If you (or any of your friends) have children, you’ve most likely been in a room with one of Rebecca Finell’s designs. The iconic green grass drying rack she created is on the windowsill of practically every new mom we know. Rebecca’s already built and sold her first product company, Boon, and after taking a year off to spend time with family, the smart designer is back with a bang: allow us to introduce you to Finell, Rebecca’s insanely gorgeous lifestyle brand. Featuring tabletop, serving pieces, decor, and even handbags, the entire line is pretty much our neo luxe dream come true. Rebecca and her talented team at Finell invited us over for dinner, to show us how these products function just as beautifully as they were designed.
photographed by kate lesueur
In your backyard garden:
Seven kinds of tomatoes, five kinds of chilies, asparagus, mint, rosemary, grapes, a few types squash, pumpkins, cantaloupe, watermelon, peas… It’s like our own personal grocery store! We use it daily.
Your must-have entertaining tools:
Flowers and music. For a casual summer evening get together like this, I like to play something mellow but upbeat like Tycho, Washed Out or The XX.
Your china:
The bowls are from my grandmother — she had 13 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren, and I’m the one who got the china! I was her favorite because I visited her every week.
Your current favorite color palette for parties:
Neutrals with a pop of color — usually whatever flower calls out to me that day.
Rebecca created her stunning neutral table by filling two slant birch storage boxes with succulents and layering them on top of the join facet runner from Finell. Swoon!
Your standard hosting outfit:
A casual dress or tunic.
Your entertaining style in five words or less:
Casual, playful, simple.
Your most memorable night of entertaining guests:
I hosted a dinner party for all of my new Austin friends. We ended the night making s’mores and passing our guitar around the fire pit. All twelve guests could sing! Only in Austin.
Is there an overarching principle to your approach to design?
It’s not about overdesigning. It’s about staying simple and intuitive.
Party guest Ivan enjoys bar snacks before dinner served on a gorgeous slide serving tray from Finell.
Brandy sips a cocktail beside a meat and cheese board presented on a slide serving tray and crawl silicone vessel.
Maddy and Vicky chat in the backyard while enjoying the signature cocktail of the evening, a refreshing cucumber lemonade.
Rebecca’s Mint Cucumber Kiwi Lemonade:
3/4 cup of sugar 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup juiced cucumber and kiwi, 2/3 pitcher ice water, thin slices of kiwi, cucumber and lemon for color
On the menu for tonight:
Butternut squash green apple soup
Asparagus arugula salad
Black pepper crusted pork tenderloin with a cherry reduction
Peach cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream
Who do you usually have over for dinner parties?
New friends. We love to have people over to get to know them better.
What do you love about your team of employees at Finell?
I love their dedication and talent. They are also all foodies so we eat well and often. We are like family!
Finell team member Pearl pours a glass of wine while guests enjoy salad from the orb crystal serving bowl with solid brass base.
Get the recipe for Rebecca’s Asparagus Arugula Salad here.
The entrée:
Black pepper crusted pork tenderloin with a cherry reduction (served in the angular Hex baking dish from Finell)
Your dream dinner party guests:
Anyone who has a great sense of humor and loves to eat as much as I do!
The taste you are always craving:
I have a major sweet tooth, so I crave sweets, followed by salts.
The one entertaining rule you never break:
I never let my guest do the dishes. They almost always offer, but I will kindly kick them out of the kitchen if they try!
Glassware dries on Rebecca’s iconic design: the sod drying rack from Finell.
Now there’s a policy we can get behind. Thank you Rebecca and Team Finell for inviting us into your thoughtful, well-designed world.
