Bermuda kitchen designer Geraldine McCaffrey has been judged one of the four best in North America for an eye-catching creation installed in a Bermuda home.

The design has already featured on a front-cover of rg magazine and could now be in line for widespread coverage across North America after receiving an "honourable mention" and fourth place in the 2007 National Kitchen and Bath Association's Design Competition.

There were 567 entries in 11 categories in the North America contest. It was in the kitchen and bathroom design that Ms McCaffrey was judged the fourth best when the winners were announced in Las Vegas.

Ms McCaffrey works for Pembroke-based Eurotile. However, she started out as a qualified landscape gardener before gravitating to interior design because she preferred the smaller scale and more detailed work it involved.

For the past eight or nine years she has worked for the Bermuda floor covering company and last year took on the project which led to her entry in the prestigious contest.

"The judges are looking for a 'signature look', something that catches the eye," said Ms McCaffrey.

Her kitchen features an impressive island installation with hood and is open plan overlooking a central atrium.

Ms McCaffrey said: "The challenge was to give a spacial division between the kitchen and the dining room. The clients wanted large appliances in there and there were only two walls to use. The clients also wanted something that had a 'wow factor'."

It took around one week to come up with an suitably impressive design.

Once completed the kitchen design was entered into the US competition.

"You need the right project and something that's going to catch attention," said Ms McCaffrey. She is working on two projects this summer that she hopes will see her return for a second shot at the National Kitchen and Bath Association Design Competition in 2008.

She added: "I always maintain that if my clients are happy with the results of my work then I know I have done a good job, but to obtain recognition of my skill as a designer from the best in the business is the ultimate endorsement as a professional designer."