Santa Barbara was full of creative energy, with many beautiful homes Alyssandra Smith drew inspiration from. Being so close to Los Angeles, she also had the opportunity to meet some incredible designers, which solidified her desire to become one herself.

Born in from Colorado Springs, Colorado, Alyssandra moved west to attend college in Santa Barbara California. While there she majored in fine art and worked as an intern with interior designer Penelope Bianchi. It was during her time working with Penelope that Alyssandra discovered how much she loved interior design.

When forced to pick, Alyssandra says her style icons are the great John Saladino, Mario Buatta, Miles Redd, John Rosellie, and Bunny Williams. She admires these designers because they do not only decorate houses, but create harmonious spaces that look both collected and lived in.

Alyssandra recognizes that each of her design icons has their own unique style. She appreciates how they collectively fashion rooms that are not only in harmony with the architecture of the house but are as individual as the client themselves. Alyssandra has adopted the saying her fabulous former employer Penelope Bianchi lives by:

“a house should feel personally collected, — not decorated.”

The summer after graduating college Alyssandra and her husband had a romantic destination wedding in Tuscany. They spent their honeymoon at a the luxurious Schloss Elma hotel (pictured below) in Bavaria, Germany, where, out of the blue, her husband was offered a year-long position at the hotel! Three months later they were on a plane moving to the small town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. 

That’s how Alyssandra found herself abroad without a work visa, and a lot of time on her hands. Rather than waiting around however, Alyssandra decided to devote the time to furthering her design education and has enrolled in Heritage’s Online Fundamentals of Interior Design course. 

She is excited to add to the skills she began to learn working with Penelope and to build her portfolio. She feels the Fundamentals program will teach her valuable skills and prepare her to enter the industry with confidence. 

We are so glad to have Alyssandra join the Heritage community all the way from Germany and can’t wait to see what she produces!