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FACS students awarded scholarships for furniture showroom design

Virginia Furniture Market Owner Joel Shepherd presents a $2,500 award to interior design students (from left) Bethany Batton, Courtney Gilmour, Dianna Alligood, Cayla McHaney, and Taylor Ford, for winning a showcase challenge.

Students from the Liberty University Department of Family & Consumer Sciences (FACS) Interior Design Program were recently awarded $2,500 in scholarship money from the Virginia Furniture Market (VFM) for their work designing a showroom vignette, which was showcased in the company’s Bedford and Rocky Mount, Va. stores on Black Friday. The displays will be up through New Year’s.

VFM partnered with Liberty to offer the first annual VFM Design Challenge this fall. The Virginia Furniture Market has two main locations in Rocky Mount and Bedford, Va, as well as a VFM Sleep Center and VFM Outlet in Rocky Mount, Va.

VFM owner Joel Shepherd announced the winners at a presentation on Tuesday at Liberty’s Hancock Welcome Center. He was joined by FACS Department Chair Dr. Debbie Benoit, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Dr. Roger Schultz, and Becki Falwell, wife of Liberty President Jerry Falwell. Shepherd said the group of seniors Bethany Batton, Taylor Ford, Courtney Gilmour, and Diana Alligood, and junior Cayla McHaney were chosen for their design’s color scheme and functionality.

“The students were so professional and put in a real effort,” Shepherd said.

Assistant Professor Lisa Campbell, who incorporated the challenge into her FACS 345 Materials and Specifications course, said the idea was to give students practical experience in the design industry.

“Any opportunity where students can interface with the public outside of the classroom is just so much more valuable than lecture time,” Campbell said. “It’s a great hands-on experience.”

Three groups (of five students each) presented “mood boards” (a display of pictures, ideas, and concepts used by designers) to a panel of judges made up of VFM staff. The students used furniture and accessories from the store and also received a $500 Visa gift card to purchase extra items.

The winning design is showcased in select Virginia Furniture Market locations during the holidays.

All students worked closely with VFM staff in order to find trends and research bestselling items to create a room that would do well with customers.

The winning group received a $2,500 scholarship, to be divided between members. The VFM also presented a $500 People’s Choice Award, chosen through votes cast on social media. VFM gave an additional $2,000 for the FACS department to award to promising students in the Interior Design program for a total of $5,000 in scholarship awards.  The remaining scholarships will be presented at Commencement.

The mood boards from the groups were also displayed in store to inspire customers.

Batton said their winning group chose a living room and dining room space for their design.

“We wanted to go with something that was family oriented,” Batton said.

The group used Thanksgiving as their inspiration, pulling from a warm color pallet that included shades of red, orange, and olive green.

Batton said the project helped them learn how to make a space that was beautiful, yet practical.

“We wanted them to see themselves in the spaces,” she said. “When people walk into a showroom, they see a showcase and think, ‘That’s beautiful, but I have a dog so I could never do that.’ We wanted it to be relatable.”

Senior Taylor Ford said the experience of completing a showcase is something she is proud to put on her resume when she starts her job search.

“It’s one thing to create something pretty on paper,” Ford said. “It’s another thing to actually execute (your design).”

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