When a domestic abuse victim is given the keys to their new home, many will find that it comes unfurnished, often without even carpets on the floors. It can be the cause of much stress for these women, who have recently fled an abusive home environment, to realise that they need to somehow find the money to buy beds, wardrobes, chairs and tables. 

It’s a problem that Emily Wheeler was uniquely positioned to recognise. A former social worker and trained interior designer who worked in her mum’s antique and furniture shop in her teens, she knew firsthand the importance of creating a warm and safe family home. “The connection between social work and interior design is that it’s about how your lived environment and your social system are interlinked and impact your wellbeing and your capacity to thrive,” she explains. “It’s about empowering and supporting people to live their best lives through having a safe and comfortable home.” 

Having become aware of the issue of furnishing council housing for domestic abuse victims and their families, Emily was simultaneously witnessing incredible waste issues at the heart of the interiors industry. “The off-gassing from furniture in landfill is really toxic; it’s a huge factor in the amount of pollution that we make in terms of waste,” she explains. “And because furniture is so big, it takes a long time to break down.” With design houses and production companies often having to throw away set pieces that may have only been used once or not at all, she realised that there might be a neat solution to both problems, and her charity Furnishing Futures was born. 

Domestic abuse victims who are identified as needing help with the furnishing of their council homes are referred to Furnishing Futures by their partners including Solace, Women’s Aid, Refuge and Shelter. Then, Emily and her team work to find the right furniture for them, which is donated by an array of businesses. “We get a lot of stuff from events,” Emily explains. “For example, we had six lorry loads from Stylist magazine after their Stylist Live event. We’ve even had the furniture used on Gogglebox before. Soho Home is one of our biggest partners. We get everything from them that is imperfect because they can’t sell anything if it’s got even the slightest imperfection.”

Furnishing Futures operates on a shoestring, with an incredibly small team supported by a robust group of 35 regular volunteers (including The Modern House’s staff photographer, Rachel Ferriman). “They do an amazing job of helping us in the warehouse and helping us on the day of the install,” Emily explains. “We do everything in one day: the flooring and the decorating is done first, and then we go and do the furniture.” They not only provide furniture and white goods, but also soft furnishings and accessories too, basically everything you need to make a house a home. 

But it’s not just a case of picking out a sofa that they might like, the designer has to be sensitive to the survivors’ past experiences of abuse through specialised trauma-informed design. “The majority of domestic abuse happens in the home, so obviously, we think very carefully about how we work with families to be mindful of the specific trauma that a person has experienced and continues to be experiencing,” she explains. “It’s about thinking about what they’ve been through and how we can design a space that will soothe their nervous system, and not trigger it. The space is tailored to them so that it feels safe, nurturing and restorative, and it doesn’t make you stressed or remind you of things that you experienced before.” 

Of course, it’s not just the women who benefit from Furnishing Futures’ work, it’s their children too. “Children worry a lot about their mums,” says Emily. “A lot of the older children tell us we’ve taken a great burden from them. Mums often say they see a huge change in their children’s behaviour, that they can just be children again. Even babies benefit, with mums saying that the change has helped with their development, because you can’t put a baby on the floor to crawl if you’ve got concrete or splinters on the floor, or carpet tacks sticking out.” 

Any donated pieces that aren’t appropriate for survivors are sold in a twice-annual sale, such as the one taking place this weekend at the Leyton headquarters. “The things that we can’t use in homes, or that we get given that are not suitable, we sell to raise funds to run the charity,” says Emily. “They are really popular; we get a queue down the road.” It’s easy to see why: some of the pieces that get put into the sale include furniture that is too big to fit in a small council flat, wall mirrors that they can’t hang on the thin walls and designer pieces such as Carl Hansen & Søn tables that will do more good by raising money. 

Emily’s ambition for the next three years is to expand her charity’s operation into further areas of London, with the dream being that in a decade it might be in other cities across the UK. One way she’s hoping to upsize is via The Atrium, a new building that she’s acquired next door to the existing headquarters. “The plan is for it to be our public-facing space,” she explains. “It’s an old Victorian warehouse with double ceilings and vaulted windows, so it’s got lots of light. We’re going to move sales there permanently, and do events there on all sorts of different themes connected to the charity. We’re also going to use it as the vehicle for an Access to Work programme for survivors, to help them get work experience and gain that confidence. My vision is for it to be a safe space for women to come.”

Words Rebecca Cope 
Photography Rachel Ferriman

The Furnishing Futures Winter Sale is taking place on Saturday 30th November (10am-5pm) and Sunday 1st December (11am-3pm) at Unit 2 Mentmore Studios, 11 Argall Avenue, London E10 7QE

The sale includes furniture, homewares, lighting, art, accessories, bath and body, beauty and gifts, all at 50-75% off RRP. Brands include Soho House, Soho Home, Cowshed, Tala, French Connection Home, Carl Hansen, Ted Baker Home and more. Suggested donation on entry. All proceeds go to support women and children starting again in empty homes after escaping domestic abuse.