• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington IU Bloomington

Open Search
  • About
    • Areas and Programs
      • Architecture
      • Ceramics
      • Comprehensive Design
      • Digital Art
      • Fashion Design
      • Fibers
      • Graphic Design
      • Interior Design
      • Merchandising
      • Metalsmithing + Jewelry Design
      • Painting
      • Photography
      • Printmaking
      • Sculpture
    • Facilities
      • Virtual Tour
      • Fabrication Labs
        • Fine Arts Fabrication Lab
        • Kirkwood Hall Fabrication Lab
        • Wood and Metal Shop
        • Columbus Fabrication Lab
      • ArtShop at Eskenazi School of Art
      • Museums + Libraries
    • Centers and Collections
      • Eskenazi Technology and Innovation Lab (ETIL)
        • Members
        • Research
      • Center for Innovative Merchandising
      • ServeDesign Center
      • Sage Collection
    • Accreditation
    • History
    • Careers/Opportunities
      • Part-time Position Descriptions
    • Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access
      • Community and Student Success Committee
      • Cultivate and Create Scholarship
      • IDEA Impact Fund
      • Kudos Corner
    • 2030 Strategic Plan
    • Emergency Preparedness
    • Staff Directory
    • Contact
  • Faculty
    • Leadership
    • Faculty Directory
    • Faculty Research
  • Undergraduate
    • Majors
      • Comprehensive Design B.S.
      • Fashion Design B.A.
      • Interior Design B.S.
      • Merchandising B.S.
      • Studio Art B.A.
      • Studio Art B.F.A.
    • Minors
    • Creative Core
    • How to Apply
      • Laptop Requirement
    • Scholarships + Financial Aid
    • Visit/Contact Us
  • Graduate
    • M.Arch (Architecture)
    • M.F.A. in Studio Art
    • How to Apply
    • Graduate Student Funding
    • Schedule a Visit
  • Current Students
    • Career Preparation
    • Student Organizations
    • Student Resources
      • Curricular Forms
      • Academic Advising
      • Career Advising + Internships
        • Talk to a Career Advisor
      • Student Emergency Relief Fund
        • Eskenazi School Student Emergency Relief Fund Application
      • Applying to the B.F.A. Program
        • Studio Art B.F.A. Application
      • Scholarship Awards
        • Scholarship Application
      • Studio Art Thesis Exhibitions
      • Graduation
      • Eskenazi Ambassadors
      • Student Special Project Fund
      • Undergraduate Teaching Assistant/Intern (UTA/UTIN) Application
    • Overseas Study Programs
  • Exhibitions
    • Grunwald Gallery
      • Call for Entries
      • Exhibitions
      • Archive
        • 2024
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
        • 2019
        • 2018
        • 2017
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • 2013
        • 2012
        • 2025
      • Online Exhibitions
        • MFA / BFA Thesis Shows
        • Alumni Exhibition
    • Miller M.Arch Gallery
      • Exhibitions
      • Archive
    • Sage Collection
      • Archive
      • Exhibitions + Events
  • News
    • 2025
    • Eskenazi School News
    • Vision Magazine 2023-24
  • Events
    • Speaker Series
      • McKinney Visiting Artist Series
        • Archive
          • Folder Name
          • 2023-2024
            • Barbara Tannenbaum: Photography
            • Brad Vetter: Graphic Design
            • David Hytone: Painting
            • Reinhold Engberding
            • Lauren Fensterstock: Impermanent Conditions
            • Nina Sarnelle and Selwa Sweidan: Touch Praxis
            • Theresa Ganz
            • Roos van Haaften: Shadow Laboratory : light works based on Bloomington’s Astronomy Glass Photographic Plate Collection
            • Endi Poskovic: Dream and the Paradox of Image
            • Curtis Hidemasa Arima
            • Daniel Vlček and Tom Kotik
            • Sunshine Cobb
          • 2022-2023
            • Saša Bogojev: Painting
            • Thomas Madden: Metals
            • Kei Ito: Photography
            • Yuri Kobayashi: Creative Core
            • Akirash: McKinney International Artist in Residence
            • Christopher K. Ho: Sculpture
            • Tiare Ribeaux/Jody Stillwater: Digital Art
            • Ben Cuevas: Fibers
            • Wuon-Gean Ho: Printmaking
            • Nicole Dotin: Graphic Design
            • Paul S. Briggs: Ceramics
          • 2021–2022
          • 2020–2021
          • 2019–2020
          • 2018–2019
          • 2017–2018
          • 2016–2017
          • 2015–2016
      • Miller M. Arch Lecture and Exhibition Series
        • Archive
          • Folder Name
          • 2023-2024
          • 2022-2023
          • 2021–2022
          • 2020–2021
          • 2019–2020
      • Design Speaker Series
        • Archive
          • 2023-2024
          • 2022-2023
      • Bill Blass Speaker Series
        • Archive
          • 2024-2025
          • 2022-2023
          • 2023-2024
      • ETIL Noon Talk Series
        • Archive
    • Special Events
      • Archive
        • 2024-2025 Events
        • 2023-2024 Events
        • 2022-2023 Events
        • 2021-2022 Events
        • 2020-2021 Events
        • 2019-2020 Events
        • 2018-2019 Events
        • 2017-2018 Events
        • 2016-2017 Events
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Connect
  • Giving
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Staff Directory
    • Community + Collaboration

