If you’ve ever wondered what you can do with odd scraps of fabric, then Jules Haines’s house is where to find inspiration.
Her Victorian terrace is filled with examples of how to use leftover textiles: lampshades made from remnants of dress fabric, a fun canopy over her daughter’s bed, a patchwork quilt from scraps and curtains from a charity shop, reworked for the pantry.
She is the founder of her eponymous Haines Collection, which sells surplus designer fabrics, cushions and home accessories from high-end brands including Christopher Farr, Fermoie and Pierre Frey. She is an expert at repurposing preloved material.
‘There’s so much beautiful fabric out there that goes in the bin. I wanted to get it to people who could make use of it,’ she says.
Vintage fabric is the star attraction in the Haines family home, but the place contains treasures of all kinds, found everywhere from Facebook Marketplace to charity shops.
The sofa is stacked with cushions made of salvaged fabrics from Haines, including examples by Nicky Haslam and Susie Atkinson. The curtains and the covering on the ottoman are also from Haines
The striking upcycled fireplace was painted by the artist Josephine Blanchard using old Edward Bulmer Natural Paint samples (edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk). Plates above it have been collected from charity shops over the years. The table is made from old railway sleepers
Glass jars inherited from Jules’s grandmother have pride of place on old scaffolding boards. Coloured in red ochre by Edward Bulmer Natural Paint (edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk), these work perfectly with the leaf motifs – the work of wallpaper and fabric artist Anna French. The under-shelf curtain originated as a vintage pair, bought in a charity shop and repurposed
Haines and her husband Ollie moved into their four-bedroom house in the centre of Tunbridge Wells in Kent in 2017, when son Edward was 18 months old and daughter Jemima six months.
‘I wanted to live in the house to get a feel for it,’ she says. ‘Also, when the children were very little, we thought we’d let the place get a bit trashed while they were learning to walk, wiping hands on every surface and that kind of thing.
‘But it’s also nice that we’ve waited to see how they needed the space to evolve as they’ve grown up.’
The house was structurally sound but had been modernised – period features had been stripped out and jarring new fixtures and fittings added.
‘We wanted to take the house back to where it should have been,’ explains Haines.
That included stripping black paint from the marble fireplaces, reintroducing dado rails and built-in cabinetry and using a period-sensitive colour palette throughout.
Haines is not a trained designer. She plans one space at a time, using a Pinterest board that she has built over several years.
‘By the time I tackle a new room, I have years’ worth of ideas in there,’ she says.
A vintage saddlebag found on Ebay and framed is now a piece of art above the bed – itself an old design by Loaf (loaf.com), a Jules reupholstering using remnant fabrics by Natasha Hulse
The family bathroom is adorned with a vintage bamboo mirror sourced on Ebay and a side table bought on Facebook Marketplace. The fabric for the yellow blind was a remnant from Haines Collection
Jules made the striped hanging canopies in lockdown using fabric from Blithfield (blithfield.co.uk), supplied by Haines. The marble table lamp and the pendant were both charity shop finds, the curtain fabric a Haines remnant by Christopher Farr (christopherfarrcloth.com)
She also has a hoard of fabric to choose from. ‘I store up special things, often with no immediate project in mind. For the tub chairs [both unearthed on Facebook Marketplace] in my bedroom
I used a vintage John Stefanidis fabric I’d had for about three years. I gather, gather, gather, and then, when I’m ready, I have got things at my disposal.’
With her knack for reusing old furniture there is an element of pot luck to her design.
‘You do have to stay fluid if you’re using second hand, but I always know what my end goal is, and what feeling I want to create in a room,’ Haines says. ‘How I get there might change, but that’s part of the fun.’
hainescollection.co.uk
