ASK THE INTERIOR STYLIST:

Kate Oppenhuis of Lillias Interior Styling

Kate, what’s your ethos when it comes to interior design? That there are no rules. My main thing is to surround yourself with pieces you love. If you see something you really like, find a way to make it work. And I do think you should always have something vintage or old in the mix if you can.

What makes a good wall display? I don’t mark them out exactly, putting them on the floor and going, “Two centimetres to the left” – I just move things around until I get the look. I’d encourage people to combine plates, vintage frames and modern items to create a story. Styling is just playing, and the more you do it, the better the results become.

What’s the best way to go about choosing paint colours? I’m not a lover of bright colour, but I think with blues and greys, you can’t go too far wrong. Test pots are really useful, as are drawdowns, which are A4-size samples of colours that you can order. If you don’t want to paint the wall, use a drawdown or paint a large piece of paper so you can get a good idea of the shade; Blu-Tack it to the wall and see what it looks like in different light. The colour will also look different en masse, so it’s just a matter of experimenting. You might like to paint a wall with an undercoat of your chosen shade, then if you find it’s too dark, make the top coat lighter.

Do you have any helpful advice for would-be

renovators? Understand that good things take time – and often longer than you expect! Things will always happen that you haven’t anticipated, and that’s all part of the journey. Whether it’s an extra $5000 needed in the budget or a hole in the floor, these things are going to come up, so just try to roll with them.