Eskenazi School
of Art, Architecture + Design

  • Home
  • About
    • Areas and Programs
    • Facilities
    • Centers and Collections
    • Accreditation
    • History
    • Careers/Opportunities
    • Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access
    • 2030 Strategic Plan
    • Emergency Preparedness
    • Staff Directory
    • Contact
  • Faculty
    • Leadership
    • Faculty Directory
    • Faculty Research
  • Undergraduate
    • Majors
    • Minors
    • Creative Core
    • How to Apply
    • Scholarships + Financial Aid
    • Visit/Contact Us
  • Graduate
    • M.Arch (Architecture)
    • M.F.A. in Studio Art
    • How to Apply
    • Graduate Student Funding
    • Schedule a Visit
  • Current Students
    • Career Preparation
    • Student Organizations
    • Student Resources
    • Overseas Study Programs
  • Exhibitions
    • Grunwald Gallery
    • Miller M.Arch Gallery
    • Sage Collection
  • News
    • 2025
    • Eskenazi School News
    • Vision Magazine 2023-24
  • Events
    • Speaker Series
    • Special Events
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Connect
  • Giving
  • Search
  • Connect
  • Home
  • News
  • 2025
  • IDS LaMantia

Meet the IU alumna who designed Lil Baby's house

By: Ethan Roberts

Monday, February 10, 2025

Designer and IU alum Annysa LaMantia inside an Atlanta home. courtesy Annysa LaMantia

Source: Indiana Daily Student

Around January 2023, Annysa LaMantia got a call from representatives of Dominique Jones — more popularly known as Lil Baby — they wanted her to design the renovation for his new Atlanta home. The IU alumna later found herself standing in the home with Architectural Digest. 

LaMantia peered over at the marble countertop dining room table as they filmed. Her eyes began to water as she slipped to a crowded area in the corner of the room. The dining room table in the rapper’s new home was a part of the first product collection that she had ever designed. She took a beat in the corner of the room to soak in the moment.  

“Hey lady,” a cameraman said. “You’re in my shot.”  

“Sorry,” she said. 

It was a full day of cameramen and producers in the house, but she said it was worth it.  

“Being in Architectural Digest is like getting a Grammy for interior design,” LaMantia said. “Every designer wants to be in the publication.” 

Before LaMantia was working with celebrities from coast to coast, her work started at Indiana University. One of her first interior design projects led her to a hospital, where she learned the importance of design. 

“We were in a cancer ward,” she said. “Imagine receiving difficult information and the design of the room around you isn’t calming. It really opened my eyes to the connection between environment and mental health.” 

There are a lot of safety and comfort concerns in most environments outside of interior design, LaMantia said. That includes things like the lighting of a street late at night when a woman is walking home. This led to her centering designs around clients’ comfort and personality.  

The Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design curriculum was rigorous when she was studying interior design, LaMantia said. She said she spent 48 straight hours at the Herman B Wells Library for a project and even lost five hours of project notes permanently because a computer shut down and there was no online storage at the time. 

Despite such setbacks, she graduated with her bachelor’s degree from IU in 2009. 

 

Being in Architectural Digest is like getting a Grammy for interior design.

Annysa LaMantia

LaMantia launched her design firm — named after herself — in 2017. The Atlanta-based firm designs the interiors of homes as well as commercial properties. Clients typically reach out to her with a budget, time frame and a job description. A lot of things in interior design are relationship or connection based, LaMantia said. 

Sometimes when a celebrity of prominence wants a design fulfilled, many designers will offer their services and it’s up to the celebrity to pick their designer. Jones had many options, but his party ended up reaching out to LaMantia. 

“Some people called, and I knew it was serious,” LaMantia said. “I knew who they were.”

From LaMantia’s perspective, she had to be transparent up front with her potential clients about the reality of their goals. Jones’ plan had a nice budget, a long window of time and allowed her to be creative, LaMantia said.  

Because she deemed the potential client’s plan possible, it was time to run “the play.”  

The play, according to LaMantia, is the first phase of the design when an agreement is reached between her firm and a client. In this phase, she orders all the supplies she may need, she begins blueprinting and working with builders. 

The second phase is a presentation to the client. Her firm designs photorealistic renderings of the plan before the builders begin to develop the design. Once both parties agree, the development begins, LaMantia said. 

Redesigning the rapper’s home took an estimated 18 months and finished in June 2024, which was around the time the digest producers came to film. They had to finish the construction and make sure everything was polished before the digest came because they couldn’t show Architectural Digest an unfinished product, LaMantia said. 

"I got my designer Annysa to come in and bring the house to life,” Lil Baby said in the Architectural Digest video. “Everything in the house is kind of designed to my liking." 

  • 2025
  • Eskenazi School News
  • Vision Magazine 2023-24

Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design resources and social media channels

  • Faculty & Staff Intranet
  • COLLEGE OF ARTS + SCIENCES
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Indiana University

Accessibility | College Scorecard | Privacy Notice | Copyright © 2025 The Trustees of Indiana University