Ottawa's La-Z-Boy Interior Designer Zeina Badawi Wins Top Design Award

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The Oscars, the Superbowl, Comic Con. What do all of these things have in common? All of these yearly major events are organized to celebrate a certain genre of entertainment. To bring everyone with a common interest together to celebrate what has been happening in their world.

If you think about it, there are celebrations like this for a lot of different interests. Believe it or not, La-Z-Boy attends a furniture industry convention twice a year. This event brings together all furniture companies in North America to unveil new and innovative ideas, while also celebrating the accomplishments from the year before.

Not only is it a place to celebrate furniture, but it is also a place to celebrate design as well. After all, you can’t have one without the other.

La-Z-Boy’s interior design services in Ottawa have continued to grow as the years go by and there seems to be no sign of it stopping. With notable projects like the Minto Dream Home and furnishing the CHEO NICU Lounge, to even newer projects (which we’ll get to later), our interior designers in Ottawa are unmatched.

The talent at our stores proves itself, most recently with La-Z-Boy interior designer Zeina Badawi receiving an award for being the number 1 best-selling interior designer in all of Canada! 

Zeina has won this award for the second time in a row, and with this milestone past her, she knows how important this is for not just herself, but for La-Z-Boy Ottawa as a whole.

In This Article…

1. About Zeina
2. Notable Projects by Zeina for La-Z-Boy Ottawa
3. The Future of Interior Design at La-Z-Boy Ottawa

About Zeina

Zeina has worked with our furniture stores in Ottawa for 11 years. Throughout her illustrious career, she has accomplished many different achievements. 

After graduating from Algonquin College with a certificate in Green Architecture, as well as a bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Damascus University, Zeina met the qualifications as asked, and then some, when taking on the position of sales consultant at La-Z-Boy.

Starting as a sales consultant in 2013, she eventually became an interior designer a year later, which is when she won her first award. 

On top of being in her first year as a designer, she also was pregnant with her first child, which was an obstacle in itself. But, she proved that all of this can still be done, even while having a child.

Since then she has become an eight-time Pinnacle Award winner, winning the number one La-Z-Boy designer award in all of Canada three of those eight times. This type of commemoration has excited her and made her more noticed among her corporate peers “It’s funny when people know your name before you meet them; I’ve never had that happen to me before,” she says.

This year, the High Point Market was admittedly different for her than the previous years. Even though this was her third time winning this award, this was the first time she had won it consecutively after the previous year, which is not easy. 

On top of being number one in all of Canada, Zeina also learned she was number two in all of North America. “It’s definitely getting a lot of people to talk, especially people wondering if i’ll be able to pull it off for a third year,” she says.

Even though this may have undoubtedly given her a bit of pressure to perform just as well, she notes that what she’s doing is working, and there’s no stopping what she loves. Even with now two young kids to take care of and a loving husband, Zeina is still able to do it with the love and support she deserves.

Zeina's Personal Touch

Interior designing is not just about putting a room together, but it’s also about putting yourself in the client's shoes and seeing how they want their room to be, according to Zeina. 

Zeina’s success is undoubtedly attached to how she interacts with her customers, which is why she is the lead designer for all La-Z-Boy Ottawa and Kingston stores.

When it comes to her personal touch, however, she feels as though it comes down to her communication with customers. 

“You know, someone might be attached to an idea so much that they can't see anything else happening in their room. But, sometimes it doesn’t always work. I find you have to carefully explain the ‘why’ in these scenarios, because once you explain why something needs to happen and the client understands it, nine times out of ten, they will be open to adding anything in their room.”

There are also times when she listens. “I try to not put too much of what I would like to see in a room because my personal design aesthetic is different from everyone else’s. If I wanted to make everyone’s living room look like mine I could easily do that! But it’s about hearing what the client wants out of their space and making a couple of recommendations here and there to really add on to their idea and make their rooms shine.”

By listening to their design problems, Zeina can create the rooms of her clients’ homes and turn them into what they had envisioned. This is admittedly easier said than done, but Zeina is always confident that she can pull it off, knowing she is an excellent problem solver.

Notable Projects by Zeina for La-Z-Boy Ottawa

Although she isn't shy to admit it, Zeina loves a good challenge. And that is shown by the recent work she has done in the past year. 

