House Rules: How interior design can make you look thin

Most girls are told, growing up, that horizontal stripes are not the most flattering to those with curves, but did you know interior design can actually make you not only look, but be thinner? If you regularly use Google to help you procrastinate, you may already have come across the brilliant selection of images of “people unexpectedly dressed like their surroundings”.

Not only great fun, the pictures are also proof that if you dress exactly to match your sofa or armchair and, in one instance, carpet, your own blurred outlines get sufficiently blurred themselves as to be almost unnoticeable. But for those who think they may occasionally want to get up off the couch or floor – if only to get more snacks – there is another solution.

Research shows that insufficient sleep can lead to weight gain, if only because you crave carbs, sweets and lattes when you’re absolutely knackered. Sleep studies also find that the lighter a room is, the lighter your sleep is likely to be – which is becoming particularly noticeable now that the clocks have changed and the nights and mornings are getting brighter.

The simple and obvious solution is investing in a set of blackout blinds. They’re discreet enough (doesn’t that sound like some sort of medical aid advert?) to go behind whatever window treatment you have already, and they really do the job. If a medical aid ad isn’t enough to convince you, what about celebrity endorsement? Mick Jagger and Joan Collins are both said to insist on blacked-out windows when they check into hotels, though that’s not to say it’s always been a quiet night’s sleep they’re after.

So if you think your interior decor is making you fat, check out the blackout options from ranges at Hillarys (hillarys.ie), Ikea (ikea.com/ie) and Argos (argos.ie). They come in shades other than black, and could give you the night’s sleep you’ve dreamed about. That doesn’t mean you can have more cake. Unless, of course, you want to, and it could save you from a lifetime of having to dress like your settee.