Real Life Roomsets

Claire's story

Homeless after escaping an abusive relationship, Claire and her three young children lived in a hostel that looked like this.

“When we got in there we were hit with this bad smell. It was like farm animals had lived there,” says Claire, “My 10-year-old son burst out crying.”

The cupboards were broken, the wallpaper was peeling off and her one-year-old baby was crawling on a dirty floor. There were bloodstains on the mattress and let’s not even talk about the state of the bathroom.

Left without a place to put her children safely to sleep, Claire had no choice but to send her children back to live with their father while she moved into her car.

Claire’s story isn’t unique. Thousands of families are stuck in temporary accommodation like this because they have nowhere else to go. IKEA have joined forces with Shelter to highlight this issue and call on the government to build 90,000 social homes a year. By 2030, our aim is to ensure that half-a-million people have access to a better life at home. 

Claire's room was represented in IKEA's Birmingham store