Lifestyle Choices

Try to avoid having a fitted carpet under the dining table; it will stain very fast indeed. If you have fitted carpet, put a patterned rug on it — easier than the carpet to take away and clean.

Don’t have white or very pale floors of any sort — paint, carpet, rugs, linoleum, tiles — unless you are prepared for cleaning headaches.

Every home editor I know has had some sort of pale floor trauma before she learned her lesson.

Kitchen floor covering should be non-slip, not cold or hard to the feet, easy to clean and hardwearing. Sealed cork is all of these things. (Wicanders have the best selection.) Otherwise use good-quality PVC tiles or linoleum. Avoid ceramic tiles which are very hard on the feet, though practical.

The bathroom: If you have a small bathroom or a cold lavatory, a heat and light bulb (cost approximately £1.35) will take the chill from the air and doesn’t require a shade.

You can repaint your own bath, although you risk it looking oddly amateur, just as home-painted cars look less suave than factory-sprayed models. You first clean the bath with hot water and detergent, then paint thinly with special bath enamel, which can be bought or ordered from do-it-yourself shops. After three coats, drying between each coat, fill the bath with cold water and leave for three days to a week (arrange to bath in a neighbour’s bath). The drawback to painting your own bath is that for ever after you should run the cold water in before the hot, otherwise it might wrinkle and peel.

This is a firm of specialist enamel and porcelain renewers, who will give your bath a spanking new complexion without having to unplumb and disturb it. They will rewhiten a bath for £26, or give it a colour change for from £30 (not including VAT). Their colour range will match anything the average manufacturer can think of and includes some new subtle pastels: orchid, pampas (a light khaki), honeysuckle (paving stone colour) and avocado green.

Now for accessories: The handyman who helped me on my fifth move in eighteen months said that on the last job he could have accessorized it without any instructions from me. Line up the tops of very large pictures with the top of the doors and treat any slabs of mirror as pictures. Keep space between them equidistant. Fix aluminium spotlights 4 feet high at the side of the bed, 6 feet on walls. Allow two bowls of ferns or plants or flowers per room.

Mirrors: It’s amazing how many people still think of a mirror as something to check their make-up in. I use slabs of 6o x 18 inch as lavishly as I can afford, either vertically or horizontally. A mirror can add space to a room, improve proportions or lighting or simply add glitter and sparkle.

A mirror will increase light, as it bounces it back into a room. A mirror looks good between two windows. Two or three mirrors used either vertically or horizontally can widen or lengthen or add interest to a long, narrow hall, or add breadth, depth and glitter to a small bathroom — especially one with no windows.

If you’re using mirrors in a bathroom or other areas where you can expect condensation make sure you get ones with steam-resistant backs, generally copper.

Ready-cut slabs of mirror are far cheaper than custom-cut ones. Verity mirror packs contain all necessary clips, screws, washers, plugs and fixing instructions.

The three basic methods of fixing a mirror are to stick it on, screw it on, or hold it in place with beading or frame. I generally screw as I’ve never been able to find a wall that’s flat enough to stick.

Pictures: I would rather have a good reproduction than a bad original, but most of my pictures are etchings, engravings or screen prints. It doesn’t cost much to start a real art collection in this way.

Some public libraries have picture- loan collections of both originals and reproductions. Ask at your local library for your nearest source.

There are also local clubs which operate like record and book clubs. And don’t forget your local art school. Most of them hold an end of the year exhibition around mid-July.

You can buy beautiful posters or reproductions of old masters in poster sizes. They also sell cheap, near-invisible silvery metal clips so that you can make your own frames from Perspex off-cuts or glass. Or you can buy assemble-it-yourself aluminium frames from Habitat. If you’re having your picture professionally framed make sure you know beforehand how much it is going to cost, because these days it could easily be more than the picture.

What to put in an empty fireplace: If you don’t like the surrounding tiles, you can paint them. If you don’t like the hearth you can take it out, paint the back with black emulsion, then stand a magnificent green fern in it, or any sort of plant in any sort of pot.

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