Hannah*, 31, has been with her partner for four years.

“The relationship has never reached a total dead-end, but a few years ago I did start to notice that we were falling back on the same evening rituals of eating in front of the TV, putting on a show and not really talking about our days,” she says. “Since the pandemic especially, we’ve really tried to step out of our comfort zones and start doing new things together. I’ve given golf (his hobby) a go and he’s tried candle-making with me.”

Alderson says: “When you have new experiences together, you uncover aspects of your partner that you didn’t know existed. It reminds you that there are still dimensions of each other that you are yet to discover, which only adds to the excitement and attraction.”

Jazmin, 31, has been with her partner for four years.

“When things have been a bit turbulent, we’ve often resorted to changing our environment. Whether that’s flipping the living room around and rearranging the furniture or injecting new colours in the bathroom with a few small homeware purchases. One thing that’s hard when you’re living together and have a big fallout is that the (small!) space you share feels a bit tainted by the last argument, so it’s quite hard to relax in. So this is a fun way for us to bring new energy into some rooms and proactively do something nice together as a team.”

Why we fall into romantic ruts – and how to get out of one, according to a relationship expert