“For the windows I would recommend something silky and pretty that drapes well, caught back with a brass rosette or a plaited tie-back.”The cream walls, with their elegant patina of years’ worth of nicotine, passed muster. I know standard lamps can be monstrous and just the name puts the fear of God into everyone but there are some very chic and elegant ones around.”How could I not have noticed that all the curtain poles were a vital few inches too low? “The positioning of tracks and poles is very important,” warned Jenny. “And you’re not doing anything from the lighting point of view – the two pendant lamps don’t really achieve anything.” She recommended uplighters “for fun” and a “really elegant standard lamp. Aiming for a “spacious and streamlined look”, she suggested rearranging the furniture and adding large mirrors to make the room seem larger.

A designer should be like a best friend at your elbow – and a good designer is like a psychologist,” says Jenny.Confronted with a Real Living Room (mine), well-lived in and furnished second-hand, she did not flinch “We expect all sorts at the Ideal Home This is a lovely room,” she began tactfully. It’s a very logical process.”Choosing a designer, like choosing a therapist, requires care; just any one will not do, however well qualified “Sometimes the chemistry just isn’t right. The recession has weeded out many designers who weren’t up to scratch – “the people who just said `oh, yellow and blue are lovely together’, without having any idea of anything structural,” sniffs Jenny Gibbs disdainfully. “Ideally you start by analysing your space, thinking about the way you live, looking at the money you have available and maybe working out a three- or five-year plan, how what you already have will fit in – and only then you think about colours. “You can’t be arrogant.”
It seems interior design means far more than skipping about ethereally with paint charts. Potential clients are often shy about exposing their efforts to professional scrutiny.

One of the aims of the consultations is to prove that designers are not frighteningly supercilious, and will not snigger at the sight of flock wallpaper or a bathroom that has been swathed in peach festoon blinds. “You can’t hurt people’s feelings or tread all over them,” says Jenny Gibbs, principal and founder of the school. KLC School of Interior Design is inviting the nation to bring along photos of their lovely homes; a team of professional designers, all past pupils of the school, armed with samples, catalogues and colour charts, will give free advice. WHY do we bother to do our own decorating? Why not let someone else juggle paint charts, fabric swatches, matching up and measurements? The British are strongly resistant to calling in the interior design professionals; but this may change at the Ideal Home Exhibition, which opens next Thursday at Earls Court. That lonesome cowboy has moved off the range and into the city..