Sherwin-Williams announced the winners of its fifth annual STIR Student Design Challenge. Winners were selected from a pool of hundreds of entries stemming from the top design schools in the nation. Besides recognition, winners received cash prizes up to $2,500.

Marija Kalas, a student from the Academy of Art University, won first-place in residential design for incorporating Sherwin-Williams 2015 Color of the Year Coral Reef in a variety of home spaces. Dale Carithers, a student from Gwinnett Technical College, won first-place in the commercial design category for her design of a beachside resort. Kalas and Carithers each received a cash prize of $2,500 and will be featured in an upcoming issue of Sherwin-Williams STIR Magazine, on Sherwin-Williams Facebook page for design professionals and at sherwin-williams.com.

“We had some great submissions this year. I’m always amazed by how many innovative designs we receive, and how talented these students are,” said Jackie Jordan, director of color marketing, Sherwin-Williams, and a judge of the Student Design Challenge. “However, Marija and Dale’s designs really stood out. Their work is creative, detailed and features dynamic color combinations.“

Kerrie Kelly, award-winning designer and owner of Kerrie Kelly Design Lab, and Stephen Chung, architect and creator/host of “Cool Spaces!” on public television, joined Jordan on the judging panel.

The runners up in the residential category are team members Kory Myers and Davis McDaniel of the University of Oklahoma in second-place and Aja Baldwin of the of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in third-place. Commercial category runner-ups are Victoria Johnson of the University of Wisconsin Madison in second-place and teammates Emily Vester and Alex Curtis of Arizona State University in third-place. Second-place winners received $1,000 and third-place winners $500.

Students were challenged to design for an individual room or area in a home, or an entire home and/or commercial property such as a restaurant, hotel, museum, office or retail store. They could work as individuals or in teams and were required to use a minimum of three Sherwin-Williams colors in their designs. Entries were accepted at swstudentdesign.com from March 1 through April 15, 2015