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

Above left: The couple reinstated the dado rail throughout the house Above right: Jules made the fabriccutting
table in her workroom by putting a board on top of a chest of drawers that she bought from a
British Heart Foundation furniture shop. The high stool was a Facebook Marketplace find
by riveting leather from an old belt.
This is the first of many do-it-herself projects that add
a bespoke finish through the house. Many rooms feature
pretty lampshades, that Jules makes herself using Haines
Collection fabrics – and the kits she sells on the website.
When people can meet more easily, she will resume
her workshops showing people how to make them.
Just outside the kitchen – in a corridor she hopes to
knock through one day, for extra space – is another example
of her original ideas. The staircase down from the ground
floor was left open, with no outer handrail or bannisters
and, not surprisingly, it made Jules uneasy. “I thought ‘my
children are going to fall off, I have to do something!’”
But rather than putting in a standard bannister she used
red bungie cords, threaded through brass plumbing pipe
holders, to create a visually arresting feature – that also
keeps the stairs safe. It’s very original and very effective.
Heading back up the stairs, we stop in to look at the guest
loo, which is decorated with framed prints by pop ‘cartoon’
artist Lichenstein, part of the large collection of vivid art
prints in the house, which are Ollie’s special interest.
At the turn of the stairs next to it, we come to the
striking black cabinet and very appealing tin lamp base
that I spotted when I first came through the front door.
The cabinet is Chinese, one of many lovely exotic
antiques Jules collected during their Singapore years and
the lamp gives a hint to the source of her preference for
‘pre-loved’ homewares – it had belonged to her aunt.
Heading into the workroom we come to another
inherited piece, which suggests passing things on for
another generation to enjoy is a family thread. “The
desk is very old, it belonged to my great grandmother,”
she says, fondly. “I revised for my GCSEs on it.”
Next door, in the wonderfully high-ceilinged sitting
room, the mindfully ‘decorated’ feeling, combined
with quirky original pieces, really sings out.
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