The Great Interior Design Challenge Sourcebook

Regular maintenance will help to prevent major problems occurring.

Your house is the most expensive thing you own, so it is essential to keep it in a good state of repair.

Shower poles (or towers) combine several body sprays, ranging from a fine mist to a powerful drench, the former sometimes mixing air with water for a rain-like effect, the latter perhaps coming from a ‘blade’ showerhead. If you want to get gadgety, digital programming means that you can control the various elements of your shower from a single interface, with pre-programmed massage and temperature therapies for a truly spa-like experience.

Most houses have their waste, i.e. waste from kitchens and bathrooms, run into one main drain, so it is more economical in terms of plumbing to site the kitchen and bathroom on the same side of the house.

However, a very tall ceiling painted in a darker colour will provide visual interest and an intimate atmosphere.

Most importantly, think about sightlines from the bottom to the top of the stairs; try to create some interest to draw the eye upstairs. Place a collection of china on a landing windowsill; put a decorative piece of furniture in an alcove.

You can never have too much storage. Aim for it to take up about 10–20% of each room.

Another mistake with neutrals is to use different hues that are all the same tone – in other words, slightly different colours but the same degree of lightness or darkness. You can end up with a horrible clash. This may sound complicated, but it isn’t rocket science. To select a nice variation of tones, simply pick up a colour chart and go up or down (dark to light) within the same colour family, rather than working across from colour to colour.

Tracks, on the other hand, are more subtle. Made from plastic (inexpensive) or metal (smart), they can be mounted either on the wall or ceiling; they also bend around bay windows. Double tracks allow you to hang both sheers or nets and thicker curtains neatly.

To let maximum light into the room, fit a pole or track that overhangs far enough each side to allow the curtains to be drawn right away from the window – bearing in mind that full, thick curtains need more ‘stack back’ space than light, thin ones.