Meet Rachel Vincent, Neighbor Design Challenge Winner

In our latest design challenge with outdoor furniture brand Neighbor, we challenged our talented roster of interior designers and community members to create a space that exemplified their ideal outdoor living space.

Rachel Vincent took home the first-place prize of $750 to Neighbor, and when you hear more about her passion for interior design, you’ll see how the pieces fit together. Keep reading to learn more about Rachel and her winning design.

Hi, Rachel! Describe yourself in 3 emojis.

🌊🌻 🧘🏼‍♀️

Tell us about yourself and what led you to design.

My journey into the design world was a fluid progression of my love for art and creative expression. A variety of early artistic influences molded my colorful worldview and fueled my passion for creating. Most notably, for many years of my childhood, a family friend would spend entire afternoons with us working on art projects. From clay figurines to hand-crafted chocolates, these experiences provided an outlet for my creative expression using countless mediums. Interior design was a natural progression of my creative journey as I got older and started designing my own spaces. What first started as research for designing my own apartment turned into a passion for interior design.

What was the vision for your winning design in this challenge?

I was really excited about the Neighbor design challenge because the warmer weather has been making me want to design more outdoor spaces. I essentially created a scene where I would want to be on a sunny afternoon with a group of friends. I decided on a modern lake house with a neutral, clean palette would go well with the brand's aesthetic.

Where do you find your inspiration?

What inspires me varies depending on my mindset at the time, but most of my work is consistently created with consideration to two main concepts: emotional communication and beauty in the world/everyday simplicity. I believe that the most rudimentary part of all art is the emotion it evokes. I am inspired by how my work and that of others have the potential to create something so deep and personal. Art and design are a form of communication where the creator can elicit a specific emotion across cultures without a spoken word. The feeling someone experiences when viewing a creative piece creates a very personal interaction. While paintings often overtly provide the artist’s emotional intentions, interior design speaks in a softer whisper. The subtle communication via color choice and room layout is one of the many reasons I love designing. I am often driven by my desire to find beauty in the world and recreate it in my work. This can be beauty in the obvious such as a vibrant sunset, or something more mundane, like a well-organized bookshelf. I’m often reminded of “la vie en rose” as I always find beauty in simple things and strive to embrace and replicate it in my work.

Who is a designer or artist that you love?

I love impressionist art and particularly the work of Claude Monet. I am inspired by his depictions of nature and his collections of the same motifs in a series. I am drawn to his diverse use of color and his ability to capture the essence of natural light.

What do you do on your time off to recharge creatively?

I mostly use art and design as a way to recharge myself after busy and stressful work days. Outside of my profession in neurology and art, I enjoy reading, scuba diving, and drinking wine.

What's the best thing you've consumed recently?

Book: Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed; Food: Homemade wild berry pie with ice cream; Music: Eat Your Young by Hozier.