Colour your home with confident brushstrokes

Tomorrow at the Hunt Museum in Limerick, Judith Miller, co-host of BBC2's The House Detectives, antiques expert and author of a collection of reference books, will launch her latest book, Colour In it, you are invited to trust in your own ability to choose colours that you instinctively prefer, rather than being sidetracked into choosing what you believe to be fashionable. By using palettes ranging from historical to contemporary, you learn how to marry themes to suit your home.

Coming from a background she describes as "the Formica generation", Miller grew up in an environment that dedicated itself to getting rid of anything old in favour of more modern furniture. Brought up in Galasheils, Scotland, she says: "I was lucky in that I had very good history teachers and was brought up in a Scotland rich in period homes. The school would take us out on field trips and my interest in period homes stems from that early experience."

Always fascinated by social history, she became even more so as she discovered the palettes used in period homes were far more dynamic than we are often led to believe.

Analysis of old paint used at that time showed that the washed out blues and greys we associate with period drama were at one time very different. "I suddenly realised that when Jane Austen walked into a room, it probably had bright blue walls and not pale blue as we thought," she says.

Never having lived in a modern house, her experience stems from work she has carried out on her own homes. In the beginning she would look at etchings and paintings from that period and look for ideas in them; at the moment she lives in an Edwardian house in London, which is probably the most modern house she's restored.

If asked five years ago what her favourite period was, Miller would have answered quite differently, but now she has settled on Georgian style, primarily for its tranquillity, colour and symmetry.

One of the most interesting projects she's been involved in was the restoration of her former home, Chilston Park, where she was responsible for the colour scheme throughout. It was a good learning curve in choice of colour, given there are 16 bedrooms in the main house and another 20 in outhouses on the property. It is now a hotel.

The essential element when you decide to decorate is confidence, says Miller. "People always ask me for advice, but you should opt for something you like rather than what is appropriate."

She believes that we are going into a more adventurous period of colour, and this is supported by some of the leading paint manufacturers, who have adapted their colour range to meet the growing demand for stronger palettes.

"Paint is the cheapest and most dramatic way to create a new look, and whether you have a period house or studio flat, you should have confidence in your colour choice - be bold. One of the most difficult colours to work with is white -in terms of giving a feeling to the room - whereas putting a colour on the walls gives the room instant warmth."

Each chapter in the book gives a palette guide for a particular era, from Georgian, American Colonial, Rococco, Neo-Classical, Victorian, Modern and PostModern to the national and regional palettes of Tuscany, Mexico, Morocco and Shakerstyle. With much to offer from each section of the book, the temptation is to mix and match your palette, and it is possible to mix colours effectively from the different eras if you prefer, although Judith Miller warns: "If you're going to break the rules, it's good to know them first."

Her own house is a mixture of themes, so you don't have to be tied to one. "But," she says, "it is very important, as you walk through your home, that the rooms work well together. Yellow into blue works very well."

When choosing a colour, bear in mind its appearance will always be modified by the presence of another colour. One discordant colour can be used discreetly to accent another, but if both are employed in close proximity on a large scale they will almost always clash, she warns. "The colour most people have a problem with is yellow, yet red yellow is wonderful in almost any light, whereas citric yellow can be most unmanageable," she says.

The primary colours being the tip of the iceberg, there are endless shades and variations to consider before you make your choice. But the word is "confidence" - be more adventurous in your outlook and transform your home with the sweep of a brush.

Judith Miller will take part in a one-day seminar entitled "Living with Colour" tomorrow at the Hunt Museum in Limerick. Tickets: Tel. 061 312960.

Her book, Colour, is published by Marshall Publishing (£25 sterling). The fourth series of The House Detectives will be screened on BBC2 on November 11th, 2000.