What happens when five homeowners, artists, makers, and determined renovators transform ordinaryor seriously challengingspaces without hiring a professional interior designer? You get the amateur Living/Dining Room finalists in the 2018 Remodelista Considered Design Awards: five projects with very different personalities, practical goals, and definitions of “finished.”
One finalist preserved a walnut-paneled midcentury room. Another rescued a deteriorating California cabin. A third converted an enormous industrial shell into a live-work loft. Then there was a Catskills A-frame renovated over two years by two people who learned construction skills as they went. Apparently, “weekend getaway” can also mean “weekend plumbing apprenticeship.”
What Were the 2018 Considered Design Awards?
The 2018 Considered Design Awards invited homeowners, renters, designers, architects, and gardeners to submit completed projects across Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home. Entries were divided into amateur and professional categories so that enthusiastic homeowners were not expected to compete directly against full-time design firms with teams, trade accounts, and possibly someone whose entire job was selecting the correct shade of off-white.
Submissions were accepted from June 1 through June 22, 2018. Remodelista’s categories included amateur and professional kitchens, bathrooms, and living or dining spaces. Gardenista hosted several landscape categories, while The Organized Home introduced a kitchen-organization award.
Editors and guest judges reviewed the eligible submissions and selected up to five finalists per category. Readers then voted for their preferred project once per day in each category. The winning projects received editorial features and a $500 Schoolhouse gift card.
Historical contest details verified from official award announcements and rules.
Meet the Five Amateur Living/Dining Room Finalists
The finalists demonstrate why amateur interior design can be so compelling. These spaces were not created merely to photograph well for five minutes. They were shaped around real routines: eating, relaxing, reading, working, displaying art, entertaining friends, and finding somewhere to place a drink without balancing it dangerously on the arm of a sofa.
1. Art Studio Bungalo in Corona del Mar, California
Submitted by artist Lorraine Pennington, the Art Studio Bungalo combined a living room, dining area, working studio, and informal gallery. Pennington used the space daily and also welcomed clients there to view her artwork.
That multifunctional purpose gave the room its identity. Instead of hiding art supplies and creative activity behind closed doors, the project treated making and displaying art as part of domestic life. Organic materials and a restrained, calming palette allowed the artwork to command attention without making the room feel like a commercial gallery.
The project’s strongest lesson is that a multipurpose living room does not need to disguise its secondary roles. A studio can look inviting. A dining table can double as a work surface. Art can be stored where it is visible rather than exiled to a closet beside the vacuum cleaner.
Finalist location, submitter, function, and judging context verified from the official entry and finalist roundup.
2. Modern Cabin in Kensington, California
Kari Hovland’s Modern Cabin began as a deteriorating fixer-upper measuring approximately 1,100 square feet. Its compact footprint could have felt restrictive, but cathedral ceilings, views of surrounding trees, and a connection to an interior courtyard gave the house an unexpectedly generous atmosphere.
The renovation avoided overdecorating the high rafters. That restraint helped preserve the sense of height and openness. Rather than filling every available surface with fixtures and accessories, the project let the architecture, stone elements, windows, and wooded setting do much of the visual work.
This finalist is a reminder that small rooms do not always require small ideas. When a space has a strong architectural featurevaulted ceilings, a fireplace, exposed beams, or an exceptional viewit can be more effective to emphasize that feature than to compete with it. Sometimes the smartest decorating decision is knowing when to put the catalog down.
Project size, location, condition, architectural character, and judging observations verified from the official finalist pages.
3. My Vintage Modern Dream Space in Wilmington, Delaware
This Delaware dining room and den celebrated the home’s existing walnut paneling, built-in bookcase, and buffet. Instead of removing those original elements to manufacture a completely new identity, the homeowner complemented them with a thoughtful blend of vintage and contemporary pieces.
The result was flexible enough for reading, relaxing, dining, and entertaining a crowd. Its disciplined midcentury direction kept the room coherent, while the mixture of old and new prevented it from becoming a period set where everyone feels obligated to wear horn-rimmed glasses and discuss jazz vinyl.
Preserving original woodwork can also reduce waste and maintain architectural character. The important move is to make the retained features appear intentional. Repeating related wood tones, introducing furniture with compatible proportions, and balancing darker surfaces with lighter textiles can help an older room feel polished rather than frozen in time.
Original walnut features, multifunctional use, location, and finalist status verified from the official entry and roundup.
4. The Hunter Greenhouse in the Catskills, New York
Ely Franko and Danielle renovated a dilapidated 1970s modified A-frame over approximately two years. Although they entered the process without professional home-design or renovation experience, they gradually taught themselves carpentry, painting, electrical work, plumbing, tiling, and other practical skills.
The house was intended as an escape from New York City and a gathering place for family and friends. Large windows connected the interior to the surrounding landscape, while the loft overlooked a compact living and dining area containing several seating options, a record player, and a long table suited to shared meals.
When the couple could not find an appropriately sized or reasonably priced dining table, they built one. They also constructed a built-in bench along the wall, proving that custom furniture does not necessarily require a velvet-rope budget. It may, however, require measuring three times, cutting once, and then discovering that the wall is not remotely square.
