Meet Homework Collective | Interior Design Studio

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachael Schwarz & Bella Corwell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachael Schwarz & Bella Corwell, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Bella: Rachael and I have been friends for a long time and have always bounced ideas of of each other like “aw I wish this existed or we should do this!” Some ideas came to fruition, others stayed a dream, but we never really had the time or cash flow to pull them together. It wasn’t until COVID hit that we had the “why not” epiphany and went for it. We put our stimulus money in the pot and we started buying some materials to make it happen. With strong interests and backgrounds in textiles, furniture design and art, we aim to make affordable high design objects for young creatives like ourselves. Our mirrors are step one, starting with something tangible and affordable, so we can work towards our ultimate goal of a well rounded furniture and home goods collection.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Homework Collective is a home interiors shop and design platform. Currently we have a small collection of furniture and home goods that we release in collections. Starting off small with some home goods, we are working towards a larger furniture collection to be leased in 2021. We also offer commission based interior redesigns, and custom furniture pieces. I mean, there is so much to be excited about. We decided to take a leap and be our own future. Starting off making our signature mirrors, we didn’t expect people to like what we do so much. Seriously, we have had mirrors sent to NYC, LA, Austin, Nashville- and we’ve only been a business for less than 3 months. We are still so young…working towards our furniture goal is both incredibly fun and incredibly expensive (especially during a pandemic where the price of wood has gone up nearly 80% since April) Our greatest challenge is just being a young business with limitations; we have to wear many hats. Being our own social media director, creative director and photographer, logistics and marketing. Let alone just workshopping the ideas and making the product, we are still learning our process! It wasn’t easy just to say, ‘yeah, let’s make some stuff!’. We both still have to work part-time & take on odd jobs. There are many days where we are stressed about how to pay rent while also celebrating that we turned a profit in our second month. (yay, no days off!)

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Both of us both having an extensive history with the service industry, we love supporting local restaurant and bars in Atlanta. We can obviously point out the big stars like Kimball House and 8 Arm… but there are so many great pop-ups and new concepts reimagining what its like to dine in a pandemic. Yee’s Vietnamese pop-ups at 8 Arm, Ok Yaki just opened in East Atlanta, Mother Brother pop ups, Field Day, and of course we can’t not mention Supremo (soon to come Pollo Supremo 2021). Sadly COVID has hit our artist community hard, so many gallery spaces have begun to close their doors. luckily there’s still O4W Market and Bog Social & Supply, outdoor markets that are great To-Do’s for the active weekender.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Our inspiration was pulled from years of love and admiration for Mid-century and Post-modern design work. As well as literature like ” The Death and Life of Great American Cities” by Jane Jacobs. This book explains the importance of functionality within a space, and the reprecutionps of bad design, which has become a very important philosophy to us. Bella also worked in architectural interior design with Wrong Studios, gaining a deeper grasp on what it takes to build from concept to product. We owe a lot of gratitude to those who have helped us get Homework Collective off the ground. On The Grid Creative, an Atlanta based creative house, has been a huge help in sharing knowledge and resources. Dallas Dawson is our right hand(y) man when it comes to helping our designs come to life and teaching us how to safely and properly use tools. Also just a huge shout out to the Atlanta artist community, who have always come our aid even without asking.

Website: https://www.collecthomework.com
Instagram: homework.collective