Cath Kidston

Design Tips

Practical comfort

If a sofa needs reupholstering, you might prefer to think of using a loose cover instead. These are especially practical if you have children and animals to concentrate with: sticky fingers and muddy paws often leave a trail over the furniture.

Paint choices

Simple decor in the sitting room works so well as the main colours can be off –set by something a little more different.

Introduce vibrant colours in small quantities by painting, say, a small piece of furniture in the colour of your choice.

Be inspired by your furnishing fabrics or a favourite painting. I often choose paint colours from the coloured bindings of cloth books. They come in the most fantastic shades and it is much easier to take a book to the paint store and have the colour matched than it is to choose from one of those tiny swatches.

Perfect schemes

For a more contemporary setting, paint your sitting room white and leave the floorboards bare. Bleaching the boards will make the room look even more sophisticated.

Once you have chosen other colours from the room, keep a look out for objects that will enhance your scheme. Working with such a narrow choice of colours means that even the smallest of items will look lovely. For example , any piece of wooden furniture can be painted to suit the room. Or small pieces of fabric can be turned into a tablecloth, cushion cover or a runner for a mantelpiece. The end result is a room that has been lovingly and carefully thought about.