When considering Colorado, images of the majestic mountains, sprawling plains, sunny summers and blustery winters come to mind. Many Denverites love Colorado’s natural environment and feel a personal connection to our state’s great outdoors. Haley Matchette Flanagan, owner of Haley Matchette Design, seeks to bring that invigorating presence into our homes.
“[My goal] with my design is integrating nature in a healthy way through materiality,” Flanagan said.
Flanagan is a holistic interior designer with an avid passion for home designs that enhance and improve both mental and physical well-being, from construction to decorating. Her interest in design is rooted in her childhood growing up in an old, ranch-style home, where her parents could often find her rearranging her bedroom.
“I was literally a ten-year-old pushing around my bed frame and dressers to make [my room] feel different,” Flanagan said. “I just love that ability to create a new energy in my space through just moving furniture around.”
Flanagan’s innate eye for design was proven when she suggested design changes to the home prior to selling it. Her parents ran these ideas by a professional designer, who agreed with the changes that went on to increase the house’s property value–a moment that affirmed for Flanagan that she had potential in the field.
“To me, it was a success story,” Flanagan said. “My design ideas and my strategy was rooted in some sort of truth.”
When COVID closed the door on a job opportunity in a large-scale analytics firm she had been previously considering, Haley decided to dive into her talent for interior design and business.
“Once I moved [to Denver], I found the Heritage School of Interior Design,” Flanagan said. After enhancing her natural abilities with foundational principles, she founded Haley Matchette Design, with a unique twist to traditional interior design.
Flanagan’s approach centralizes biophilia, the hypothesis that humans have an innate draw towards nature. Her minimalistic designs seek to emulate the beauty and simplicity of the natural world and incorporate environmentally healthy materials.
“I believe that the number one healing source is to reconnect with our land,” Flanagan said. “From a physical [and] mental health perspective, so many studies have shown that when you are even looking outside at nature, your healing rates increase. You are less susceptible to illness … and have a stronger immune system [and] lower stress.”
As such, Denver and Colorado as a whole seemed like a natural staging ground for her new business. Generally speaking, Coloradans take a sense of pride in our connectivity to nature and enjoy the relative ease at which natural spaces can be accessed. Furthermore, many have an interest in environmental sustainability and preservation.
All of this aligns with Flanagan’s personal and business values. “Sustainability and biophilic design principles of integrating nature and creating a healthy space in the entire home environment seems to align with the cultural values here,” she said.
In a home, this involves both the materials that go into the constructed environment as well as aesthetic decisions to bring a natural feel into the space.
“Everything in the design [is] connected to nature architecturally,” Flanagan said. “Like big windows or expansive views that can allow for you to feel like you’re outside, even when you’re inside, all the way down to the materiality of the furniture … In almost all cases, when they’re healthier for you, they’re bio-based and from the Earth.”
Flanagan’s economic and environmental considerations extend beyond the finished product to the materials used in its construction. “The core principle that I really follow, in terms of my business, is health for all: not only for our homeowners or the end users of the products … but also for the communities who are creating and manufacturing the products [and] our planet,” Flanagan said.
As such, Flanagan is seeking business partners who share these holistic interests and place value on the net impact of their products or services. Unfortunately, she has found herself disappointed on multiple occasions.
“I have had a few conversations with builders, hoping to partner, [but] sustainability is not something that they’re focused on,” Flanagan said. “They’re focused on the bottom line of trying to make the most profit that they can.”
However, change must begin somewhere, and societal change occurs gradually. The fact of the matter remains that in Denver today, with ever-rising costs of living and housing, many people simply do not have the funds to invest in more environmentally friendly and healthy options, even if they would want to.
“As unfortunate as it is … interior design in general is a very luxury service,” Flanagan said. “It is something that I’ve had trouble experiencing because I want everyone to have the healthiest home possible.”
When even low-quality housing feels unattainable, it’s difficult for the average homeowner to invest much time into researching more sustainable and, oftentimes, more expensive options. Despite this prominent obstacle, Flanagan remains optimistic and believes that even small, cost-free changes are impactful.
She seeks to educate people about better, more sustainable options in their lives, not only in large purchases like housing materials but also in smaller forms, such as decor decisions.
“When it comes to smaller changes in the home, it depends on what the goal is,” Flanagan said. “If the goal is to add more decor so it feels more homey, I recommend sourcing from local artists, small businesses and second-hand shops to not only be active in our local communities but also to prevent unnecessary demand for new products.”
While Flanagan promotes large-scale environmental considerations, she acknowledges that this mindset can require significant financial investments that some people may be unwilling to make.
“What I would recommend to clients who aren’t prepared to invest is to wait and save more, unless there’s a serious health concern on the table,” Flanagan said. “Start with the everyday things that are in your home. Eliminate those with toxins. Do research or work with someone like me who can help to provide research and an explanation for why we need to remove [certain items] from your home environments to improve your overall well-being by minimizing your toxin exposure.”
Flanagan encourages people to pause and reflect on their decisions surrounding production and consumption, considering both the immediate and far-reaching effects. This conscientiousness saturates her own life, from her personal decisions to her business model, and she seeks to spread this mindset throughout Denver and the world beyond.
“I’m someone who has big visions and loves the idea of what holistic design is to me,” Flanagan said. “It’s everything. I feel like these visions are coming to me for a reason. Following that, trusting and working towards that to serve our population, to serve people in a better way, to serve our planet in a better way, is my career.”
