Have you caught any episodes of Sarah Beeny’s new series ‘Renovate Don’t Relocate’? If you have then hopefully you have benefited from some of her tried and tested design rules. The production is pretty low budget and it’s definitely daytime TV. But this is actually very refreshing as it’s normal people with normal problems and normal-sized budgets. It tackles many of the layout and decor problems we can all relate to.

Sarah meets the client in their home and then offers them a new proposed layout and some style tips before leaving them to it. The client then does everything for themselves, there’s no team of researchers, architects, designers and stylists behind the scenes helping them out. So the end result is what the client has been able to achieve with just a little guidance from Sarah. You get the inevitable idiot clients who totally ignore what she says, like the couple who ended up using a piece of plyboard as a dining table for 24 people. But most of the time they take on board Sarah’s advice and end up doing a pretty decent job.

Throughout each episode she shares her pearls of wisdom which she often refers to as her ‘design rules’ so I thought I’d run through some of the ones I gleaned from the first series.

DESIGN RULE 1. If the budget is tight do one thing really well.

This is a really sound rule but one that is hard to accept. Wouldn’t it be lovely to do the whole house all in one go? You could get everything perfect and ‘done’, then you could just sit back and enjoy being in your perfectly renovated home. But sadly we seldom have the budget to do this so Sarah’s advice is spot on. Spreading even a decent-sized budget over a whole house will dilute the impact, it’s much better to do a really impressive, high-quality job in just one or two rooms. And if you are not sure which project to tackle first then do the one that will make the most significant impact on your life.

DESIGN RULE 2. To create a harmonious look throughout the house use the same colours in each room but in different proportions.

This is a great tip for anyone who loves a particular colour palette but wants to mix things up a bit or for people who struggle to create a cohesive look throughout the whole floor of their home. It’s really important for every colour you use throughout the floor of your home to all work together. If you just decorate each room in isolation, you could end up with colours that don’t get on. We don’t live in our homes with all the doors shut all the time, you’ll always catch a glimpse of another room. To put this into practice, let’s imagine a very on trend colour scheme of a dark forest green, blush pink and off-white. Our imaginary hallway could be painted in off-white, with the inside of the front door painted in blush pink and a lovely emerald green ceramic umbrella stand. The downstairs loo could then have dark green walls with some pale pink metro tiles and white grout, creating a beautiful splash back on the basin. The kitchen wall cabinets could be a beautiful off-white with the base cabinets in a dramatic dark green with some blush pink mugs on an open shelf. So, all these rooms would look completely different, but the common colours would run throughout all of them and create a totally cohesive look.

3. Don’t use a room for more than two purposes, it will only do them badly.

So true. Space has become a real commodity over the years and we need our rooms to work harder than ever. We often require them to be multifunctional but if you put too much pressure on a space it’s going to be one big compromise. It’s never going to work if you expect your average-sized living room to be a sociable entertaining space, with a gaming station for the kids, a reading nook for the evenings and a dining area for when you have guests. You will get a lot more out of your room if you choose just one or two functions for it to perform. A well-designed room has room to breathe. Even if you can physically fit everything into the space it will emotionally feel cluttered and we don’t need more emotional challenges in our modern-day lives. So pick two functions and enjoy your beautiful space.

4. The grout is as important as the tile.

Bit of a random one but she’s spot on as usual. Don’t choose your tiles without thinking about your gout, it can be as fabulous as the tile itself, or it can bring an ordinary looking tile to life. There are now over 80 different coloured grouts to choose from. So make it part of your design decision at the beginning of your project, not an after thought when your tiler arrives to do the job.

5. Don’t throw things away if you can do something with them.

In this particular episode, Sarah was referring to a kitchen that still had a lot of wear; she was proposing the client keep the carcasses and replace just the drawer and door fronts. Her rationale was coming from the saving money angle, but also it’s a huge benefit to the planet. There are now specific companies out there who revamp old kitchens. In this case, the guy ignored Sarah’s advice and replaced the whole kitchen, sometimes you have an emotional need to start a fresh. But it’s a great idea to revamp something if you can.

