TCU senior Cortni Stevenson won first place in residential design in the 2014 Sherwin-Williams STIR Student Design Challenge.

The award-winning design Stevenson’s entered was a contemporary take on a high-rise condominium in Miami Beach, Florida. Stevenson said the inspiration behind her design was a piece of Brazilian street art.

“It had so many colors and it portrayed so many emotions, yet it was still able to bring all of those elements together to create a work that had meaning behind it. It inspired me to want to try to do the same thing,” Stevenson said.

This is the fourth year Sherwin-Williams has held the contest.

The first-place prize included $2,500 and features the design in the STIR eExtra email newsletter on the Sherwin-Williams Designer and Architect Facebookpage and on the Sherwin-Williams’ website.

“We don’t take this judging lightly and she won because her design showcases her talent and ability to use color and materials effectively along with sense of space and attention to detail,” said Jackie Jordan, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams and contest judge.

Students entered either the residential or commercial design categories. All entries had to use a minimum of three Sherwin-Williams colors to qualify.

“Never in a million years would I have thought I would place in this contest,” Stevenson said. “Let alone win first place. I was beyond surprised I was so successful.”

Stevenson said without the skills her professors “instilled upon [her],” she would not have been able to design the piece.

“TCU has exceptional interior design faculty members who are willing to go out of there way to help students, and without them there’s no way I would have been so successful in this contest,” Stevenson said. 

Other winners in the residential category included second place winner Anna Hickman, a student at Marywood University, and third place winner Judith Grant, a student at Art Institute of Atlanta.

“I do hope that I get to meet [Stevenson] some day or to see her published again,” Jordan said.

The next STIR Student Design Challenge is expected to take place in Spring 2015. Entries will be accepted until April 15.