The project balanced dramatic architecture with approachable materials and deeply personal labor. Every solution responded to the actual house rather than trying to force a showroom arrangement into an unusual A-frame footprint.
Renovation history, DIY table and bench, setting, design goals, and project details verified from the winner profile and official entry.
5. Live-Work Studio Loft in Wilson, North Carolina
Janet Kagan’s project tackled a completely different scale: the rehabilitation of a roughly 9,500-square-foot industrial building dating to around 1918. The long, open structure became a combined home, photography gallery, meeting area, library, dining zone, bedroom, and workspace for a photographer and designer.
Where the other finalists had to make limited square footage feel larger, this project faced the opposite challenge. A vast room can feel cold, noisy, and undefined unless it is organized into human-scale zones. Furniture groupings, work areas, display spaces, and changes in function helped divide the loft without destroying its industrial openness.
The design also demonstrated the value of adaptive reuse. Existing volume and historical character were treated as assets. Rather than chopping the building into conventional rooms, the project allowed living, working, exhibiting, and meeting to coexist within one flexible environment.
Building age, dimensions, location, submitter, and live-work functions verified from the official award entry.
How Should a Favorite Project Be Chosen?
Choosing a favorite living or dining room is inevitably subjective. One voter may love a bright A-frame in the mountains, while another would happily move into a walnut-paneled den and refuse to leave until every record has been played. Still, several practical criteria help separate a visually appealing room from a genuinely considered design.
Function Comes Before Decoration
A successful room should support the way its occupants actually live. The Art Studio Bungalo made creative work part of everyday life. The Delaware project accommodated quiet reading and larger gatherings. The North Carolina loft served as a home, workplace, gallery, and meeting venue.
For combined living and dining rooms, furniture placement should define activities without interrupting circulation. Area rugs, sofas, benches, lighting, and storage pieces can establish separate zones while maintaining an open visual connection. Clear pathways matter, especially around dining chairs that need room to pull out comfortably.
Space planning guidance synthesized from Better Homes & Gardens, Houzz, HGTV, and Apartment Therapy.
Scale Should Match the Architecture
The Modern Cabin benefited from furniture and lighting decisions that respected its cathedral ceiling and compact floor area. The industrial loft required larger compositions capable of holding their own within a 136-foot-long space. The correct furniture scale is therefore not simply “small room equals tiny furniture.” It is about proportion, visual weight, and leaving enough open space for movement.
Dining arrangements generally need generous clearance around the table, while living-room seating should be close enough to support conversation. Furniture pushed against every wall can create an awkward empty center, making the room feel more like a waiting area than a place where anyone willingly spends Saturday evening.
Furniture proportion, conversation layouts, and dining clearance guidance synthesized from BHG and Architectural Digest.
Lighting Should Support Several Moods
A living and dining space rarely performs one task. It may host breakfast in the morning, remote work in the afternoon, and dinner with friends in the evening. Layered lighting is more adaptable than a single bright overhead fixture. Ambient illumination, table lamps, floor lamps, wall lights, and focused dining light can create different moods while keeping reading and work areas practical.
Natural light also influenced several 2018 finalists. The Modern Cabin used views and cathedral volume to create openness, while the Hunter Greenhouse relied on expansive windows to connect the room with the Catskills landscape.
Lighting guidance synthesized from Architectural Digest and HGTV.
Originality Should Solve a Real Problem
The most memorable custom feature is usually not an expensive object purchased only to impress visitors. It is a solution that makes the room work better. The Hunter Greenhouse’s handmade dining table and bench fit a difficult footprint. The Art Studio Bungalo integrated artwork into daily life. The North Carolina loft preserved an industrial shell while accommodating domestic routines.
Built-in benches are especially useful in compact dining spaces because they can increase seating while using less circulation space than chairs on every side. Shelving and cabinets can perform a similar double duty by storing dining supplies, books, work materials, or art objects while helping define different zones.
Built-in seating and storage analysis informed by This Old House and Architectural Digest.
Which Project Won the 2018 Public Vote?
The Hunter Greenhouse in the Catskills won the Best Amateur Living/Dining Space category. The project’s combination of dramatic A-frame architecture, compact planning, handmade furniture, landscape views, and determined DIY renovation clearly connected with readers.
Its victory did not make the other finalists less successful. Each project answered a different design problem, and that diversity was the category’s greatest strength. The finalists showed that considered design can mean preserving original walnut paneling, resisting unnecessary decoration, merging art and domestic life, adapting an industrial building, or building a dining table because the available options are too large, too expensive, or mysteriously shaped like a kidney bean.
Winner verified through the official 2018 winners announcement and winner profile.
Practical Design Ideas Inspired by the Finalists
Preserve Features With Character
Before removing paneling, built-in shelves, brickwork, beams, or old flooring, determine whether the feature is genuinely unusable or simply surrounded by dated choices. New lighting, updated upholstery, fresh wall color, and better furniture placement can transform an original element without erasing it.
