Vote for the Best Reader-Submitted Kitchen in the Remodelista Considered Design Awards

The most influential kitchen in your feed this week might not belong to a celebrity chef, a glossy showroom, or a seven-figure renovation. It might belong to a teacher who tiled her backsplash on weekends, a couple who rescued Craigslist cabinets, or a renter who turned 70 square feet into a lesson in quiet luxury. That’s exactly why the Remodelista Considered Design Awards and the Best Reader-Submitted Kitchen category matter: they prove thoughtful design is not reserved for insidersit’s a community sport, and you get a vote.

This guide walks you through what the awards are, how voting works, how to judge like a Remodelista editor, and how to steal ideas for your own spacewithout copying anyone’s marble slab impulsively at 2 a.m. (Probably.)

What Are the Remodelista Considered Design Awards?

The Remodelista Considered Design Awards were created to celebrate spaces that are beautiful, useful, and intentionalthink edited, enduring design over quick trends. The program has included both professional projects and reader-submitted spaces, welcoming homeowners, renters, DIYers, and design pros who share the same obsession with honest materials, smart planning, and calm, functional rooms.

Key ideas behind the awards typically include:

• Accessibility: Everyday kitchens, not just magazine budgets.
• Clarity: Clean photography and clear storytelling about the space.
• Integrity: Real projects, real constraints, real-life performance.
• Community: Reader voting alongside expert curation to surface spaces people genuinely love.

The Best Reader-Submitted Kitchen category is where this ethos comes into sharp focus: it’s a snapshot of how real people interpret Remodelista’s restrained, detail-rich aesthetic in daily life.

Why Reader-Submitted Kitchens Matter

Reader kitchens are the design world’s reality check. They answer the question: “Can considered design survive grocery bags, toddlers, roommates, pets, and burnt toast?” Spoiler: yes.

Here’s why this category is so compelling:

• Real budgets, real constraints: You’ll see smart hacksintegrated IKEA pieces, reclaimed wood, vintage fixtures, and paint doing heroic work.
• Timeless over trendy: Many finalist kitchens echo Remodelista hallmarks: light, proportion, storage discipline, natural textures, and minimal visual noise.
• Global inspiration, local execution: Think Scandinavian calm, Japanese simplicity, New England restraint, or California ease interpreted in modest footprints.
• Copyable ideas: Open shelves styled with restraint, one strong material used consistently, or a single statement pendant doing 80% of the visual heavy lifting.

Your vote doesn’t just crown a winner. It signals which ideas feel relevant, livable, and future-proof for a broader design-conscious audience.

How Voting for the Best Reader-Submitted Kitchen Works

While specifics can vary by year, the basic flow of the Remodelista Considered Design Awards for reader kitchens typically follows a similar structure:

1. Open call for entries: Readers submit their kitchens with photos and a short story about the project.
2. Editorial curation: Remodelista editors and judges shortlist standout entries based on quality, coherence, and the “considered” spirit.
3. Public voting period: The finalists are published in a dedicated feature where readers cast votesoften once per day per category during the voting window.
4. Winner announcement: A combination of strong visuals, clear storytelling, and enthusiastic community support pushes one kitchen to the top.

For readers, the job is simple: browse thoughtfully, look beyond the shiny faucet, and ask, “Is this a kitchen that will still feel right five years from now?”

Meet the Finalist Kitchen Archetypes

Each year’s finalists change, but certain characters always seem to show up. When you’re choosing where to click “vote,” you’ll often meet these familiar types.

1. The Warm Minimalist Workhorse

Neutral palette, flat-front cabinets, integrated lighting, clutter tucked away. But it’s not cold: wood, linen, handmade tile, or stone with movement adds warmth. This kitchen wins points for feeling calm at 7 a.m. on a weekday and at 7 p.m. when friends arrive.

2. The Small-Space Genius

A tight galley or studio kitchen that somehow fits real storage, prep space, and personality without looking cramped. Expect vertical storage, open shelving done sparingly, slim counters, and smartly scaled appliances. It proves good design is a skill, not a square-footage flex.

3. The Respectfully Modernized Classic

A historic home kitchen that keeps original windows, trim, or floors while adding updated fixtures, efficient layouts, and understated hardware. No theme-park nostalgia, no gut-reno amnesiajust a respectful dialogue between old and new.

4. The Soulful DIY Makeover

Painted cabinets, patched-in butcher block, thrifted pendants, and a sink that survived three owners. Imperfect? Yes. Irresistible? Also yes. These kitchens showcase problem-solving, character, and commitmenta different kind of luxury.

When you recognize these archetypes, you can compare apples to apples: which space best embodies intentional, lasting design?

