Hi, I’m Anja,
I’m a DIY and refurb coach, interior designer, handywomen and soap maker based in Manchester offering DIY empowerment classes for women.
As an interior designer, I love creating natural, warm, contemporary, bright and inviting spaces and have a passion for natural materials such as wood, bamboo, plants and organic linen.
Mind you, I spent the first part of my professional life as a journalist and academic. With a degree in Sociology, Media Studies and English, I wrote about British and American culture and society for German news outlets such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel, Die Welt und ZEIT Online (here). I published numerous peer-reviewed academic articles and book chapters in the field of popular music and fandom studies (here), and helped other scholars disseminate their work in the English-speaking scientific world in good English (here).
In 2016 — prompted partly by the loss of my lifelong inspiration, David Bowie, and the realisation that none of us live forever — I felt a push to work more creatively and bring more hands-on making into my life. That led me to design a series of coat racks that combined abstract expressionist painting with a practical, often overlooked piece of homeware.
In 2018 I earned a Diploma in Professional Interior Design at the National Design Academy. That same year, as a test of my newly acquired skill set, I refurbished a 3-bedroom Victorian house on my own. I did my own hands-on bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, tiling, cabinetmaking and joinery in the process, as well as the conceptual interior design. You can see the results of this work here.
Since then, I’ve gone on to refurbish six more properties across Manchester and Germany. Through that work I’ve realised how transformative practical skills can be, and I now want to encourage and empower other women to build their own competence and confidence in all aspects of DIY.