Let me introduce you to Anna, aka @annalysejacobs, a 51-year-old single mum of two kids, Zachary, 14 and Coco Rose, 11. She is also the Homeware Designer of the Year (UK – 2021). She actually started off as a singer in a girl band, then worked in social enterprise theatre. After that, she joined a cult for 6 years (long story!), but after escaping, she ended up setting up and heading the Marketing and Business Development Department for a big City law firm in London.
However, after 8 years there, she craved a creative life again, so aged 39 and pregnant with her second child, she resigned, not entirely sure what that creative path would look like! So she took a whole variety of creative short courses and ended up starting a new life as an Interior designer.
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However, very quickly, she was also offered a solo show of paintings and a teaching job, teaching Colour for Interiors at a big Art School in London. Anna’s art show was a great success, and the galleries suggested one of her paintings would make a great lampshade. It then took her two years to work out how to make one out of her art.
But once she’d produced it, she sold it in her gallery, so her brand was born. From there, she produced lots more designs across lamps and cushions, bed linen and wallpaper and was soon stocked in 45 shops across the UK and Europe. Now, her business is almost entirely online, but she is also expanding and taking her colour teaching online, with her first online colour course Creat Colour Magic in Your Home – launching on 15th June! 👉 Use code NOEMI50 and save £50.
Can you remember your first design project in your home?
Anna: Yes! It was the blue mural up the side of my blue stairs about 18 months ago. It was a light-bulb moment for me, and I painted it over a weekend, in the midst of my puppy getting sick, spilling a pot of paint all down the wooden stairs and my kids having riotous playdates.
What is your favourite Instagram page on design?
Anna: It’s Studio Proba – @alexproba. I find it really stimulating, because it’s not really interiors, as it’s more art-based, but I just LOVE the aesthetic and colours! Although in fact, Alex is moving more into interiors now, which is very exciting.
What inspires you?
Anna: Art, nature, other designers. I’m particularly drawn to clarity of colour and form, which is why I love Alex Proba so much, as well as Matisse’s paper cut-outs, Linnea Andersson and interior designers such as 2LG.
What’s the favourite part of your home?
Anna: Well, that changes all the time, depending on what I’ve just decorated. But currently, it’s the kitchen because I’ve just wrapped my fridge in green vinyl and made zig-zag panelled fronts for my cupboards. But I also love the lush oceanic forest colours in there and the contrasts of hard/soft, luminous/dense, shiny/matt, contemporary/period. It gets all my juices flowing.
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Can you describe your style?
Anna: In my dreams, I’d love it to be thought of like a modern-day Charleston – a fresh and lyrical mix of art and colour.
How does your family relate to your passion for design? Do they support it?
Anna: Well, my kids who live here with me have a mixed relationship to it. They fundamentally don’t like change (as many kids don’t, whereas I love it!). So whenever I’m about to start a new piece of decoration, they protest wildly, but once it’s done and they’ve got used to it, they love it and are always very proud of it, which is so sweet of them.
My wider family – parents, siblings etc., are incredibly supportive and are always cheering me on.
I know you are a colour lover, but what’s your favourite?
Anna: That’s possible to answer because it totally depends on what’s going on in my life! But there are several colours that I’m always attracted to – a rich turquoise teal, a vivid coral pink, a neon orange-red and a lush grass green.
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What was your design faux pas you did?
Anna: I painted my hallway top-to-toe in pale pink, following the colour theory that pink inhibits physical wildness, hoping that it would be a calming transition place for my very physically reactive teenage son to come home to.
However, on the first day, he walked in, took one look at it and shouted at me, “There is no way I’m living in a place with a pink hallway!!!” He then stomped up the stairs to his bedroom and slammed the door. Lol. I promptly painted all the walls back white – but did leave the door frames pink, which he accepted.
Do you have a favourite designer (or more)?
Anna: My current favourite designers are Natalie Papier @home_ec_op for her stunning elegiac artistic designs, Russell and Jordan @2lgstudio for their joyful saturated colour and forms and Kelly Wearstler for her bold and sophisticated use of colour in glamorous and sexy interiors.
Is there any design style you don’t like and why?
Anna: I’m not a massive fan of old fashioned country style because I like more clarity and simplicity of colour and form, more clean lines and modernity.
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Visit Anna’s website for more information about her awesome projects!
A huge thank you to Anna for this interview. I’m so happy that I met many talented, strong, gorgeous women during my Instagram journey. It’s not only about followers, numbers but the people who we meet and like. We may live a thousand miles away from each other, on the other side of the planet, but we are friends who support each other. 💖
What’s your favourite design style? Tell me in the comment below!
Love,
Noemi xxx
Don’t forget to follow @noemionebohostreet on Instagram for your daily boho vibes and inspiration.
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