Wealden Times | WT225 | Jan & Feb 2021| Education supplement inside

Above: When the couple moved in, the kitchen and dining room had already been opened out into a large family-friendly social
space. A cosy touch is provided by the woodburner, nestled in an elevated position in the fireplace. The dining table was upcycled
with the help of WildeWod Creations – a local small business that “does wonders with wood,” says Jules. The walls are painted
a deep grey, a colour picked out in the graphic pattern of the curtain fabric by Korla, also stocked at Haines Collection
So how does Jules Haines’ house have the
finished feel – without the off-the-peg thing?
Well, the proper decorator standard comes from her
professional experience, starting off working with a fabric
designer in Singapore, when she was living there with
husband Ollie, and segueing to her current business,
Haines Collection, on their return to the UK.
This online fabric store is a fantastic resource for anyone
aspiring to decorator-level upholstery options, but on a
home-spun budget, offering leftover stocks of beautiful fabric
designs from a range of different high-end companies.
“They are ends of rolls, or sometimes seconds, direct
from the printers,” explains Jules. “Designers can end up
with a lot of fabric left over, because if they want to be
stocked by a big retailer, they have to keep 100 metres
of each design in stock. Some of them just dispose of it,
but the ones I work with, would rather have what’s left
sold on for smaller projects than just throw it away.”
It’s one of those win-win set ups, where the
designers shift old stock, customers get fabrics at
a fraction of their full price and – something that
really satisfies Jules – it’s all ‘saved from landfill’.
And it is this environmental awareness – aligned with her
superb taste and style – that gives her house the charm and
originality so lacking from those Netflix ‘dream homes’.
Practically nothing in it was bought new and a great
deal of the most interesting items came from sources
I am sure would horrify a factory-fresh US interior
designer: Facebook Marketplace and charity shops.
Chatting to Jules as we walk around her house – taking
priceless-magazines.com
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