Traci Kearns

Owner / Principal Designer

Traci Kearns, Alchemy’s founder and principle designer was exposed to great design at an early age, after spending time in Milan, Italy and other design rich cities. Many of her weekends as a child were spent experimenting in her grandfather’s woodshop and with her grandmother designing and making her own clothes. Traci quickly learned that she not only loved but had a talent for combining materials and color, working with her hands, and simply creating.

A graduate of University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Interior Architecture program, Traci’s design approach is influenced by her studies in Finland of modern Scandinavian design and her more recent work in Asia designing for a specialty furnishings company. Traci’s work has been featured in Fine Homebuilding, and she was selected as the interior designer for the 2008 Green Southern Living Idea Home in Western North Carolina, one of the area’s first LEED certified homes. Her professional memberships include the International Interior Design Association and the Western North Carolina Green Building Council

Celeste Waid

Project Designer

Celeste has been part of the Alchemy team since 2010. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from NC State University and worked in architecture for over 10 years before coming to Alchemy.

Her role at Alchemy includes floor plan design, plumbing, electrical, cabinetry, lighting selection and design, detailed CAD drawings of all of the above, and project management.

In her free time she skates with her roller derby team Blue Ridge Rollergirls and performs with Asheville’s fire performance troupe Unifire Theater.

Ashley Stiles

Interior Designer

Ashley joined Alchemy in 2018 as an Interior Designer. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Appalachian State University in Interior Design and a minor in Appalachian Music. Before her college graduation, she completed an internship in New York City as a visual display designer for an eclectic storefront in Rockefeller Center. After graduating from App State in 2012, Ashley joined an architecture firm specializing in high-end residential design in Charlotte, NC. She helped to develop their interiors department and was apart of their Interior Design team for six years.

Wanting to get back to a life in the mountains, joined the Alchemy team. Ashley specializes in furniture plan design, selection and documentation of appliances, plumbing, stone, tile, hardware and decorative lighting. She develops finish and furniture schedules, researches and sources furniture and fabrics, creates image boards and budget spreadsheet, develops purchase orders and follows through on all project orders. Ashley works closely with vendors, contractors, architects and clients throughout the project. She is also involved in furniture installations and post install follow ups.

Cat Smith

Studio Manager

Cat has been part of the Alchemy team since 2015. Cat holds a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Multimedia Arts and Sciences and Interaction Design, and minor in Art. Her professional work includes twenty years in various aspects of management and accounting: working with Architects, General contractors, small business, and not-for-profit business. It also includes marketing and digital print media.

As Studio Manager of Alchemy Design Studio, her position encompasses all aspects of accounting, accounts receivables and payables, customer service, and human resources. Cat also does marketing and print ad/design for the company, as well as, garden design.

Cat has lived in Asheville since 2001, and in her free time she spends time with her daughter, seeing live music, gardening, sewing and painting.

Cindy Meehan-Patton

Librarian

Cindy joined the Alchemy team in 2018, as our samples and catalogue librarian.  While her main focus is maintaining and managing the design library, she also enjoys helping everyone out with whatever is presented.

Cindy is a graduate of UT Knoxville with a B.S. In Interior Design (1991), and a co-founder of the WNC Green Building Council in 1999.   She has a dynamic interior design background.

In her earlier years, Cindy has done extensive U.S. travels.  Cindy has called Asheville her home since 1994. Her favorite things  to do, when she not working or spending time with her husband (who suffers from advanced Parkinson’s disease),  include music and dancing, walking, yoga, and reading.