Author

Ariana Beaudry

2024 Design Contest Winners


Outdoor living space with covered deck and floor to ceiling windows.

Profile image of Danielle Schroeder By Danielle Schroeder

Chief Architect has monthly contests for customers to show off their work. People with various backgrounds and styles compete in the following categories: Kitchen/Bath and Interior, Residential, and Remodel/Addition. Please help us congratulate the winners!

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Featured Student – Payal Thakkar


Bathroom design with blush nood basin, sconces, wall planters, and soaking tub

Headshot of Ariana BeaudryBy Ariana Beaudry

Originally acquiring her Bachelors in Accounting and MBA in Marketing in India, Payal has chosen to pursue Interior Design as her passion. Echoed in her design style are biophilic elements and sustainability, with the goal of creating spaces that invoke emotion and memories.

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100 Days to Home with Bellevida Designs


Brian and Mikas dream home design rendering

Headshot of Ariana Beaudryby Ariana Beaudry

Jeremy Stevens works with his wife Danielle Stevens on the HGTV show “100 Day Dream Home.” On the show, the couple work with Brian and Mika to leverage Chief Architect Software’s power, and deliver a dream home in 100 days or less.

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Build Small, Live Large with Larry Singleton Designs


Micro living house with 3 stories and deck over carport.

Larry Singleton, a micro living residential designer from Georgia, won 1st place in the Residential Design Contest. His focus on small spaces gained large interest.

After the 2008 recession collapsed his 20-year Design Build Business, Larry Singleton started his encore career as an Architectural Design teacher. Now in his retirement, he is pursuing a passion for building “micro homes.” The pocket neighborhoods battle the continued struggle for affordable housing and encourage a minimalist lifestyle embraced by newer generations. He used Chief Architect from 2001 to 2009 for his Design/Build business and has benefitted again from Chief Architect Software as a designer since 2019.

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And the Chief Academy Award goes to…


Chief Architect User Breakfast at IBS tradeshow 2020

Headshot of Ariana BeaudryBy Ariana Beaudry

What better to raffle off than an advance in skill level? We raffled for the first time the opportunity to attend our annual Chief Academy training event.

Thank you to all that were able to visit the Chief Architect Booth at the International Builders’ Show (IBS) and Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in Vegas. We had a great time being able to put faces to familiar names and introduce more professionals in the industry to Chief Architect Software. One of our favorite parts of the event each year is the User Breakfast that we host on Day 2 of the show. It’s here that our Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Scott Harris, CKBD, presents What’s New in the latest version of our software. In addition to showing off the new features, we also threw in a twist this year… not only did the attendees have a chance to win big at the casino, but for the first time in the history of this event, we raffled off a chance to win a ticket to our Chief Academy User Event, valued at $1,295, and Brian Farris of Farris Construction was ecstatic to win.

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Form follows function in Residential design from Robert Smith


Front perspective of farmhouse style home with columned entry and gable accents

Headshot of Ariana Beaudry By Ariana Beaudry

Robert Smith embraces fresh design concepts to meet clients’ needs.

Our Second place Residential Design Contest winner, Robert Smith, was encouraged at a young age to start on his design path. When he mentioned that he enjoyed working with wood, his high school counselor suggested, “Why not draw houses?” to fill an elective. He proceeded to study Architectural Drafting all 4 years of high School, earned a degree in Architectural Design and Drafting from York Technical Institute, and has been an avid student of design ever since.

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Cindy Baker: Inspired by Relationships


Master Bathroom with hardwood flooring and grey marble counter tops

Headshot of Ariana Beaudry By Ariana Beaudry

Second Place Kitchen/Bath & Interior Design Contest winner Cindy Baker has put relationships at the center of her nearly 30 years in the design field.

Cindy Baker has always forged her own path, taking guidance and inspiration from her relationships along the way. Growing up, her father’s home improvement projects fascinated her. In school, a well-known designer personally encouraged her to make design her career. And after earning a degree in Interior Design at Oklahoma State University, she sold her car and moved to London where she, “opened up a phone book and started making calls.” She recalls, “I was blessed to find a prominent designer who took me under her wing and into her world.”

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