An award is one of the few things in interior design that a client can verify in five seconds. A "Best of Year" seal on a website, a trophy in a studio photo, a line in a press release — it signals that someone outside your own portfolio looked at the work and judged it exceptional.
But the award landscape is confusing. Entry fees run from free to more than $600 per project. Deadlines are scattered across the calendar, with early-bird, regular, extended and "last minute" windows. Some programs are judged by a jury of editors, some by the public, some by both. And several of them share almost identical names.
At Interior Design Awards (IDA), we run a monthly community-voted competition — so we spend a lot of time thinking about how designers choose where to enter. This guide compares the major interior design awards for the 2026–27 cycle and explains how to prepare an entry that stands out. All dates and fees were checked on the official sites on October 1, 2026; always confirm on the organizer's page before you pay.
How to Choose the Right Award
Before comparing names, answer four questions about the project you want to enter:
- Is it built and professionally photographed? Most juried awards only accept completed, photographed work. FRAME, for example, accepts no concept-only projects and allows at most two renderings per entry.
- Where is it located? IIDA's Global Excellence Awards only accept projects outside the United States, while Interior Design magazine's Best of Year is heavily US-facing.
- When was it completed? Every program has a completion window — Best of Year 2026 covers projects completed between September 2025 and September 2026; International Design Awards accepts work from the last five years.
- What is your budget per entry? Fees add up fast if you enter several categories. Many programs discount additional entries or early submissions.
Then decide what you actually want from a win: editorial credibility with peers, marketing assets for clients, or simply visibility. The awards below deliver very different versions of each.
The Major Interior Design Awards for 2026–27
Interior Design Best of Year Awards
Run by Interior Design magazine, Best of Year is one of the most recognized programs in the US industry.
- Who can enter: designers, firms and brands; students enter for free
- Fee (2026): $295 early bird, $350 regular, $385 late
- Deadline: professional entries closed September 25, 2026; student entries close October 9, 2026
- Judging: editorial jury
- What winners get: magazine feature, online gallery, digital seals; ceremony December 10, 2026 in New York
- Best for: established studios with a strong, recently completed residential or commercial project
IIDA Competitions and Awards
The International Interior Design Association runs several programs with very different audiences.
- Global Excellence Awards: for projects located outside the US, completed within the previous two calendar years. Entries close October 13, 2026; winners are honored at an event in Paris.
- Student Design Competition 2027: open January 4 – February 8, 2027. The 2026 edition awarded $2,500, $1,500 and $750 prizes.
- Will Ching Design Competition: for firms with 10 or fewer employees, typically running December to February.
- Best for: international firms (Global Excellence) and design students (Student Design Competition)
International Design Awards
Not to be confused with us: the International Design Awards (idesignawards.com) also abbreviates its name as "IDA". It is a juried, international program with a dedicated interior discipline.
- Who can enter: professionals, emerging designers and students
- Fee: about 250 for professionals and 80 for students for the first entry (the site lists different currencies on different pages — check before paying)
- Deadline: final deadline October 15, 2026
- Eligibility: work completed within the last five years
- What winners get: inclusion in the IDA book, trophy, certificate and press release
- Best for: emerging designers and students who want an international juried credential on a budget
MUSE Design Awards
- Who can enter: anyone 18 or older
- Fee: $219 per entry plus a $30 annual administration fee
- Deadline: "Last Minute" entries close October 14, 2026; winners announced October 16
- Judging: blind jury, scored 1–100 on concept, execution, innovation, quality and "Wow! Factor"
- What winners get: certificate, winner logo and press release — the statuette is purchased separately, and there is no cash prize
- Best for: designers who want a fast-turnaround credential for marketing
BLT Built Design Awards
The Swiss-based BLT Built program has dedicated residential categories — Apartments, Houses and Residential Interior — which makes it one of the most relevant juried awards for residential designers.
