Paolo Moschino's Dos and Don'ts of Decorating

Picture: Unsplash

Do make sure the bones are right first.

Take time over the floors, mouldings and chimneypieces, so that you can relax about the rest, which can be easily changed.

Eliminate 70 per cent of what you see when shopping for interiors, quickly and on instinct.

This will clear your visual memory and keep decision making unfretful. Just wait for something to smile at you.

Don't let rooms look overtly decorated.

The key is to relax; you need books, you need magazines, you even need dust!

Bedrooms should be comfortable, airy and personal.

They are my favourite rooms to decorate. I adore beautiful bedlinen, and the fact that the space is decorated only for you.

Have fun choosing lamps.

Lamps provide great opportunities for colour and scale, but they can also be fun, characterful and figurative. I rarely choose a serious lamp.

Use good, plain fabrics.

Glazed linen is my favourite: it has sheen, but also texture and depth.

Don't be overly influenced by other people.

Especially those who are considered authorities. When I was new to interior design, I was told 'yellow should not be brought into the house' and this affected me until I realised that I like yellow, it's beautiful.

Taken from the December 2015 issue of House & Garden.

This originally appeared on House & Garden UK.