Waking Up With: Rachel Nguyen

Rachel Nguyen is an LA based content creator and Youtuber whose eclectic style is reflected in her charming loft filled with beautiful vintage finds.  Here, we discuss decorating slowly, vintage shopping, and looking inward for inspiration.

Hi! Name is Rachel, most call me Raych, and I like to think of myself as your Internet BFF… who has been MIA. That’s because lately I feel like I’m freefalling into a life I haven’t explored. Aside from being stuck at home for over a year; I was stuck in a relationship that no longer served me - coming out of both on the other side feels surreal. So I’ve been deeply immersed in exploring road trips, underground parties, gratuitous dinner outings, and catching feelings for myself. 

It’s quite mundane and monotonous - but that grounds me because by noon, I’m chaos. I walk/play with my dog, make coffee, and then meander* until the morning feels complete - which is sealed with making my bed 

*meander = checking socials, writing down dreams, playing in the kitchen, taking a morning nap, clean my apartment, do whatever vanity thing I’m into at the moment

I’ll spare ya’ll my repetitive regurgitation with a podcast episode I just did. Here, give this a listen: The Future of Content Creators and How to Evolve with Rachel Ngyuen - Girl Boss

Take breaks and question everything - including who I am and what my output is. In those breaks, I ask myself ‘am I performing into a projection that someone has cast on me, or am I doing things for myself’? We get lost in that once we hit momentum. Also talked about this a lot in the podcast above!

Man, Warde is so special. The community and people in it are what make it so fun. Literally all I did was make a Slack group and invited the conversations I saw unfold on my YouTube comments / private DMs and into this space where everyone could jive. Peak pando was primo vibes ~

Oh, I love collecting things from estate sales. It’s like killing two birds with one stone: helping people get rid of stuff and giving it a new decorative life. But also just buy things that feel right, and don’t rush the process. I feel the biggest mistake people make is buying everything at once to fill in their space immediately. It took me a year to get seating for my place, but I finally got some simple daybeds and that is obviously my favorite thing in my home right now.

Ah thank you! Estatesale.net for clothes and household items, Craigslist/OfferUp/FB Marketplace for furniture! Find some keywords you are interested in, currently my searches are: pair mirrors, vintage mirrors, wooden bench, mcm, post modern, bauhaus (the last 3 are to get ideas for other specific things I want to look into!)

Well, I’m gonna say myself because it’s a relationship I am most focused on and trusting myself and my guts seem like a good starting point.

The things you say no to, define you more than the things you say yes to.

Reading: Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett

Watching: Cooking and workout videos on Youtube

Listening: NTS Radio: Slow Focus

The coolest place I’ve ever woken up in is: In a van in Hoh rainforest

The best cup of coffee/tea is at: Home

A thing about mornings I’ll never get sick of is: Stillness