievement Awards to promote superior design qualities and encourage the recognition of designers within the retail home furnishings industry,” stated David Blair, ISFD executive director. Fast forward 30 years, and ASFD is now the International Society of Furniture Designers (ISFD). It’s amazing when I look back at the young designers and companies who have won Pinnacle Awards over the years and see where they are today. In many cases, winning a Pinnacle Award helped launch their design careers and elevated manufacturers to new levels of recognition. I am also excited to see new designers entering the competition each year with their creative designs.”

Known as the “Academy Awards” for professional and student designers in the furnishings and textile industries, the Pinnacle Awards are open to all professional furniture and textile designers, manufacturers, and artisan designer/makers who are directly involved in designing home furnishings, décor, or textile products available for retail sale in the last year. Students enrolled in or graduating from an accredited furniture or industrial design program in May may enter the John Conrad Student Pinnacle Awards.

The Pinnacle Awards professional categories are intended to applaud designs produced in larger numbers for sale to consumers. The recipients of the highly coveted Pinnacle Awards are the designers or design teams who were directly involved in the “design craft” of the product(s). The items or collections entered must be in current production and must be shown and sold at one of the major home furnishings or fabric markets worldwide. The Designer/Maker category is for artisans who design and build pieces for custom orders or small production runs. The Student Pinnacle Awards are designed to showcase the students’ work. The highly sought-after awards honor the designer who puts pen to paper to bring the idea to life.

The 30 Pinnacle Awards categories for 2026 are:

- Accessories
- Bedroom ̶ Broad Appeal
- Bedroom ̶ Luxury
- Dining ̶ Broad Appeal
- Dining ̶ Luxury
- Entertainment Furniture
- Finishings
- Floor Coverings
- Home Office ̶ Broad Appeal
- Home Office ̶ Luxury
- Home Textiles ̶ Print
- Home Textiles ̶ Woven
- Leather Upholstery ̶ Broad Appeal
- Leather Upholstery ̶ Luxury 
- Lighting
- Major Collections 
- Motion Upholstery 
- Occasional Storage  ̶ Broad Appeal
- Occasional Storage ̶ Luxury
- Occasional Tables ̶ Broad Appeal
- Occasional Tables ̶ Luxury
- Outdoor 
- Stationary Upholstery ̶ Broad Appeal
- Stationary Upholstery ̶ Luxury
- Wall Décor
- Youth
- Designer/Maker
- The Green Leaf Award
- The Biophilic Design in Wood Award
- John Conrad Student Pinnacle Award

ISFD would like to thank the 2026 Pinnacle Awards sponsors: Presenting sponsor: ANDMORE; Bronze level:   High Point Market Authority, and Designer-Maker category sponsor: Appalachian Hardwood; Biophilic Design in Wood sponsor: Real American Hardwood; Student Competition sponsors: Furniture Design Studios,  Lockdowel, and Richard Frinier Design Studio; along with Corporate Partner: Canadian Wood; and Industry partners: Designers Today, Elements Studios, Furniture Today, International Furnishings and Design Association (IFDA) and The Media Matters. We would also like to thank the International Textile Alliance (ITA) and the Sustainable Furnishings Council for their continued support.

Submission details can be found at the 2026 Pinnacle Awards and the 2026 John Conrad Student Pinnacle Awards websites. To see last year’s winners, please visit the 2025 ISFD Pinnacle Award Winners. The entry deadline is July 31, 2026.