Thirty Under 30: Alyssa Gomes, CKBD

By NKBA Staff

Sometimes errors have the best consequences. Alyssa Gomes, CKBD, for instance, may have found herself crunching numbers for a living instead of creating beautiful kitchen and bath spaces. During her sophomore year of high school, Alyssa explains, she was placed in an Intro to Interior Design course by mistake — she’d actually signed up for a Personal Finance class — and the school wouldn’t let her switch. “I was very upset in the beginning, but by the end of the semester I ended up loving it,” she recalls. “My senior year I took the follow-up course, and then shadowed and interned with various interior design businesses locally, which led to my ultimate decision to pursue formal college education in Interior Design.”

Since April 2022, 26-year-old Alyssa has worked as an Associate Project Designer at West Chester, PA-based Windle Design & Construction, a family-run business where she is known to bring a fresh, youthful, upbeat energy, paired with logical wisdom, to her designs. She also recently earned her CKBD certification, which she counts among her proudest accomplishments.

Alyssa, who says the one word that best describes her is “intentional,” enjoys any challenge that results in a home her clients can fully love. She recalls one family of six who lived in an old, Tudor-style home with broken-up spaces that made it very difficult for them to gather in one place together, let alone host friends and extended family. “We renovated and redesigned the entire first floor,” she says, “and at the end of the project they would frequently send me images of sweet family ‘firsts’ for them in the new space, such as the kids’ first sleepover with friends and hosting their first family Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was very special for me, getting to see the impact that made on their family.”

Such life-changing projects stand are a stark contrast to Alyssa’s childhood bedroom décor, the most notable of which was “borderline Pepto-Bismol-pink walls” with large brown dot decals all over. “Thankfully, my tastes have evolved over time and I now lean to simpler aesthetics,” she says. “I love mixing simple and contemporary elements and blending them with more traditional, and even vintage, pieces,” she says. “Vintage mid-century modern furniture is something that I’m drawn to.”

Beyond design, Alyssa enjoys cooking, listening to jazz music, and getting her heart racing with her latest obsession, pickleball. She also loves to travel and a recent vacation on Cape Cod made her swoon. “The classic, weathered cedar shakes on the homes and buildings, along with the famous hydrangeas everywhere you look, captured my heart,” she says. “The New England lifestyle felt much more peaceful, which was a welcome change from my normal ‘go, go, go’ pace of life.” Alyssa’s ultimate relaxing getaway is a bit farther afield. “My dream ever since I was in high school has been to travel to the South of France,” she reveals. More soothing botanical therapy awaits — this time courtesy of fields of lavender.