Furnishing Futures: Anneka’s story

Furnishing Futures tackles furniture poverty for women often fleeing domestic abuse, transforming their lives and restoring hope

Founder Emily Wheeler shares how she worked with Anneka on designing her new home

When we first met Anneka (not her real name) she had just been given an empty two-bedroom flat with her two children. She was in shock at her sudden change in circumstances and didn’t really know where to start with making a new home.

We made sure that Anneka and the children would be comfortable while they worked out the design and furnishing of her new home. She decided she wanted her home to be fresh and light with wood and pops of bright colour, a happy space for her children. Partway through the project, interior designer Leo Wood from Kinder Design came on board to help complete the process.

Even though Anneka had said she wanted pops of bright colour, Anneka was a little unsure when DFS, one of our partners, offered a bright orange sofa and armchair from their ex-showroom stock. However, once it arrived she loved it, and it’s now one of her favourite pieces. Mustard Made kindly donated the lovely blue children’s wardrobe and Pretty in Print gave artwork chosen by Anneka for her youngest child, who loves animals.

The home took around three months to finish, which is longer than most of our projects take. This was partly because the family went away to stay with grandparents during the school holidays and also because during this time we were busy moving into our first warehouse with all our donated furniture.

The only bump in the road was sourcing blinds to fit the unusual living-room windows, and when we came to install some of them I found I’d mis-measured and they were too short! Despite this, we managed to pull it all together with the help of our brilliant volunteer Jono and designer Leo. Now Anneka and her children love their new home.

Anneka says of the whole experience: ‘I met Emily at a very difficult time in my life after I’d ended a decade-long abusive relationship and was given beautiful accommodation to be able to escape to safety. But it was empty. I was unable to take anything from my marital home and so as a grown woman I had to start again from scratch, sleeping on air beds and eating off paper plates. Furnishing Futures came to my aid and looked after me, providing essential items at first… I started with nothing, but now I can provide a safe environment for my daughters. I don’t know what I would have done without Emily’s help.’

How you can help

Donate goods by contacting donate@furnishingfutures.org, volunteer to help at volunteer@furnishingfutures.org or buy a charity gift online.