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Q

My living room is in need of an update. I want to give it a whole new look and make more of the doors that lead out onto the garden. How do I plan and measure the space?

A

Before you begin an update in any room, the old adage ‘measure twice, cut once’ should become your mantra. Planning the space and then measuring each part of the revamp will lead you to success. Tools should include a decent measuring tape and graph paper. Enter the details onto one of the various web-based room planners available to give you a 3D sketch to work on.

Ensure you plan where each item of furniture and lighting will go.

Plot door and window openings on the sketch. Ideally avoid placing large items of furniture in front of radiators as they can soak up the heat. It can also be useful to plot electrical points and either factor in installing new ones or placing all items that need to be plugged in close to the sockets so you don’t have cables running everywhere.

In small rooms, with a dimension of less then three metres, you need to be efficient. Use pale colour palettes and place interesting pieces in the corners to draw the eye, making the space feel larger. In long thin rooms, where the length is three times the width, clever lighting will help to open up the area where oversized furniture will absorb space in long and large rooms.

Consider how light will flow through the space before settling on a colour scheme. Look at the room carefully at different times of the day so you get a sense of the bright spots and where the natural light falls. This is especially important in dark rooms where you can use paler colours on walls to reflect the light around the space.

When you’ve decided on your plan, start to measure up for paint, wallpaper or flooring. Work out the square meterage of the room by multiplying the length by the width. For odd-shaped rooms break it down by sections and then add together. In all instances buy

10 per cent more than you need, and an extra roll of wallpaper with the same batch number.

We also answer questions on architecture, law, consumer issues, cleaning and mortgages. Email your questions to us at house.beautiful@ hearst.co.uk or post to House Beautiful, 33 Broadwick Street, London W1F 0DQ Look at your space at different times of...

JO BEHARI A champion for women in DIY and business as well as an expert on using space and improving properties, Jo will help you find the answers to all your home and DIY challenges