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The Functional Home: A Practical Guide to Planning Intentional Living Spaces
* New York Times Bestseller *
* USA TODAY Bestseller *
* Independent Press Bestseller *
Discover how to design a home that works beautifully for the way your family actually lives with this accessible, practical guide to interior space planning.
The Functional Home delivers expert-level insight made approachable and easy to follow, without the high price tag of hiring a home design specialist. Professional interior designer and social media star Julie Jones (@juliejones_designs) spills all her secrets and hands you the tools to rethink your rooms, plan smart layouts, improve furniture placement, and create a home that is both functional and inviting—no matter its size, shape, or style.
From understanding the “language” of space to mastering the flow of furniture, lighting, and décor, Julie breaks down the fundamentals of interior space planning so you can design your own rooms with confidence. She helps you see your home through a technical lens—how people move, interact, and live within a space—so every square foot works harder and smarter for you and your family.
Whether you’re furnishing a new home, solving an awkward room layout, creating a multipurpose space, or improving an open-concept floor plan, you’ll learn how to make your home work for you!
In this useful and beautiful guide featuring more than 300 illustrations, including floor plans and diagrams, as well as photographs from the author’s residential design projects, you’ll
Simple guidance for planning layouts that improve comfort, accessibility, circulation, and visual balance in every room.Room-by-room design strategies for kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, bedrooms, home offices, entryways, and more.Expert insight into human scale and flow, with real-world examples that explain why measurements, dimensions, clearances, and furniture placement matter.Detailed kitchen and bath design advice, two of the most challenging and high-impact spaces in any home.Solutions for awkwardly shaped rooms, open-concept layouts, multipurpose spaces, and other real-world design challenges.Tips for new builds and remodels, plus tools for drawing to scale and mapping your own personalized floor plan.Metric equivalents for every measurement, in case you need them.
By the end, you’ll understand how to look at your home the way a designer does—balancing beauty, function, and practicality. The Functional Home empowers you to make smart design decisions that create safe, comfortable, and thoughtfully arranged spaces that truly fit your life using the same human-centered space-planning principles professional designers rely on every day.
* USA TODAY Bestseller *
* Independent Press Bestseller *
Discover how to design a home that works beautifully for the way your family actually lives with this accessible, practical guide to interior space planning.
The Functional Home delivers expert-level insight made approachable and easy to follow, without the high price tag of hiring a home design specialist. Professional interior designer and social media star Julie Jones (@juliejones_designs) spills all her secrets and hands you the tools to rethink your rooms, plan smart layouts, improve furniture placement, and create a home that is both functional and inviting—no matter its size, shape, or style.
From understanding the “language” of space to mastering the flow of furniture, lighting, and décor, Julie breaks down the fundamentals of interior space planning so you can design your own rooms with confidence. She helps you see your home through a technical lens—how people move, interact, and live within a space—so every square foot works harder and smarter for you and your family.
Whether you’re furnishing a new home, solving an awkward room layout, creating a multipurpose space, or improving an open-concept floor plan, you’ll learn how to make your home work for you!
In this useful and beautiful guide featuring more than 300 illustrations, including floor plans and diagrams, as well as photographs from the author’s residential design projects, you’ll
Simple guidance for planning layouts that improve comfort, accessibility, circulation, and visual balance in every room.Room-by-room design strategies for kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, bedrooms, home offices, entryways, and more.Expert insight into human scale and flow, with real-world examples that explain why measurements, dimensions, clearances, and furniture placement matter.Detailed kitchen and bath design advice, two of the most challenging and high-impact spaces in any home.Solutions for awkwardly shaped rooms, open-concept layouts, multipurpose spaces, and other real-world design challenges.Tips for new builds and remodels, plus tools for drawing to scale and mapping your own personalized floor plan.Metric equivalents for every measurement, in case you need them.
By the end, you’ll understand how to look at your home the way a designer does—balancing beauty, function, and practicality. The Functional Home empowers you to make smart design decisions that create safe, comfortable, and thoughtfully arranged spaces that truly fit your life using the same human-centered space-planning principles professional designers rely on every day.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 6, 2026
Exceptionally useful and practical design book. The author mentions using graph paper to scale, cut out, and arrange her house’s furniture as a kid, and I did the same thing! So perhaps my brain easily related to the way her brain works.
Two small disappointments for me.