6. You can mix two different styles but never three.

Sarah was talking about decor styles here. It’s really common for couples to have opposing tastes when it comes to interiors. But the good news is that you definitely can mix two styles, in fact, I would always recommend it. If you just stick religiously to one style, you are in danger of creating a room that starts to look a bit like a ‘theme’, and you definitely don’t want that! You want your room to look styled, not like a stage set. Mixing two styles will create a more dynamic space and show your personality. Like a Scandinavian style with a mix of boho elements or a minimalist but industrial look. The important thing, though, is just to stick to two. If you start to throw a third style into the mix, then it starts to look incoherent. So when you have two styles you want to mix, make sure you identify the right pieces that are from that period or style and don’t let in any random pieces that aren’t in keeping.

7. If you’ve got a view, plan your living space around it.

This is a great piece of advice and sounds pretty obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t make the most of a view. A classic example of this is when people ask for my help in converting a third or spare bedroom into a home office. It’s normally one of the smallest rooms in the house with a small window, yet from their kitchen or dining room they have a beautiful view of their garden. Why would you want to work in a box room when you can work in a room with a view? Sarah describes a view as a “piece of magic” so if you are lucky enough to have one make the most of it. If you spend a big chunk of your day ironing or working out or sat at your laptop or reading then do it where you can make the most of your piece of magic.

8. A strong look needs a strong commitment.

Sarah was always looking to push people out of their comfort zone when it came to decor and style. I’m not sure if this is the right thing to do, I like people I work with to be in their comfort zone when it comes to their home but that aside she’s totally right about the commitment thing. I would never push a client to go with a look they don’t like but if you see a look you love then I would 100% encourage them to go for it. Don’t be scared, just totally commit to it. If you like a style but bottle it and start to do a watered-down version of it then it will end up looking rubbish. So go hard or go home. And for the record, if you love a strong colour paint it on every wall (and on the ceiling and woodwork if you dare). Don’t paint just one wall, the feature wall is dated. Just saying.

9. If you’re not confident with colour then use the 60/30/10 rule

This is a really easy rule to follow. Choose three colours for your scheme. Use one colour as the dominant colour, this should feature across 60% of the room. The second is the supporting colour which should be used across 30% of the room. The final is the accent colour which will make up just 10% of the room. The colours aren’t just paint colours these are fabrics, flooring and accessories as well as the paint or wallpaper. So your dominant colour is likely to be paint or wallpaper on the walls, and can also be the flooring and maybe the sofa or a large rug. Your supporting colour could be an armchair, curtains or blinds, and the finish of a piece of furniture. And your accent colour could be some vases, a table lamp and a throw. If you get the proportions right then you will pull off a good-looking room.

10. 90% of decoration should be the preparation.

Dull but true. We all know this but we like to ignore this rule. If you are taking on the painting and decorating of your project then you need to prepare for the preparation, it’s dull, time-consuming, messy and requires the right tools for the job. So if it’s not for you then call in a professional, you cannot afford to skip on the preparation. Sarah said so.

11. The rug is the starting point for building a room within a room, so make sure it’s big enough.

What she’s talking about here is zoning. In a large open-plan space, it’s important to dedicate parts of the space to specific functions so they have an identity. A rug is a great way to do this. It defines a space such as a dining area by being under the dining table or a living room area by being under a sofa and coffee or side tables. The absolutely critical bit here is to pay attention to the word ‘UNDER’. Your rug is creating the floor area of your dining or living area, just like Sarah said you are creating a room within a room so it needs a floor. If your rug is too small it cannot act as a floor. Don’t choose a small rug that sits in front of your sofa or under part of your dining table. It needs to be BIG. If you want to know exactly how big you can read more about that here. A small rug floats about apologetically like a small island and doesn’t give any foundations to the zone you are creating. A large rug confidently shouts, yes this is the living area, come and sit down and make yourself at home.

So it seems watching Sarah Beeney on the telly can be quite an education. Her series is on channel Really on Sky if you are ever in the mood for some daytime easy watching where you might learn something, enjoy.