Bedroom

Theme the scheme Choose a theme for your bedroom to help focus your mind when picking colours or shopping for accessories. Current hot decorating themes are the Metropolitan look - choose minimal, geometric patterns and contemporary colours; Archive Classic - think vintage florals and pretty colours; Natural - team fresh floral patterns with simple neutral colourways.

Bedroom

Warm to wallpaper One of the easiest ways to create a theme for your room scheme is with colour and pattern, and wallpaper provides both in one go. In addition to using wall coverings to add textural effect, try using borders in different directions and positions to create an interesting focal point.

Bedroom

Tactile textiles Using soft furnishings to add hints of colour and texture is a great way to pull a room scheme theme together. The latest voiles have a wonderfully floaty, tactile feel and can be used as a light and airy window dressing, as a creative wall hanging behind a headboard or as an accessory simply draped over an armchair.

Bedroom

Because of their size, beds usually dominate a bedroom and so become the focal point of the room. Choose striking bed linen that complements your room scheme and co-ordinate your accessories and decor around the duvet cover design. Make the bed look ultra-inviting with an extra layer of plumped up pillows encased in co-ordinating pillowcases.

Living Room

Create a strong look with a clean blue and white colour scheme. Painted tongue and groove cladding and navy upholstery add a seaside feel. Whitewashed floorboards can be a practical option for a large space, as they can be easily maintained with further coats of paint and sealed with floor varnish.

Living Room

Pictures are key for a living room as it is a good topic of conversation and helps to break up corners. For a modern look, choose downlighters that can be recessed into the ceiling or fixed onto an adjustable track, making it easy to shine light wherever it's needed. Uplighters are a gentle source of light and can be hidden in all sorts of places...

Living Room

Candles are always a great idea to make your living room a great place to relax in.

Bathroom

Combine the brightness of freshwater aqua with light and airy white for a fresh and invigorating look. Add a streamlined suite and spacious corner bath to make the most of a small bathroom. If you're looking to create a relaxing bathroom but are confined by limitations in size, a few space-saving ideas and careful use of colour can help to create a feeling of space in even the smallest of bathrooms. Here, white tiles combine with bright aqua for a clean and contemporary look. Small bathrooms benefit from unfussy schemes, so stick to two colours and choose a streamlined white suite.

Bathroom

Make your money go further by mixing luxury glass tiles with Value Basics white tiles and turn them 45 degrees for a striking diamond-shape pattern. Protect walls with a concertina shower screen - an ideal choice for a corner bath, as the panels will bend round the edge and fold flat against a wall when not in use. A small chrome-effect stand fits in a corner and provides space to keep toiletries in easy reach.

Bathroom

If your bathroom is short on storage, building additional shelving into a dummy wall really helps! This partition conceals ugly pipework but it also features a clever recessed shelf area, hidden discreetly behind a useful mirror. A stylish splashback can be created by tiling the area behind the sink and will protect the wall from water damage.

Bathroom

Give plain pine boards an inexpensive treatment with a simple colour wash. We mixed water and spearmint emulsion (2:1) and brushed onto freshly sanded floorboards. For a professional finish, the floor was sealed with three coats of satin varnish. A plain duckboard can be personalised to suit your bathroom with a quick coat of silver glitter spray. Be sure to spray in a well-ventilated area

Bathroom

Clever Trick Replace an old windowsill with a sheet of 8mm glass and paint the underside with two coats of peppermint gloss to match the tiles on the wall and the colour wash on the floorboards. A cleverly placed chrome shaving mirror completes the look and will also help to bounce light back into the room.

Bathroom

Good Idea Accessorising your bathroom needn't always cost the earth. With simply washed old jam jarsand, painted lids and a coat of silver glitter spray you can create your own fashionable dispensary-style storage. Use them to keep cotton balls or Q-tips in easy reach and spruce up an empty corner or windowsill.