> The picture quality in my printed book was not very crisp. The full page spreads were pixilated to various degrees. I didn’t realize until partway through the book that the pictures were photoshop renderings rather than photographs. (Before I realized they were renderings I was perplexed why so many examples used the same houseplants.) The renderings do feel a little “off” compared to a photo.
> I would have liked the bathroom section to address layouts with two entry points. The author’s single example of a whole house floor plan had a jack-and-jill bath, so I know she is not opposed to them! But there were no layout tips for this.
Two small disappointments for me.
> The picture quality in my printed book was not very crisp. The full page spreads were pixilated to various degrees. I didn’t realize until partway through the book that the pictures were photoshop renderings rather than photographs. (Before I realized they were renderings I was perplexed why so many examples used the same houseplants.) The renderings do feel a little “off” compared to a photo.
> I would have liked the bathroom section to address layouts with two entry points. The author’s single example of a whole house floor plan had a jack-and-jill bath, so I know she is not opposed to them! But there were no layout tips for this.
October 9, 2026
This book was super helpful to me as a non designer. I appreciated the section on questions to ask before you prepare your space/plan. I got some great ideas, as well as realized a few issues with my space that I can now try to solve.
I didn't realize until I was reading that the book is more ideal for people who are either creating a new build or renovating whole spaces. There was a small mention of old houses not always following the same rules, but as someone with a 100 year old quirky home, a lot of the ideas don't apply to my house unless I start knocking things down and starting from scratch. So many of doors, windows, and paths of travel are "unfixable". I bet she would have excellent ideas to troubleshoot if we did a consultation, but those resources weren't in this book.
I didn't realize until I was reading that the book is more ideal for people who are either creating a new build or renovating whole spaces. There was a small mention of old houses not always following the same rules, but as someone with a 100 year old quirky home, a lot of the ideas don't apply to my house unless I start knocking things down and starting from scratch. So many of doors, windows, and paths of travel are "unfixable". I bet she would have excellent ideas to troubleshoot if we did a consultation, but those resources weren't in this book.
September 3, 2026
★★★★★ Finally, a design book that is actually useful!
I have followed Julie for a while and love the way she approaches design. This book is exactly what I hoped it would be. It isn't just filled with pretty rooms and inspiration. It actually teaches you WHY a space works and how to make better decisions in your own home.
The diagrams and explanations make things like furniture placement, spacing, room flow, kitchens, bathrooms, and even awkward spaces so much easier to understand. I especially appreciate that the advice is practical for real homes and real families, not just perfectly styled houses.
This is the kind of book I'll keep on the shelf and pull out again and again as we make changes to our home. If you're remodeling, building, rearranging furniture, or just trying to figure out why a room doesn't quite work, I highly recommend it.
I have followed Julie for a while and love the way she approaches design. This book is exactly what I hoped it would be. It isn't just filled with pretty rooms and inspiration. It actually teaches you WHY a space works and how to make better decisions in your own home.
The diagrams and explanations make things like furniture placement, spacing, room flow, kitchens, bathrooms, and even awkward spaces so much easier to understand. I especially appreciate that the advice is practical for real homes and real families, not just perfectly styled houses.
This is the kind of book I'll keep on the shelf and pull out again and again as we make changes to our home. If you're remodeling, building, rearranging furniture, or just trying to figure out why a room doesn't quite work, I highly recommend it.
September 1, 2026
The Functional Home is the kind of design guide that makes you look at your own space differently. I especially appreciated its focus on how people actually move and live in a home rather than simply how a room looks.
Practical, approachable, and full of useful ideas for anyone who wants a home that feels more comfortable, intentional, and genuinely suited to everyday life.
Practical, approachable, and full of useful ideas for anyone who wants a home that feels more comfortable, intentional, and genuinely suited to everyday life.
September 2, 2026
One of the best most practical guides to home layouts and design that I’ve ever seen. I haven’t read every word but I’ve read several chapters and the way that Julie explains and illustrates key concepts of design is perfection. She’s a gift and joy to follow and her book is certainly a testament to her expertise! Highly recommend if you’re interested in home design.
October 21, 2026
This book was a practical refresher on thoughtful space planning and spacial requirements for different areas of the home. I can see myself pulling this book out and referencing it in the future. The only thing I wish was that the photos were real and not just renderings.
September 28, 2026
Packed full of useful information, has been incredibly helpful on the remodel of my house! From designing the layout of the home to decorating this book has been such a great purchase!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews