Samsung announces 'My Bespoke Home Challenge' winner

Interior design student Zwelibanzi Nzuza's design won this year's Samsung competition, helping him kick-start his interior design career and propel him into his future of creativity

The Challenge allowed young designers to show their talent and passion for creating beautiful and inspirational living spaces using Samsung products. The challenge focused on up-and-coming young designers and was a way to give them a unique platform to design their own interpretation of a perfect Bespoke Home. The brief  encouraged the creators to design an integrated kitchen and living room space with the Bespoke Refrigerator as the centrepiece of their space. Being in a class of its own, the Samsung Bespoke Refrigerator range brings a kaleidoscope of colour, innovation, and unparalleled customisation to life.

I perceived a high-spiritedness in the Bespoke fridge, which is the centrepiece of the design. That inspired sophistication and playfulness in my approach and I tried to use that as an anchor and a common thread in everything else in my space. I wanted something warm, welcoming, relatable, easy on the eye, and not overbearing or intimidating,' said Zwelibanzi.

When asked about the design inspiration, Zweli shared, ‘I selected the colour “Clean white” as my main colour, this colour could be paired with any other bespoke colour. I selected this white because it serves as an excellent neutral backdrop for any interior space, white also pairs well with virtually any colour palette. I paired it with sunshine yellow to add a modern and energetic vibe, yellow is often associated with happiness, optimism, and energy. It can lift spirits and create a positive ambiance in a room.

'As I was designing the kitchen which is known to be the heart of the home, my design concept was based on the heart chakra which is a chakra associated with love, compassion and emotional well-being.'

 ‘Lately I have been working on a small-scale office design project, and I do wish to get more of these kinds of projects to gain experience and build my interior design firm. I have also been communicating with a few established interior design firms about possibly coming in as a junior interior designer. I think this would help me a lot with learning more about work from people who inspire me and gain some industry experience and mentorship,’ says Zweli about his future projects.

Jo-Ann Strauss, media entrepreneur and international speaker, who formed part of the judging panel, said ‘Samsung is renowned for always going big in everything they do and it is exciting to see that the My Bespoke Home Challenge competition was no exception. It is such an excellent platform for young up-and-coming designers and I’m proud to be part of it for the second time. A competition like this is important to celebrate what the young designers learn as it prepares them for the real world and the work environment. The designs of all four finalists were absolutely beautiful and made it tough for the judges. I was particularly impressed by how the contestants brought their own personalities to the fore through their designs. I also enjoyed hearing the personal stories from the contestants about their individual journeys and we all thoroughly enjoyed Zweli’s personal story.’

Click here to learn more about Samsung’s design competition >