News Nearby: Upper St. Clair Designer Featured on HGTV

Alisha Gwen, an interior designer for Davin Interiors in Upper St. Clair, is receiving design requests from around the nation since she appeared on HGTV earlier this month.

"It's been surreal," she said. "Nothing but good things has come from it."

Alisha, a West Virginia native who now lives in Shadyside, was chosen to compete that was filmed in Cranberry Township.

The show featured Alisha and Philadelphia-based designer Joe Berkowitz adding their touches to two newly-built homes with mirror-image floor plans.

For two months they picked out the tile, the cabinets, the door trim, doorknobs and more.

"I've done whole houses before but being involved with every single aspect of the house was a lot," she said. Area residents then toured the home and cast their votes for the winning design.

Although Alisha didn't win the vote, she was proud of her final product, which a young family has since purchased.

"People gather around the kitchen so that's what I focused on," she said.

She had the builders create a double island—one for work and one for entertaining. It was her favorite part of the house. The home's living room featured bright green walls and hot pink pillows.

"A lot of people saw the house and said I could never have pink pillows in my house, but that's not what I usually do," Alisha said.

She made the house an expression of her personality and put a twist on the traditional. The show's producers were impressed with Alisha's ambition at the young age of 26.

"I think (my age) makes me more relevant to what's going on. A lot of older Pittsburgh designers get stuck in a rut," she said.

Alisha tells homeowners that the most affordable way to change a room is by adding a fresh coat of paint and colorful pillows.

She also believes that everyone should pamper themselves with fresh flowers.

You can see some of Alisha's designs on her website—alishagwen.com. She offers a variety of services through Davin Interiors, including short consultations to pick out paint colors to e-design requests where she can make you a concept board displaying all the main elements of your space.

"People get this idea that it's (interior design) is expensive, but it doesn't have to be," she said.

Alisha said she's currently enjoying all the new clients she's received from the show. One day she'd like to develop her own fabric line.

"I'm constantly trying to improve," she said.