April 28, 2016, New York NY-The talk of Chelsea New York was none other than Country Floors Tile Design Challenge Awards Ceremony with ELLE DECOR. The evening of April 27, 2016 hosted more than 150 guests who attended the gorgeous showroom, located on 15 East 16th Street, New York, NY, to announce the official Country Floors Tile Design Challenge winner that was first launched March 18, 2016.
Red carpet guests included Model/Socialite Farah Zuilaikha, Celebrity Fashion Stylist Jay Johnson, ELLE DECOR Vice President & Publisher Barbara Friedman and Interior Designers Antonino Buzzetta, Clem Bachman, and Alfonsina Romera, to name a few.
With displays of the finalist’s tile designs spread throughout the showroom, an eight-foot-long white leather tufted bar with sponsored Country Floors vodka cocktails by Finlandia and complimentary hors 'd oeuvres, guest had plenty to look at as well as enjoy.
A presentation was held at 8pm by Country Floors Marketing Manager Justine Sturtevant. ELLE DECOR Publisher Barbara Friedman followed with introductions from judges Yasin Sengul (Country Floors Showroom Manager), Carisha Swanson (Market Editor ELLE DECOR), Antonino Buzzetta (Interior Designer), hand picked by ELLE DECOR to participate as a judge. All top finalists were in attendance to include: Olga Shevliakova (NYSID), Cheryl Sadlowski (NYSID), Jessica Edwards (F.I.T), Jean Delaporte (Parsons School of Design), and the WINNER, Mariana Ribeiro (Parsons School of Design).
Marian Ribeiro is a 21-year-old student from Brazil that attends Parsons School of Design. Mariana's tile design was selected the night before by all three judges, and included Don School (Marketing Director, Hearst Design Group), Munir Turunc (Country Floors owner), Justine (Marketing Manager), and Ahlilah Longmire (President/Founder The Tesla Group PR & Events). All have been working directly with Country Floors to produce the Tile Design Challenge with ELLE DECOR and were the facilitators of the awards ceremony event. Considerations behind the winning design included creative direction, current trends in the marketplace, if the tile design fit within the compounds of the Country Floors brand and displayed the potential to actually be produced.
Mariana Ribeiro received a $500 Blick Art gift card and will be featured in ELLE DECOR. In addition, her design will be featured at the upcoming International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). It is still being decided if her tile design has met all of the specifications and requirements to go into production. The winning tile design will remain in the Country Floors showroom throughout spring. The evening ended with a check in the amount of $1,000 being presented to Housing Works NYC on behalf of the challenge. Sarah Morrow (Director of Major gifts) accepted the check on behalf of Housing Works NYC. All guests received a gift bag to include the current issue of ELLE DECOR, branded Country Floors tape measures, USB look books, promotional cards of Country Floors new tile collection.
The winner, Mariana Ribeiro with the winning design!
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