The pro's tools for designing a room scheme

Whether you're decorating a new baby's room from scratch, transforming a spare room into a study, or just choosing new colours for your living space... take a step-by-step approach to decorating, and discover a talent for interiors you never knew you had.

• Start with an artist's canvas Paint it in a colour you love, using mini paint matchpots. Now you have your background colour, you can play around with combinations of accent shades, patterned wallpaper and fabrics.
• Use pins Attach fabric swatches and colour cards with dressmakers pins.
• Live with your chosen colours Paint the back of a cereal pack and Blu Tac to the wall so you can see how it looks in different lights.
• Go shopping with a notebook Keep all your ideas in one journal, tied up with ribbon or elastic. Jot down colours you love and tuck sample swatches to save for later.
• Don't simply go for safe choices... a crazy colour, or a luxurious silk, could become a brilliant detail in your new decorating scheme: a cover for a footstool, a hand-made throw or a feature wall.
• Add a tick list to your mood board List everything you need: flooring, fabrics, curtains paints and furniture, and the dimensions of the space you need to fill. Tick them off as you find them... and note prices so you can check you are sticking to your budget.
• Draw up a detailed room plan And pin that on your mood board, so you can plan how your furniture will be arranged.
• Get ideas When you see a room you love take a quick snap with your phone. It could be a shop full of furniture to die for, a cosy café, or a holiday hotel room.
• Use words as well as pictures Note down words that inspire you and create a mood. If, for instance, you want to create a relaxing bedroom or a serene bathroom, scribble down words that you associate with relaxation. It's a roundabout way of finding a theme, but it might just work.
• Tear pictures out of magazines and newspapers Remember you can find inspiration in the fashion and travel sections, and even on the food pages, as well as in homes and property sections.
• When you have got the basics... Rearrange your mood board with the flooring at the base, furnishing fabrics in the middle and curtain material at the top. Stick to the rough proportions of the room, so that you use smaller swatches for smaller elements of the room. Now it's time to get decorating... Good luck!