Why I love Anna Bartlett’s Space Shifter service.

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"They say a house is always a work in progress, but progress at mine screeched to a halt a few years after we moved in. As the initial impetus (and money) ran out, and the pressures of looking after a family and working full time ramped up, I was barely able to stay on top the day-to-day things, let alone hang pictures, buy furniture or even get the kids’ rooms sorted.

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As stuff accumulated in corners, designated grown-up areas turned into dumping grounds and the art work (such as it was) got more and more scuffed through being on the floor instead of up on the walls, I seemed to become less and less able to do anything about it. The fact the kids’ rooms had slid down the priority list and were bare save for the basics (and messy piles of toys), made me feel awful. It didn’t help that my partner couldn’t (wouldn’t?) even put up a shelf and saw decluttering as somebody else’s job.

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It’s said your home is a reflection of yourself and in my case the quirkiness and little corners of chaos were becoming unruly, threatening to swamp the (if I may) loveliness of the house in its best, unfettered state. I was at an impasse in my personal life and it showed the minute you walked through the front door (into a very unsalubrious hallway). It was no coincidence then that after Anna came and waved her magic space shifting wand in my home, things in my personal life also dramatically improved.

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But I digress, because it doesn’t require a personal crisis to benefit from Anna’s incredible service. She can help anyone who is wondering how to improve their home, move the décor forward or just get pictures and shelves up in the right place. Her skill is in transforming a room and making it look beautiful using the things you already have, adding maybe just a few extra carefully chosen things. Though if you’ve got the budget for more extensive renovations, she can do those, too. Her taste and feel for a space and how it should work are impeccable. 

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So, what did she do in my home? As well as hanging all those pictures with a keen professional eye (Anna’s background is in curating art exhibitions and private art collections, so it wasn’t surprising that every piece was perfectly placed), she rearranged furniture, sorted the trash from the treasures and generally made my house look stylish, grown-up, functional and clear. (I swear, I could feel the chi flowing again.) She gave me homework, too, pointing out drawers and cupboards that needed clearing and empowering me to do it.

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She’s also incredibly fast. There’s no drifting here, as there can be with other interiors professionals I’ve come across. It took Anna two days flat to transform my home. And because she has that knack of making the best of pieces you already own (even if they’re not terribly smart), what felt like major transformation came at minimal cost. The only thing I spent money on (apart from a handyman to help shift the furniture and bang in nails), were some mirrors which Anna sourced, insisting they would transform the main living area by ‘opening up an alcove and throwing light around’. They did, of course. (All of which meant, by the way, that I could afford her back to help me with some of that homework – she’s a great source of wisdom and fun, as well as someone who’s fun to declutter alongside.)

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Anna’s innate sense of style and excellent taste is much discussed among her friends, who all have benefited from her intuitive eye and clever decorating ideas. Now, thanks to her new Space Shifter service, we can all have a piece of her. Hurray!"

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Annabel, Battersea