How to Vote Like a Remodelista Editor

Instead of voting for the shiniest backsplash, use a simple editorial checklist:

1. Function First

Does the layout make sense? Look for an efficient work triangle or logical zones, generous prep areas, and storage that suits real cooking, not just styling. A considered kitchen should make life easier.

2. Materials with Integrity

Prioritize honest, durable materials: solid woods, real stone or high-quality alternatives, sturdy hardware, and fixtures meant to age gracefully. Avoid visual chaos from too many competing finishes.

3. Visual Calm & Cohesion

Are color, texture, and lines working together? Great reader kitchens often use a tight palette with one or two subtle “hero” moments: a pendant, a range, a shelf, not ten trends at once.

4. Light & Proportion

Notice how each kitchen handles natural light, task lighting, and scale. Pendants not bonking you in the forehead, shelves not slicing windows in halfsmall details show big thinking.

5. Sustainability & Longevity

Bonus points for reused cabinets, vintage pieces, energy-efficient appliances, and choices that won’t feel dated next season. A winning kitchen respects both the planet and your future self.

6. Story & Authenticity

Read the captions. Does the story feel genuine? Did the owners solve real problems, respect the architecture, or stretch a budget cleverly? Authenticity is a Remodelista core value.

Design Ideas You Can Steal from the Finalists

Voting doubles as a masterclass. As you scroll, bookmark ideas that translate to your own home:

• Commit to one strong idea: A continuous counter and backsplash in the same material can look more high-end than five competing surfaces.
• Edit your uppers: Replace a few upper cabinets with open shelves or a rail system to lighten the roomif you can keep them tidy.
• Lean into texture, not clutter: Beadboard, handmade tile, linen café curtains, or woven shades add depth without noise.
• Use color with purpose: Muted greens, inky blues, or warm whites read sophisticated when paired with natural wood and simple hardware.
• Design for everyday life: Trash, recycling, pantry, coffee, kid snacksif the finalist planned for them, copy that thinking.

Rallying Votes (Without Being That Person)

Part of the fun is cheering on your favorite kitchenespecially if it belongs to someone you know. A few etiquette-friendly tips:

• Share the contest page with a short note about what makes that kitchen special (layout, restraint, clever reuse), not just “pls vote thx.”
• Encourage friends to browse all finalists so the process feels fair and design-driven.
• Respect any rules on daily voting and avoid bots or spam. Credible public voting keeps the award meaningful for everyone.

Your Vote, Your Design Culture

When you cast a vote in the Best Reader-Submitted Kitchen category, you’re quietly shaping what the design community celebrates: restraint over gimmicks, stories over status symbols, real-life beauty over disposable trends.

So scroll slowly. Notice the small decisions. And when a kitchen makes you think, “Yes, I could live thereand cook there,” that’s your winner.

Real-World Experiences: Inside the Reader-Submitted Kitchen Journey

Behind every finalist photo grid is a very human storyand those experiences are a big part of why this category matters.

Past reader winners and finalists often describe the awards as a surprising validation of years of quiet, incremental work. Many are not designers by trade. They’re parents squeezing tile decisions between school pickups, couples teaching themselves how to install open shelving straight, or renters negotiating with landlords for permission to swap fluorescent boxes for something dignified.

One common thread: almost no one starts with a blank check. Instead, they work with what existssolid but orange-toned cabinets, awkward soffits, aging appliancesand make a series of intentional upgrades. Painting cabinetry instead of replacing it. Adding a single run of custom shelving for everyday dishes. Choosing one real material they love (a butcher-block island, a stone counter, a fireclay sink) and letting everything else stay quiet. When those projects land in the finals, it signals to thousands of readers that “good enough” can be transformed into “just right” without waste or theatrics.

Another recurring experience is the power of community. Finalists often share how friends, family, and even strangers rallied behind their kitchens during votingsharing posts, debating favorites, zooming in on details like a jury of very stylish detectives. That collective attention pushes people to articulate why a space feels right: the way morning light hits the counter, the calm of concealed storage, the decision not to knock down every wall because the house’s bones mattered.

For many participants, the process also sharpens their own design thinking. Preparing an entry forces them to photograph their kitchen honestly (yes, with the counters cleared), name the choices they made, and see the room as a complete story, not just a list of compromises. Win or lose, they come away with a clearer sense of what “considered” means in their daily life.

And for voters, watching those stories play out year after year is quietly educational. You start to notice how a $50 light swap can anchor a whole room, how a consistent palette makes a small kitchen feel generous, how a well-placed shelf can replace an entire upper cabinet run. You realize the award isn’t just documenting pretty kitchens; it’s building a shared library of smarter, kinder design decisions.

So when you vote in the Remodelista Considered Design Awards, you’re not only boosting one beautiful kitchenyou’re participating in a culture of readers who respect craftsmanship, constraints, and long-term thinking. That’s a pretty solid return on a single click.

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