Dining Room

Create a contemporary space that combines up to the minute style with a tranquil sense of order and harmony, using lots of fresh white with a subtle palette of calming neutrals. White is the perfect colour for modern lifestyles. Bright, fresh and contemporary, it creates a sense of infinite light and space. Introduce textured tonal contrasts in wall hangings, furniture and accessories for warmth and paint one wall in a subtle shade like stone to highlight and contrast. Warm it up with beautiful honey coloured dining furniture, and use soft cushions to add texture. Finish with striking touches of black throughout for an effect that oozes style, and a Zen-like calm.

Living Room

A fireplace, shelves and pictures act as focal points for the eye and provide a sense of geometric order. Don't worry if your room doesn't have a luxury like a built-in fireplace, MDF wood cut to size can be used. The perfect display area for a tasteful vase, scatter white pebbles at the base and mount an eye-catching print above. And you don't need to spend money on expensive artwork - just mask off a pattern on an MDF panel with masking tape and paint using emulsion tester pots.

Living Room

Floating box shelves add to the impression of ordered calm when used to display stylish accessories. Use clever styling tricks to add variety - place a mirror behind a display of white crockery, add pebbles and foliage for a textured effect. Touches of black in the scheme, like this stylish vase, will create a striking contrast. It's simple to make - just spray paint a wine bottle!

Living Room

Chunky box frames made from MDF wood cut to size and glued together will create attractive display points for beautiful glazed pebbles and stones. Use beach finds, pick them up at your local garden centre or spray a few Cornish Cobbles with metallic spray paint. Complete the look with a striking phaelanopsis orchid. Easy to look after - with a little tender care and a weekly water it will flower for months.

Clever Tip

Don't spend a fortune on vases. These square vases make a very stylish statement on a budget - and look great displayed in groups. Simple green foliage is cheaper than fresh flowers, and often more effective. An ugly radiator can be covered using a piece of MDF cut to size and painted.

You've got the keys, moved in and unpacked all the boxes, but somehow the new place doesn't really feel like it's yours. Here are 10 easy ways to help you turn your house into a home...

In the kitchen
Personalise your fridge. Moving house can be upsetting for the littlest members of the family, as they are not as used to change as adults. Help your mini Monets feel at ease in their new home by displaying their artwork on the fridge with colourful magnets.

Sort out kitchen cupboards
Before you unpack your crockery, line cupboards, shelves and drawers with lining paper and decide quickly where everything will go. That way, family members (especially children) won't feel lost.

Unpack your houseplants
Bring some life into your kitchen with some houseplants - buy some nice new ones to go with your favourites from your previous home. Just like you, they'll be in need of a drink after the move, so top them up with fresh water.

Have a good clean
Cleanliness is next to godliness so if you want to inch closer to achieving a heavenly home, give your new house a thorough going over. Moving house stirs up plenty of dust and grit so get the whole family to help.

Cook a welcoming meal
There's nothing like the smell of a home-cooked meal to make you feel all cosy and comfortable in new surroundings. Plus, after all that shifting and lifting you'll have worked up an appetite. If you're too exhausted to cook, brew a nice fresh pot of coffee.

In the bedroom
Paint walls and ceilings. Even if your new house has been well looked after by its previous owners, a fresh coat of paint will do wonders. Stick to colours you love that will blend in well with your existing furniture and linen.

Spice up the atmosphere
Try burning delicately scented candles, or arrange some of your favourite freshly cut flowers in a pretty vase to banish stale odours and help create an uplifting, energizing mood.

Change light fittings
Chances are, if the light fittings have been left by the previous owners, they're probably not the most attractive of shades. Now is the time to replace shabby light shades with pretty new ones.

Hang family pictures
Surrounding yourself with family can be the difference between living in a house and living in a home. Unpack your favourite photographs and put them in attractive frames.

Roll out the rugs
You'll need time to think about replacing flooring or carpet, so for now, arrange your own rugs over existing floor coverings. Surprising how comforting it is to have a familiar feel underfoot.