Savannah Paletta was born in New York, but truly raised in St. Louis Missouri. She is a Midwest girl through and through and loves going back to St. Louis to see her amazing family, including her four siblings who are extremely different from one another.
In her family, Savannah has always been known as the creative, outrageous, and even a little “over the top” sibling when it comes to making plans, having ideas, or just life in general. She is a firm believer in the saying “Go big or go home”. From an early age her parents always encouraged their children to draw on the walls, decorate their rooms how they wanted, paint something a different color, or change furniture or floors. Savannah believes this freedom is where her creativity began to blossom. When she was younger, her sisters came to her for help with their room layouts and art projects. As they grew up, she was the go to for home improvement projects. Through these interactions, she began to identify the type of career she wanted: one where she could work closely with people and help create things for them.
Savannah originally moved out to Denver to attend college in 2012. After school, she was working in the luxury travel industry for a company based in Europe. Her employer coordinated luxury custom experiences all around the world for guests, from safaris in the Serengeti to jet-boating in New Zealand. They provided people with custom, once in a life time experiences. While working in this field, Savannah loved the ability to travel and explore, but eventually wanted something more home-based. She was still eager to find a job where she would interact with clients on a daily basis, be creative, and give people those unforgettable experiences.
Savannah’s “aha moment” came while traveling in Ireland. While visiting Ashford Castle, she was floored by the way every room in the castle was uniquely designed and decorated. She was left not only speechless, but wondering how the original designer created some of these spaces.
Instantly, she knew this is something that she was passionate about and should pursue. Once she returned home, Savannah began to realize how many aspects of her life revolved around design, from decorating her own home, or creating a mood for events or table setting for dinners that just “made sense” that way. Her love for creating and planning, giving people something they can’t get anywhere else, and her obsession with making sure there is harmony in a room or design, helped Savannah recognize her passion for interior design.
From there, Savannah enrolled in Heritage for Fall 2020. She says Heritage has been an amazing experience thus far. Two weeks into the first term, she already feels like she has learned so much.
“Our instructor Heather is so knowledgeable and uses real life examples that are actually applicable to situations designers face today! Being able to have a teacher who has actually worked and still works in the industry is such an underrated benefit. Having class in person at least once a week has made a huge difference getting to know my Heritage family and being able to get advice from other students in the class on a specific lecture or assignment. At the same time, I love the flexibility of having some classes hybrid style! The video recordings and studio time with teachers allows me to press pause, ask questions, and practice more than I feel like I ever would have! I am excited to continue to learn, work, and challenge myself to learn as much as I can during these next few months!”
Savannah has yet to determine her future career goal after graduation, but she is working towards her future career each week she is in class.
“There is so much to choose from and I feel like I am passionate about all of it! I love residential design and getting to find or create specific pieces or structure that are unique for that clients wants and needs, but at the same time I love how unexpected and diverse commercial design can be.”
Currently if Savannah had to pick a “dream job” in the design industry it would be to become an international buyer for the luxury sector on both the commercial and residential side. She would love to source specific furniture, historical pieces or unique objects that clients can’t find anywhere else. Finding unique pieces with history and a story from a different place which she can incorporate into the design of a space would be fascinating to Savannah. Though this would be very niche, she believes it would never stop being interesting and she would never stop learning.
“I cannot wait to see where this journey with Heritage will take me. For now, I am keeping my design mind open and seeing where this all takes me!”