Evolution of The Functional Nest
Every story has a beginning. This one has a few.
Photography throughout the story is original work by Founder, Rachel Anderson, photographed by Evernew.
Welcome to the launch of The Functional Nest Design Studio, a philosophy of design that has been in the making for nearly a decade.
I’m delighted you’ve stumbled on this page and are interested in a deeper look behind the scenes of The Studio and how our brand developed its why over decades of study and years of running our sister design studio: Harper Rae Design Co. That business sparked from a belief that lives on through The Functional Nest today — that designing a home should be fun, not stressful.
BACK TO DESIGN BASICS
Design Should Be Fun
I founded Harper Rae Design Co at a time in my life when making a house into a home was front and center.
I was a mom of two girls under two, having birthed my second just three weeks after moving into a ‘90s fixer upper. A move, a new baby, and home renovations completely disrupted our routines.
Wanting to feel grounded, I turned my focus toward making our house into a refuge. I dove deep into designing a kitchen that could accommodate our growing family, expanding a living room with much needed functional storage, and piecing together a play space that would delight both child and adult.
Several months later, we had a home that could support our changing needs as a budding family of four. It was an exciting yet pressurized process, but the final result was so rewarding that I was hooked.
A couple years later, I completed interior design school and formed Harper Rae Design Co, and after nearly a decade of residential design, have deepened my focus and mission.
AN EVOLVING APPROACH
The name changed. The heart of the work didn’t.
The same passion that led me into people’s homes to help them tackle dysfunctional spaces, still drives me today. Only now, I have a better understanding of what people actually need in order to function beautifully every day.
After years of designing a range of rooms, something became very clear to me:
The prettiest solution isn’t always the best.
A home can photograph beautifully and still make everyday life harder. It can follow every design rule and still feel wrong for the person living there. It can be filled with expensive things and still not support a person in the way they truly need.
These are the lessons that aren’t learned in design school.
A HUMAN-CENTERED APPROACH
People are Complicated
And that’s ok. But if people aren’t all the same, why would the same design rules always apply?
Over dozens of projects and countless conversations about people's homes, I’ve come to understand one truth:
One size does NOT fit all in interior design.
The clients I have worked with come from a range of backgrounds, lifestyles, and interests, and their homes should be a reflection of that.
A well-designed space takes a human-centered approach, so good design is the kind that is highly personal and functional, not always universally beautiful or trendy.
A PHILOSOPHY IS BORN
Beauty That Works
In the early days, beauty was a driving force in my designs. Now I believe a space should solve for functionality first and beauty can follow.
It should be designed to support your habits instead of fighting them. To accommodate you, your animals, hobbies, collections, messes, and changing seasons that make up actual everyday life. And it should be flexible enough to evolve with the souls inside as things naturally change over time.
At The Functional Nest, I weave together a background in human services, a passion for beautiful but functional interior design, and the understanding that to design a space well, you have to get to know the people in it first.
I am so excited to be crossing paths with you on this new journey.
From my Nest to yours,
RachelDid you know?
Before I studied interior design, I studied people.
My education started in psychology and graduated to human services — supporting children, families and adults in vulnerable populations, often inside their homes. I once thought interior design and human services were conflicting paths, but now I realize they support each other perfectly.
To learn more about my journey, read here.