About Us


About Us

FocusRest is a small, family-run business in Portland, Oregon, founded by Anna Sutton, a soft goods designer, painter, parent, and recovering iPhone enthusiast.

From 2003 to 2012, Anna ran AB Sutton Leather Goods, making bespoke leather cases for Apple products. She rode the full arc of iPhone fanaticism: the launch-day lines, the excitement of each new model, and the belief that these devices would make our lives better.

Instead, the device that was supposed connect us started isolating us. In place of efficiency and ease, we were given incessant interruptions, meaningless content, and the infinity scroll.

Anna would like to say she first noticed the disastrous lack of attention in herself, but it wouldn’t be true. Like many people, she noticed it in her family, and then examined her own behavior. It was embarrassing to admit how much time she actually lost to her phone.

After this realization, many books were read, many apps downloaded, and many habits scrutinized. But getting into the phone to get away from the phone wasn’t working. So what next?


FocusRest started with a simple idea:

What if our phones just had a home? A beautiful, intentional place to let them rest? Nothing complicated, but also distinctly for the phone. Can we retrain ourselves to see these as tools and separate from us?

With that idea in mind, prototyping began. One year and many prototypes later, we launched.

Made by hand in small batches. Each piece is designed to last, become part of your daily ritual, and remind you:

You can put your phone down.
You can walk away.
You can leave the house without it.
You can come back to it.
You will be fine, they will be fine. 
You can choose where you put your attention.