Build for Awkward Dimensions
Unusual rooms often need furniture that standard retailers do not provide. A simple bench, wall-mounted shelf, narrow console, or custom-sized table can use space more efficiently. Start with careful measurements and inexpensive mock-ups made from painter’s tape or cardboard before purchasing materials.
Let One Feature Lead
Choose the room’s strongest asset and organize the design around it. That might be a window wall, fireplace, vaulted ceiling, collection of artwork, original cabinetry, or beautiful wood paneling. When every object tries to become the star, the room begins to resemble an awards show where everyone grabbed the microphone.
Make Multipurpose Rooms Easy to Reset
A room that functions as a dining area, office, art studio, and family space needs storage that supports fast transitions. Use closed cabinets for visually distracting supplies, open shelves for attractive everyday objects, and lightweight furniture that can be moved without requiring three adults and a motivational speech.
Mix Vintage and New With Intention
Vintage pieces add patina and individuality, while contemporary furniture can improve comfort and function. Connect different eras through repeated materials, related colors, similar proportions, or one consistent visual rhythm. The goal is a collected interior, not a furniture-store display or an accidental yard sale.
Experience Notes: What an Amateur Living/Dining Room Renovation Really Feels Like
The finished photographs from a design competition can make renovation appear wonderfully tidy. There are no extension cords in the walkway, no paint cans occupying the dining table, and no close-up of the mysterious hole discovered behind the old bookcase. The experiences reflected in the 2018 finalists tell a more useful story: successful amateur design usually develops through experimentation, practical compromise, and a willingness to learn.
The first major experience is discovering that the room, not the inspiration photo, sets the rules. A dramatic pendant may look perfect online but block the view through a vaulted space. A standard dining table may be several inches too wide for comfortable circulation. A large sectional may fit according to the floor plan but feel like a cruise ship after delivery. Measuring the room carefullyand marking furniture dimensions on the floorcan prevent expensive surprises.
The second experience is decision fatigue. At the beginning, selecting flooring, paint, lighting, furniture, hardware, art, and textiles sounds exciting. After the fifteenth decision about wood undertones, even beige begins to feel aggressive. A clear design concept helps. Homeowners can choose three guiding ideas such as “warm, flexible, and uncluttered” or “midcentury, collected, and comfortable.” When two options seem equally attractive, the option that better supports those words usually wins.
Budget limitations can also become creative prompts. The Hunter Greenhouse team built a dining table because suitable retail choices did not fit the space or budget. Similar constraints might lead to refinishing a vintage sideboard, reusing original cabinetry, installing a wall bench, or choosing simple materials with careful proportions. Cost-effective design works best when it looks intentional rather than apologetic.
Another common experience is learning that visual openness and practical comfort are not always the same thing. Removing furniture can make a room photograph larger, but an underfurnished space may be uncomfortable in daily life. Conversely, adding too many chairs “for guests” can clog traffic every day for visitors who appear twice a year. The most successful layout serves normal routines first and special occasions second. Folding chairs can live in a closet. They will not be offended.
Amateur renovators also develop a new relationship with imperfections. Older buildings are rarely level, square, or consistent. Industrial spaces may have columns in inconvenient locations. A-frames create sloped walls that reject ordinary furniture. Original paneling may contain scratches that cannot be erased completely. Rather than treating every irregularity as a defect, considered design incorporates some of them into the room’s character.
Living with the space before making final decisions is often valuable. Observe where sunlight falls, which pathway people naturally take, where bags accumulate, and which chair everyone competes to use. These patterns reveal what the room needs more accurately than a trend forecast. A reading lamp placed beside the favorite chair may improve daily life more than an expensive decorative object on a shelf.
Finally, completing an amateur renovation creates a sense of ownership that cannot be ordered online. A handmade bench, restored cabinet, repaired wall, or carefully arranged gallery carries the memory of the work behind it. That emotional connection helps explain the appeal of the 2018 finalists. Their rooms were not merely styled; they were solved, repaired, adapted, and lived in. The best result is not a flawless room. It is a room that feels unmistakably connected to the people who use it.
Conclusion: Considered Design Is Personal Design
The 2018 Amateur Living/Dining Room finalists proved that strong interiors do not depend on professional credentials. They depend on observation, proportion, patience, resourcefulness, and a clear understanding of how a room should support everyday life.
The Art Studio Bungalo celebrated creativity as part of domestic space. Modern Cabin demonstrated the power of architectural restraint. My Vintage Modern Dream Space preserved original midcentury character. The North Carolina loft transformed industrial remains into a flexible home and gallery. The winning Hunter Greenhouse showed what determined homeowners can accomplish with time, self-taught skills, and a willingness to build what they cannot buy.
Although the 2018 vote is now part of design history, the category remains useful inspiration for anyone planning a living or dining room today. Look past fashionable objects and ask the more important questions: Does the room welcome people? Does it fit the building? Does it make everyday routines easier? And does it contain at least one comfortable place to sit while reconsidering the paint color for the fourth time?