BFA students Seryung Hong and Juhee Son and AAS students Audrey Keller and Patricia Kennedy were excited to learn that they were the winners of the Nantucket by Design Student Competition. They immediately began their projects by traveling to the island to survey the house and explore Nantucket’s design resources for materials and furnishings to craft design ideas.

“The word "ever-after" came to my mind,” said Seryung. “It would be wonderful to have this whimsical, playful, fairytale theme in the most historic house in Nantucket.

Juhee and I wanted whoever visited the room to have overflowing energy, fun, and to feel this room is connected to some other world.” She continued, “We decided to play with bold colors like green, pink, white and red, as well as pattern, the use of light and a very daring disco ball to make the space imaginative.” “The keywords for the concept of the space were kitsch, cute, and mysterious. In addition, the space was meant to be cozy and relaxing,” explained Juhee. “In Nantucket, people are expecting to take a journey when they are heading to the Oldest House with a new design concept of the year. Ultimately, our goal was to entertain and give comfort to the visitors with our designs.”

Audrey and Patricia decided to take a different approach by designing a functional space using neutrals and splashes of color revealing a clean aesthetic and organic textures. “Our design theme within the room was “gather,” honoring the history of the home and celebrating togetherness,” said Patricia.

Both teams were able to successfully transform their selected rooms to support the cause of historic preservation of important buildings and interiors. “It was incredibly rewarding to see design professionals come to see our work,” said Audrey. “It was also an honor to host one of the design dinners featuring luminary Nick Voulgaris, in our room and see the space put to practice.”

“It was a great opportunity to network with prominent designers and people who have the same interests,” Seryung said.

Photo Credit: Patricia Kennedy