The finalists for the 2017 Carpet Design Awards have been chosen. On 24 November, a jury of design and carpet industry experts shortlisted a total of 24 carpet creations in eight categories. The Carpet Design Awards are a coveted international badge of excellence in quality of execution and uniqueness of design for modern hand-made carpets. This year, the organizers are reporting another increase in the number of entries, with the current competition attracting a total of 386 submissions from 21 nations (up from 320 in 2016). The winners in each category will receive their awards at a ceremony to be held at 4:30 p.m. on 15 January 2017, at the Innovations@DOMOTEX area in Hall 17. The Carpet Design Awards are highly regarded in the international carpet industry, and so the awards ceremony is rightly one of the big highlights of each year’s DOMOTEX. At the start of each year, specialist carpet dealers, owners of carpet and rug exhibition galleries and visitors from the interior design industry look to the shortlisted creations on show at DOMOTEX for ideas and inspiration for their own new season's collections.

Modern hand-made carpets are where traditional values meet contemporary design, where exquisite materials and visionary, imaginative motifs are woven together to create inspiring works of art for modern floorscapes, and where the world's best designers set new standards and spark new trends in a mesmerizing display of innovation, design expertise and technical know-how. The eight categories of the Carpet Design Awards reflect a range of production methods, price segments and design philosophies and hence also correspond to various distribution channels and carpet use scenarios. It is never easy choosing the best of the best, and this year’s jurors, chaired by multi-award-winning New York designer Stephanie Odegard, certainly had their work cut out for them, considering the great wealth of top-quality creations submitted. The selection process involved judging the carpets in terms of design and design concept, material, execution, structure and quality, and sustainability and branding. An overview of the carpets nominated by the jury and further information, is available here .

"For me, it was a great honor to serve on the jury and have a part in judging the submissions for the DOMOTEX 2017 season of the prestigious Carpet Design Awards. I had the privilege of viewing many designs that are both beautifully crafted and sustainably produced. And so I would like to thank everyone two took part in the competition," commented jury chair Stephanie Odegard. The other four jury members are: Vanessa Brady, interior designer (UK), Wilhard Kühne, carpet expert/buyer (DE), Kustaa Saksi, designer and visual artist (NL), and Hadi Teherani, architect and designer (DE).

All 24 of the shortlisted carpets will be on display in the Hall 17 Innovations@ DOMOTEX area at DOMOTEX 2017 in Hannover, Germany. Visitors to the show will be able to view them and vote for their favorites. The carpet that receives the most visitor votes will be presented with the "Best Liked by DOMOTEX Visitors" prize at the end of the show. And in a new development, Houzz, the world’s largest online collection of interior design and decorating ideas, will also be running a competition in which members of its interior design community can select their personal favorites. Each participant will go into a prize draw, with the winner receiving a free trip to Hannover to attend DOMOTEX and the grand Carpet Design Awards prize-giving ceremony. For further information, visit www.houzz.de/showcase/domotex2017/ .

Nominated carpets and designs in each category

Category 1 Best Studio Artist Design
Original small-scale-production design by an artist or designer
Note: Entry is open to both exhibitors and non-exhibitors.

Category 2 Best Modern Design Superior
Superior contemporary designs showing optimum use of materials

Category 3 Best Modern Design Deluxe
Original contemporary designs showing optimum use of materials

Category 4 Best Traditional Design
Most successful interpretation of a traditional rug design

Category 5 Best Transitional Design
A new rug that uses traditional designs but in a contemporary style

Category 6 NEW: Best Flatweave Design
Original rug design demonstrating the flatweave technique

Category 7 Best Modern Collection
Contemporary design collections demonstrating a common theme

Category 8 Best Transitional Collection
Traditional and transitional collections demonstrating a common theme