Louisa Votava was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a child her parents—an urban designer and a city planner--exposed her to the city's unique landscape of art and architecture. Instilled at an early age with an appreciation for design, she soon became engrossed with the art of making things by hand, over the years picking up such skills as sewing, knitting and woodworking. As a teenager her family moved to Southern Rhode Island, but she returned to New York City for college where she earned a BA in Architecture from Barnard/Columbia.

After college her passion for sailing brought her back to Rhode Island where she worked on a local Schooner, first as crew, and eventually taking on the company's marketing and design tasks. She has since had the opportunity to work in a variety of design disciplines alongside talented designers including furniture maker Michael Gloor, Interior Designer Patti Watson of Taste Design, architect David Andreozzi of Andreozzi Architects, and with the Graphic Design firm Forge Worldwide.

She founded Votava Design in 2008 to allow her the freedom to pursue her own design work--much of which she enjoys sharing on her blog Rhody Red. She currently lives in Narragansett, RI where she balances with her work with sailing, gardening and frequent visits to New York City.