The best interiors are often done on a shoestring, it's a matter of paint, proper lighting, a few decent pieces of furniture, elbow grease and imagination.
always consider colour, texture and style


Display your collections with style
Whether it's milky glassware on a shelf in the kitchen or stacks and stacks of books in the living room, anything looks good if it's en masse. If you collect something, show it off. That's what's going to give the house its heartbeat, its soul. Ask, 'Is this suitable?' There is nothing worse than an English country look on the 50th floor of a city high-rise or a French chateau in a second- floor townhouse. Make sure your interior suits your environment and your setting.


Tread lightly
Go very light or very dark - nothing in between. Tie in floors with walls: pale with pale, strong with strong. Try a combination of hard flooring (the widest timber boards, paver-size tiles) with woollen, cotton or faded Oriental or African rugs. Most stunning of all is rush or sisal matting. It's cheap, but doesn't look it. If you have inherited really good antique furniture, or just rushed out and bought it, matting holds furniture better than any other flooring. It makes a room.
neutral schemes can be teamed with dark pieces of furniture

Don't forget the windows
Hang your curtains from the ceiling architrave to give a room height. Most people hang curtains about 2cm above the window, which dwarfs the room. You don't have to spend a fortune on fabrics - just use masses in abundant folds.

Silk-look man-made fibres are good - and you can glam up cheap striped cottons with bumph for added oomph. Go for full shapes, elegant lines and be confident. For rooms of modest proportions, simple window treatments are best. If a room has serious architectural weight, use something more robust with large poles and rings.

Work on that lived-in look
There is nothing worse than a house that has been decorated overnight. It says: 'We've arrived!' And no one wants to look like an arriviste. Consider doing what the British aristocracy does: let the labradors in for the weekend to get that lived-in look so that you don't end up looking like Hyacinth in Keeping Up Appearances.

Maintain everything
Your silver needs to be polished, your glasses need to be gleaming and your camellia leaves need to be fresh. There is no excuse for disorder. It takes 10 minutes to whip around and put things straight. And it's such a great way to live. Get on top of that mess and get on top of life!