Design Alternatives

In 2003, long-time local Cheri Baldacchino launched an interior design business specializing in window treatments and Hunter Douglas blinds. Six years and three store locations later, her Design Alternatives fills a 3000-square-foot showroom in Solvang’s Denmarket Square.
“I moved to this new location about eight months ago,” Baldacchino says, “and I love it! The store is so open, bright and sunny; it’s like not even being indoors. And lots of people pass through.”
Baldacchino still creates her signature window treatments, but has expanded her offerings to include bedding, upholstery and home accessories.
“I like a lot of different styles,” she admits, “and as long as they’re done correctly, I’m open to many different looks.
“I’m extremely customer service oriented,” she continues. “Clients who’ve known me for a while can attest to that. I feel like my job is to get people what they need, whatever look they want, whatever style they’re after.”
Inside her store, Baldacchino features unusual items, such as hand-carved fireplace mantels and crown moldings, and a line of furniture fashioned locally from wine barrels. Also on display are original oil paintings by the Valley’s own Joyce Ortner and an exquisite handmade wooden rocking horse.
In order to maintain an inventory of unique home furnishings, Baldacchino stocks only one or two of each item.
“I just follow my gut instinct,” she says of her buying strategy. “If I like it, I figure someone else will probably like it as well.”
Since moving to the new location, Baldacchino has begun offering more gift items for residents and tourists alike. On the shelves are clothing, one-of-a-kind jewelry crafted with genuine stones, and a line of goodies from Hatley, a family-run company that makes everything from coffee mugs to pajamas.
“I wanted some special items that tourists could put in their suitcases and have a remembrance of the Valley,” she says, “but it ends up these things are quite popular with locals, too. They love that there’re a lot of horse, farm and rodeo things with witty phrases on them.”
Design Alternatives also features a number of “give-back” goods that benefit worthy causes in innovative ways. One is Tom’s Shoes, weightless slip-ons modeled after a traditional Argentian shoe but updated with fresh and interesting color and material combinations, leather foot beds and an astounding variety of styles.
“For every pair the company sells,” Baldacchino explains, “they give a pair to a needy child. In September, they gave 10,000 shoes away in New Orleans.
“Tom’s just designed a new boot,” she adds, “and for every pair sold, they’ll give a special rubberized boot to a child in Ethiopia.”
Visitors to Design Alternatives might notice a display of silver whistles suspended on chains. One-hundred percent of the proceeds from these Falling Whistles – a reference to child soldiers in Congo – goes directly to help get those children off the frontline and back into society.
“It’s nice to know what you’re getting is giving back to somebody,” Baldacchino declares. “It’s more than a gift for one person. It’s really a gift for three people: the one who gives, the one who receives it and the other person out there who’s receiving something as well.”
Having lived in the Santa Ynez Valley for 30 years, Baldacchino still marvels at “the weather, the people and the way of life,” a give and take that mirrors the altruism behind some of her store items.
“If something happens or someone gets sick,” she laughs, “we have a barbecue. Everybody pitches in to help everybody out.
“Even though the area has grown quite a bit,” she adds, “I think that kind of Valley life still holds true.”
Baldacchino figures that with growth come new people and new ideas. As a savvy retailer, she intends to anticipate the tastes and meet the interior design needs of newcomers and longtime clients alike.
“Now that I’ve added gifts and Design Alternatives has moved into the front spot at Denmarket Square,” she says, “I get everybody who happens to walk in and visit Solvang.
“I have a great local customer base,” she adds, “and now my customers are tourists, too. As my store has grown, so has my location, and still, the most important thing to me is customer service.”