Lou

The inspiration behind my design is my experience of mental health – it’s what came to mind straight away when I knew what this project was going to be.

I’ve done a bit of DIY before, me and my Dad built a wardrobe in my bedroom and I’ve done a few bits for the front room so I felt quite comfortable putting the chest of drawers together. Creativity comes quite naturally to me – I really enjoy upholstery in particular. I really like that you can have a piece of furniture and turn it into something completely different.

I really enjoyed being part of the workshop, in particular meeting and getting to know other people who were there. I also really enjoyed getting to know the people from IKEA who were there to help with putting the furniture together.

When the drawers are back with me they’re going to be going in my hallway and I’ll put all my things for my two dogs in there, their leads and collars and everything like that. I absolutely love my dogs so it will be really nice having a special place to store all their things.
If I was to give advice to another care experienced young person about to do something like this, I’d say do what you want to do and don’t follow anyone else! I would recommend to anyone who gets this kind of opportunity to go for it.