STOP SCROLLING!

It’s not often you see a picture whilst scrolling on social media that makes you stop and be truly in awe. The picture I saw on LinkedIn was of Amelia Osbourne alongside her final project presentation board, holding her little baby. It was inspirational and I was desperate to find out more about Amelia and her situation. I know there’s a lot of other mums out there who would also be astonished and amazed to see such an achievement. 

Amelia was a mature student and on maternity leave from her co-owed hairdressing salon, when she signed up for her interior design degree, and saw it as an opportunity to jump start a new career because she had always had that pull towards interior design.

“What captures me the most about Interior Design is the emotion you get when you walk into the room and I thought if I can create spaces where people can really connect to them, that’s what I want to do.” Amelia said to me. Little did I know, until meeting Amelia, that her final project was a healing process from such a traumatic event in her own life.

Being a mum with a new baby and also trying to complete everyday tasks can be a big challenge, let alone fitting time in for a degree in a completely new sector.

Amelia was in university two days a week, whilst her daughter was in nursery. She would work on her course in the evenings when her partner took over childcare. Amelia felt that the sense of design came quite naturally, which I can personally see in her work, but she admits that “when it came to time, especially around deadlines, it was a bit overwhelming because I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I kept wanting to change things!”

‘Liminal’ was the name of Amelia’s final project and she wanted it to be something personal to push the “normal” side of birth. ‘Liminal’ was a birth centre that Amelia created on the back of having a horrific experience of having a stillbirth. “It was very much derived from my experience of what I had been through.” she said “I felt it quite insensitive where the placement of the room was. I could hear the women giving birth and babies crying.” You can view the full project on Amelia Osbourne’s LinkedIn page. The birthing unit essentially had a birthing side of the ward and then on the reflective side it was a recovery space that had refreshments and a community space to deliver things like counseling and therapy sessions, whether it’s in a group or one on one. Now Amelia has graduated, she is moving to Adelaide in Australia with her husband and two children. With Amelia’s passion, talent and work ethic I think she will be an incredible asset to any design business. What a fantastic example of a successful career change into the world of interiors – it’s never too late!

If you are interested in speaking with Amelia about opportunities you can contact her via her LinkedIn page or via Lucy Painter.