An ACU interior design duo walked away with top honors from a recent two-day regional competition of the American Society of Interior Designers.

The Interior Design Student Symposium Fall Boot Camp took place on Oct. 14 and 15 in Dallas, where Melanie Bartholomew, Haley Buffington and students from 15 collegiate interior design programs competed.

Melanie Bartholomew, senior interior design major from San Antonio, said that she was pleasantly surprised ACU had taken home so many awards considering that only five students had represented the school.

“It was exciting to hear our school’s name be called,” Bartholomew said.

Among winning several awards for pre-submitted projects, Bartholomew won a $1,500 scholarship. In addition, Bartholomew won second place in a live team competition. Along with students from other schools, Bartholomew designed a coffee bar for injured soldiers at Ft. Sam Houston. The on-site team consisted of freshman through seniors, with all levels of talent, Bartholomew said.

“It was my favorite part of the weekend,” Bartholomew said. “Everyone was frantically sketching, and we all had to figure out what everyone was good at.”

Also a big winner at the ASID competition was Haley Buffington, senior interior design major from The Woodlands.

“There were more students participating than ever before so that makes it even more surprising,” Buffington said.

Buffington won the first place award in the Hospitality division, as well as the first and second place awards in the Commercial Design division.

“These awards help me to feel more confident in my work,” Buffington said. “I’m thankful for my experience this year, and the projects I’ve done and the guidance I’ve received have helped me push to that level of my work.”

This past summer, Buffington interned at a design house in Houston, as well as with American Art Resources.

“I really do love interior design and am passionate about it,” Buffington said. “I also really love art, people and design – interior design bridges the things I really enjoy.”

She said she loves interior design because of the many possibilities to use it.

“It’s not just going into a home and picking out wall colorings,” Buffington said. “It really is a service to me. We’re able to bring people something they can’t do for themselves.”

For more information on the competition, visit www.asidtxstudentsymposium.org.