Meet Crave Stylist: Annabel

With a successful starting career in Marketing and Business Improvement, Annabel took the bold move to follow her passion for design 10 years ago. Always a keen learner (and with two Bachelor’s Degrees in Commerce and Arts already under her belt!), Annabel completed a Certificate IV in Design and more recently finished her Diploma in Design and Decoration.

“Through my design studies, learning about colour theory and the elements and principles of design, and applying them to create that “butterflies in your stomach” feeling when you walk into a room has been a game changer. I love creating beautiful spaces that make you feel good when you’re in them,” Annabel said.  

Having spent a number of her latter career years working in homewares retail, first at Adairs and then as a design consultant and operations manager for Coco Republic, moving into staging happened quite organically.

“With my experience in homewares retail consulting, as well as renovating and styling homes for sale for ourselves, friends and family it was a very natural transition,” Annabel said.

“I love the real difference that staging can make to a property for both a buyer and a seller. For buyers it takes away the guesswork of how they could live in the space and creates that emotional connection. From a seller’s perspective, it’s taking away the pressure at a stressful time. There’s nothing better for us than getting feedback from our clients whose property sold quicker than they expected and for more than they expected. Staging definitely makes a difference!”

Right now, Annabel is loving modern farmhouse style, along with natural materials and a neutral palette.  “Soft sage and olive greens are accent colours that I have in my own home right now, but I also love using bold colours and jewel tones,” she said.

Fun Fact: Annabel can speak four languages – English, French, Italian and Portuguese!