SEDY Design Awards
Presented by Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC) in collaboration with VERANDA, the winners of the 2025 Southeast Designers and Architect of the Year (SEDY) Awards have been named.
“It’s truly inspiring to see the remarkable vision and craftsmanship of this year’s award winners,” said Katie Miner, ADAC general manager. “Just like last year, we’re seeing an impressive body of work submitted from both new and seasoned design professionals in the Southeast – a reflection of the region’s abundance of talent and expanding reach. Because the awards are blind-coded, each year offers a new opportunity to spotlight fresh voices and perspectives. That’s what makes these honors so meaningful – they celebrate pure design excellence without bias, and that authenticity continues to elevate our industry.”
With more than 120 total entries, this year’s finalists and winners were selected by a team of top industry professionals, including VERANDA Executive Editor, Ellen McGauley; Young Huh Interior Design founder, Young Huh; and Tim Barber Architects founder, Tim Barber. They selected winners in architecture, contract design, and residential design from a talented pool of 27 finalists representing the region.
Below are the 2025 Southeast Designers and Architect of the Year winners.
Residential Design: Matt Donahoe, bureau interior architecture | design, Nashville
Design: Matt Donahoe, bureau interior architecture | design, Nashville. Photo: Haris Kenjar
Judge Ellen McGauley said of this project, “The interior design of this residence is so perfectly in step with the architecture. Each room is like a symphony – I could tell the designer furnished them with such reverence for the materials, the forms, the textures of the house itself.”
Design: Matt Donahoe, bureau interior architecture | design, Nashville. Photo: Haris Kenjar
Architecture: Joel Kelly, Joel Kelly Design, Atlanta
Design: Joel Kelly, Joel Kelly Design, Atlanta. Photo: Emily Followill
“The modest, somber exterior of this lakeside home does not prepare a visitor for the sun-drenched grand interior. Counterpoint abounds, contrasting rigorous symmetry with weathered lap siding and vertical planks, wood shingled roofs next to standing seam metal roofs, and inside, pairing rough stone and reclaimed beams with smooth plaster and tall steel windows and doors,” said judge Tim Barber.
Design: Joel Kelly, Joel Kelly Design, Atlanta. Photo: Joel Kelly
Contract Design: Jillian Rooker & Amanda Dashwood, Rook and Dash, Atlanta
Design: Jillian Rooker & Amanda Dashwood, Rook and Dash, Atlanta. Photo: Ali Harper Photography
SEDY judge Tim Barber said, “With a symphony of green hand-worked plaster, brown woods, and gray floors, the rounded corners and curves of this restaurant entice, embrace, and delight. No detail has been neglected, with aged brass accents, pegged shelf supports, antique mirrors, walnut tabletops and molded plywood seat backs. Even the bar ladder, a leather bar top, and the considerate restrooms say ‘be our guest’.”
Design: Jillian Rooker & Amanda Dashwood, Rook and Dash, Atlanta. Photo: Ali Harper Photography