Even though these two projects were some of her larger projects throughout the past year, Zeina says that every project she’s proud of.

“It’s hard to pick one that stands out because each project is so different. I’m always able to find something new and refreshing about each one I’m in and that’s the best thing about my job–it’s why I love it so much,” she says.

La-Z-Boy Lounge

In 2023, La-Z-Boy was presented with an opportunity to refurnish the CTV News Ottawa seating lounge for guests, which was considered outdated and generic at the time. 

But, with the help of La-Z-Boy and our interior designers in Ottawa, they were able to turn this room into a sit-down lounge that anyone could relax in before going live on air. This is all thanks to our partnership with Bell Media.

Even though Michelle MacLellan, another La-Z-Boy interior designer in Ottawa, was the primary designer for this project, she got some help from Zeina, who was happy enough to lend her expertise on the matter. 

You can learn more about the Bell Media Green Room Project more in-depth with this before and after article.

Manotick Project

On top of conceptualizing an idea for Bell Media, Zeina also had her other in-home projects to take care of. One of these projects included a large home in Manotick, which included furnishing the entire first floor, including two living areas and two dining areas. 

“We’re lucky we live in a city where people are nice,” she says, “And I find people are nicer when we build the right relationships.”

This is exactly what this relationship was between her and her client. Manotick is known for producing large homes within its suburban neighbourhoods. However, this particular home was once a Minto Dream Home, which took place back in 2013.

Because this room was larger than other homes, there was a lot to work with, But Zeina was able to pull off an amazing concept by listening to what her client wanted, which was a comfortable first floor that had a cohesive open-concept look to it.

“I couldn’t have done without the strong relationship I built with my client and that’s why I am happy with this project to this day,” she says. 

To learn more about Zeina’s Manotick Design Project, take a look at this article.

The Future of Interior Design at La-Z-Boy Ottawa

Because of these wins, Zeina is helping La-Z-Boy’s design team in more ways than anyone can imagine.

In terms of new clientele, she is always happy to welcome new clients. However, the surprising thing is how many returning clients she gets as well! “It’s nice to have old clients return because it shows that they trust you and want to continue working with the service they’re so proud of,” she says.

Zeina hopes that more clients return and continue to build strong relationships with her and with the rest of the design team. Not only is this a great way to stay trustworthy, but these returning clients will recommend her to other people who may need interior design services.

She also hopes that the La-Z-Boy design team grows more because of this and that she can train newer designers that will one day win this award. “one day I hope the entire team will flood the La-Z-Boy top ten list for all of Canada,” she says, hopefully showing the power and recognition the furniture stores in Ottawa and Kingston deserve.

Along with the La-Z-Boy design team growing, she also believes that focusing more on in-home is the key to creating more homes that clients dream of. “In-homes have become more and more important as the years go by, and I think we’re really pushing with this idea as we continue on this path. We have to continue doing them.”

Lastly, Zeina hopes to continue showing that La-Z-Boy can produce different living rooms and homes that aren’t filled with recliners but also with beautiful and quality pieces that will last a long time.

“I want to show everyone and prove to them that La-Z-Boy isn’t just recliners, but also great pieces that can go well in any room. We are much more than recliners,”

If you’re interested in learning more about the Interior Design Process at La-Z-Boy, take a look at this step-by-step article.

What's Next?

As 2024 continues to push forward, Zeina hopes that her promising year is this one and that she wins consecutively for the third year in a row. “Third time’s the charm,” she jokingly says.

After reading this article, you might be thinking, maybe I want to work with Zeina. Well, if you live in Kanata, she is much closer than you think!

La-Z-Boy Kanata is where you can find her. Make sure to visit her, or any of our local furniture stores in Ottawa or Kingston for the chance to qualify for our complimentary interior design services today! You can also schedule a visit online before coming in.

Our sales consultants are always eager to lend a helping hand. They will be able to answer all your questions and see if you’re fit for our design services.

We hope to see you soon!

Related Articles (with Zeina): 

Aging in Place: How to Age with Your Furniture

Top La-Z-Boy Stationary Accent Chairs

Dining Room Lighting Ideas