Next to kitchens, creating beautiful bathrooms is one of the most popular choices in both new home and renovation projects.
Bathrooms typically offer a great return on investment while letting you create a “pamper me” zone. And for a room than does not usually take up much real estate, it can pack a punch.
From powder rooms that are little jewel boxes of fun to grand spa-like ensuites, bathrooms make up the latest category in voting for the Ottawa Citizen People’s Choice Award, a popular category in the annual Housing Design Awards put on by the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association. The award is voted on by the public in a series of rounds that narrow down the 184 finalists to a shortlist from which voters choose a winner.
What am I voting on?
Ultimately, you’re helping to choose what is the most popular or appealing project to the public. Entries range from new homes to renovations, to kitchens, bathrooms, basements, outdoor spaces and more.
How do I vote?
Because there are so many projects to choose from, voting is done in five preliminary rounds, grouped into related categories, with the top choices in each of those rounds making up the contenders in a final round of voting that coincides with the Ottawa Fall Home Show at the end of September.
Voting is done online with five days set aside for each round, from 9 a.m. Wednesdays to 11:59 p.m. Sundays. You’re encouraged to vote in each round.
Here’s a schedule of voting times and categories for the preliminary rounds:
Aug. 22-26: production homes, condos and the green production home of the year
Aug. 29-Sept. 2: custom homes and the green custom home of the year
Sept. 5-9: renovations and housing details
Sept. 12-16: bathrooms
Sept. 19-23: kitchens
Sept. 26-30: final voting
For the final round to choose the ultimate winner, voting can be done either online or in person at the home show. Awards for the People’s Choice and all other categories will be announced at a gala in October.
This round sees 23 projects in six categories vying for your vote. It also includes the most popular award category of all the submissions: 16 entered under contemporary custom bathroom, 100 sq. ft. or less. Only four made it through as finalists.
Voting opens at 9 a.m. Wednesday and continues until 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Along with the photos shown above, here are the rest of the finalists in this group: