How to make your home work better for you when life changes
When life changes and our home no longer works for us, the instinct is often to move. But maybe we need to look at what we already have and find a different way to make it work instead.
Holistic home consultant Jules Jones discovered this for herself after separating from her husband with two young children. Suddenly, her home needed to serve a different purpose.
When the children went to stay with their father, at first she found herself removing traces of them as a coping mechanism. However, small changes helped her create a family home that works whether the children are there or not.
"I very quickly realised that my house needed to be two very different things when I was a single mum,” Jules says.
She decided to create dedicated spaces for her children's artwork and music, as well as an area where they can relax and spend time with friends.
An area of the landing has become a reading space, while a disco ball scatters light across the kitchen in the morning, setting a happy mood for the day.
That thinking underpins Reframe Developments, the Wakefield-based business she established to help people reconsider their homes as they navigate changes including separation, bereavement, retirement and children leaving home.
Jules, 45, has a background in fashion design and property development. However, it is the relationship between people and their homes that interests her most.
After her separation, Jules started helping friends and colleagues who were struggling to make their homes fit their changing circumstances. She found that relatively small adjustments could make a significant difference.
One client, who had lost her husband after almost 60 years of marriage, was struggling to sleep and unsure how to live in the family home without him.
Her grown-up children were encouraging her to move, but she wanted to stay.
Jules discovered that a wedding photograph on the bedroom wall was prompting difficult thoughts at night. She suggested moving it into the living room, where it could become a talking point when friends visited. She also moved a television into the bedroom, which the client’s husband would never allow, so she could watch her favourite period dramas in the evening.
“She messaged me and said, ‘I watched a whole series of Downton Abbey, in bed and I fell asleep very easily,” says Jules.
Another project involved a blended family whose teenage boys were struggling to share communal areas.
Jules worked with the family to reposition furniture to create clearer routes through the house, particularly around the dining table and hallway, where everyone was trying to get ready for school at the same time.
The changes helped the family use their shared spaces more comfortably, before the work progressed to interior design choices.
Jules’s approach also extends to the possessions that accumulate over the years. One couple, whose four children had grown up and left home, had a period property filled with belongings they had kept for their family.
Over six months, Jules helped them work through the contents. She encouraged them to hold a family ‘nostaglia party’. “I said, get the kids round, feed them, get the music on, show them everything and see what matters now,” she says.
Among the rediscovered possessions was a tea set that had belonged to the client's grandmother. It inspired an afternoon tea with friends and prompted conversations about family memories.
They also uncovered artwork that had been stored away and used it to inform colours and schemes in the house.
Jules says her work is about identifying what is meaningful and finding a place for it. “It’s about getting out what makes us happy day to day,” she says.
Feng Shui principles inform some of Jules’s thinking, particularly the importance of natural light, clear pathways and the arrangement of furniture. But she does not impose a particular style or expect everyone to embrace the philosophy.
Instead, she starts by talking to clients about how they live, what they enjoy and what frustrates them about their surroundings. Her services range from consultations and practical suggestions to hands-on work in the home and managing larger projects involving trades and refurbishment.
She is also keen to challenge the idea that people who struggle with interior design have no personal style. “I think everyone has got their own style, but they don’t know how to tap into it,” she says.
Sometimes, achieving a calm home means planning a substantial refurbishment. Sometimes it means changing the position of a piece of furniture or finally hanging a picture that has spent years leaning against a wall. “Making your home work doesn’t need to have a massive budget but if your home is doing its job correctly, it puts you in the best position to do well everywhere else in life,” says Jules.
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