KBB Names 2026 Project Awards Winners: Best Bath and Best Kitchen

A raised tub platform backed by a full slab of emerald green marble turned a dead corner into the focal point of the 2026 Best Bath winner, designed by Pakinam Elfaham, ASID, and Marwan Moumen of Ocean Drive Designs in San Diego.

The KBB Project Awards honor outstanding kitchen and bath design. Beyond the top Bathroom Project of the Year and Kitchen Project of the Year honors, the program recognizes winners in specific project categories.

Elfaham and Moumen joined the bath project after the architectural plans were already permitted. That constraint forced them to work within the existing shell rather than shape the space from scratch. The clients wanted a luxury hotel-caliber bath, but the large, square room offered limited natural light and little visual interest.

The design team's answer was a raised platform for the tub, backed by a full slab of emerald green marble. Judge Kimberly Kerl appreciated that the room avoids excess. "There's not a sea of stone everywhere," she noted. Adding a window gave the room symmetry and made the entire space read as more intentional and architectural rather than accidental.

Photography is by Alen Lin. Jon Walsh of Jwalsh Construction served as contractor. The project draws on Buster + Punch cabinet hardware, Bedrosians countertops, Kohler faucets, shower fittings, sinks and tub filler, cb2 lighting, Amazon Stone at the tub, stone tile from Artistic Tile, Bedrosians and TileBar, and a Miseno tub.

Best Kitchen: Two Kitchens in One Glen Ellyn Home

Gladys Schanstra, CMKBD, of Drury Designs in Glen Ellyn, Ill., won 2026 Best Kitchen with a two-part design. The clients envisioned a home equally suited to gracious entertaining and the realities of preparing aromatic, spice-intensive meals.

Rather than asking one kitchen to perform both roles, the design established two fully functioning spaces that operate independently while remaining connected. The primary kitchen serves as the home's welcoming centerpiece, with elegant materials, generous gathering space and unobstructed sightlines to adjacent living areas. Just beyond it, a concealed spice kitchen contains a second suite of appliances, additional storage and dedicated prep space for everyday cooking.

The judges were of one mind about the project despite its two-part structure. Leydon Lewis praised the complex layering of wood, leather and glass. Nar Bustamante highlighted how the kitchen was divided from the bar. Kerl said she almost likes the back kitchen better than the front because it has so many fun little nooks.

Photography is by Michael Kaskel. The project specifies Sub-Zero/Wolf/Cove appliances, DeVol cabinet hardware, Drury Designs cabinets, countertops from Global Marble and Granite Importers, Perrin & Rowe faucets and Kohler sinks in the main kitchen, The Galley faucets and sinks in the spice kitchen, and Visual Comfort lighting.

The Judges

The 2026 Project Awards jury included Jack Bernstein, founder and owner of Kurrent, a luxury plumbing and hardware destination with showrooms in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Long Island; Kimberly Kerl, founder and principal designer of Kerl Design in Greenville, S.C., with more than 30 years of experience in residential architecture and design; Leyden Lewis, founder and creative director of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Leyden Lewis Design Studio, who draws inspiration from Caribbean art and design; and Nar Bustamante, president and founder of Nar Design Group in Sacramento, Calif., and a member of the KBB Editorial Advisory Board.

Both winning projects share a common thread: they treat constraint as a design generator, whether a permitted shell that could not change or a brief that demanded two kitchens. KBB's full gallery of category winners is available on its site.