- Fee: CHF 270 for professionals (about $300), CHF 80 for students; additional categories 50% off
- Deadline: the final period closes October 4, 2026, with a 10% late fee
- Judging: international jury using nine criteria
- What winners get: trophy, certificate and a newsletter feature; no fee to claim a win
- Best for: completed residential projects that fit a specific category
FRAME Awards
- Fee (2026): €195 early, €295 regular, €395 late
- Eligibility: built interiors realized after January 1, 2024 — no concepts
- Judging: a monthly jury selects a Winner of the Month and four honorable mentions; a grand jury chooses the Winners of the Year
- Residential categories: Small Apartment, Large Apartment, House, Co-Living
- 2027 dates: not yet published
- Best for: realized, highly photogenic homes with a strong concept
Programs Already Closed for 2026
Three well-known programs have closed their 2026 entry windows — worth putting in your calendar for next year:
- SBID International Design Awards (UK): 2026 fees £250–325 plus a £50 admin fee; judged 90% by experts and 10% by public vote. Entries closed June 26.
- Dezeen Awards (UK): includes interiors and sustainable interior categories, judged by jury plus public vote. Entries closed June 3; winners announced November 16, 2026. Past cycles opened in February.
- IDS Designer of the Year (Interior Design Society): residential only and open to IDS members; $125 per entry. The 2026 window closed May 18.
Free and Student-Friendly Options
- Best of Year student entries: free, deadline October 9, 2026
- ASID Student Portfolio Competition: free for ASID student members ($49 otherwise); three winners each receive a $6,000 scholarship. 2027 dates not yet published.
- IIDA Student Design Competition: January 4 – February 8, 2027
- Interior Design Awards (IDA by Maestro): free to enter, every month — see below
How to Prepare an Entry That Wins
Jury requirements differ, but the organizers' own guidelines repeat the same advice.
1. Invest in photography first. Best of Year asks for 5–10 high-resolution images with photographer credits; FRAME asks for 5–15 and wants the first image to be a landscape hero shot. If the photography is weak, nothing else in the entry can compensate.
2. Limit renderings. FRAME allows no more than two renderings per entry, and juries generally score built work above visualizations.
3. Write a short, factual narrative. Best of Year caps descriptions at 500 words and asks for a "concise, compelling narrative". State the brief, the constraints, the materials and what you solved — not adjectives.
4. Answer the judging criteria directly. FRAME scores Innovation, Form, Functionality and Eco-Social Impact equally; MUSE scores concept, execution, innovation, quality and "Wow! Factor". Structure your text so each criterion has an obvious answer.
5. Include the plan — and the "before". FRAME requires a floor plan. For renovations, before-and-after images make the transformation measurable.
6. Enter early. Early-bird fees are often 10–25% cheaper, and you avoid the last-week scramble for photographer releases and credits.
Interior Design Awards (IDA): A Monthly, Community-Voted Alternative
Annual juried awards are valuable, but they are slow and expensive: you pay per entry, wait months, and the outcome depends on a handful of jurors.
Interior Design Awards (IDA by Maestro) works differently:
- Free to enter — no entry or administration fees
- Monthly cycles instead of one deadline per year; a project can compete for up to three months
- Community voting: registered members rate each space from 1 to 10, and the final score combines the average rating with the number of votes. To win a prize, a project needs at least three votes from different members — see the contest rules
- Cash prizes for the top three projects in each month's most active categories ($500, $250 and $100)
- Exposure to homeowners and brands — every approved project gets a public page that potential clients can find
It is not a replacement for a Best of Year seal — and it is not trying to be. It is a way to get recurring visibility and feedback on your work while you wait for the big annual results.
Your 2026–27 Award Calendar at a Glance
- October 4, 2026 — BLT Built Design Awards final deadline
- October 9, 2026 — Best of Year student entries close
- October 13, 2026 — IIDA Global Excellence Awards close
- October 14, 2026 — MUSE Design Awards "Last Minute" entries close
- October 15, 2026 — International Design Awards final deadline
- January 4 – February 8, 2027 — IIDA Student Design Competition
- Every month — Interior Design Awards (IDA by Maestro) community contest
Submit Your Project to IDA
Every month, interior designers submit their best room projects on Interior Design Awards. The community votes, and the top 3 in the most active categories earn recognition and cash rewards.
→ Browse this month's submissions
→ Submit your project for free
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Interior Design Awards (IDA) is a platform where designers share room projects, the community votes monthly, and the top designers earn recognition and rewards. Based in the US, open to designers worldwide. Not affiliated with the International Design Awards (idesignawards.com). Award details in this article were checked on official organizer websites on October 1, 2026.
