Editor’s Note: The following is the first in a series of profiles highlighting the winners of this year’s NFT Styling Excellence Awards. Entries were judged earlier this year by showgoers at Surfaces and by readers online.


Mohawk won three top NFT Styling Excellence Awards, for its Aladdin Commercial carpet collection, SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona Color Wall display and Dal-Tile Del Monoco porcelain tile.

According to Bart Rich, Mohawk’s director of brand management, the Aladdin Commercial collection was designed to “create a type of feel where people would understand that these products are tailored for Main Street commercial.”

The display for the Aladdin collection was designed to be functional, easy to maintain and low-profile. The company’s SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona Color Wall unit, on the other hand, was designed to create a big impact, Rich said. The unit measures nearly 7’ by 10’.

“We wanted to create something that would truly be the focal point in the store. It needed to be large enough in scale but functional at the same time. The products and colors that were chosen hit about 90 percent of what consumers are choosing from,” Rich noted.

Dal-Tile’s Del Monoco porcelain tile is designed to emulate Old World travertine stone. Lori Kirk-Rolley, Dal-Tile’s sr. marketing director, said the product incorporates tumbled edges and wide and natural shade variation for a realistic look.

“We developed the color palette to include four very rich earthtone colors, and we specifically added a warm gray tone,” she noted.