Interiors with Sarah Jane Nielsen, owner and director of Sarah Jane Nielsen Limited, at Staveley.

Paint is such a huge subject and the available array of colours will always confuse or intoxicate depending on your approach.

Decorating with paint is sometimes considered a quick fix, but it is certainly not an easy, simple matter, when done properly. I can understand how some people chuck a paint colour at a wall hoping for a revelation in one creative swoop and that is one approach. However, with a little thought it is truly fascinating what the right burst of colour can do to transform people’s homes, spirits and general wellbeing with immediate effect.

On the other hand, the wrong colour can also do the opposite. So why settle for the easiest or cheapest route? I find that a waste of resources, emotion and usually time. As I have said before the selection of the colour is not something to be taken lightly, as I often hear “that will do!” I know I am a different case than some, but if it’s not right then it just will not do.

I have to put my hand up to some (not many) faux pas in this area along the way, but if it has happened it is because natural light and electric light play havoc with the colour, tone and texture of paint. It can look just right in one light and then completely different in others. Whether it is matt, silk or satin. Paint also reflects what is going on around it so we should all consider the additions we are contemplating making to the room or scheme. Will the curtain fabric take away a lot of the natural light when hung across the window? Is the fabric light or darker in texture and tone? When considering the carpet or flooring, it may be timber or stone. Does the finish reflect light as in a honed or polished tile or is it matt as a carpet. Timber can be waxed or oiled, granular or smooth and what is the overall colour tone?

Do you have artificial light coming from table lamps or pendant fittings and what colour shades do they have? These all have bearings on your selected colours final outcome, the colour has to be selected straight out of the tin and applied directly to the area it is intended. I do this with large sample cards as I do not feel it helps to have four or more tonal off shoots from one colour lined up on the wall intended for decoration – this is even more confusing.