Jonathan Reed's dos and don'ts of decorating

In the west wing of Jonathan's regency house in Yorkshire, Edwin Lutyens chairs once owned by Ambrose Heal, Charlotte Perriand stools and works from David Nash’s Oak Leaves in May series furnish this area adjoining the kitchen.

Michael Sinclair

Don't decorate….. Design!

Make decisions that will improve the space, flow or functionality before all else. Think about and budget for all necessary physical changes, material purchases and all technical matters that will improve your home (including the best bed and sofa you can afford) before thinking about spending money on ‘decoration’.  Even then I’d rather have money left over for good wine than be sat soberly regretting the expensive hand painted wallpaper.

Do employ a lighting designer

Lighting is everything. There's no point spending money on wonderful materials, finishes and furnishings if you can’t see them properly. Also the technology behind modern lighting is now so complex that a mere mortal can’t possibly get it right.

Don't be afraid of the dark

The best lighting schemes always incorporate areas of darkness. Uniform lighting levels are for operating theatres.

Adam Ross lights hang over a 19th-century table from Miles Griffiths in the back kitchen. The linen cupboards came from Wentworth Woodhouse; the clothes rack, found in the old kitchen, was scrubbed with wire wool to remove decades of grease.

Michael Sinclair

Do consider practical functionality before all else

Space in your home should be prioritised for those functions of your life that bring you pleasure (a dressing room) as well as those that cause you pain (a laundry room). Better a spacious bathroom than a spacious bedroom. Unless, of course, you intend to spend the whole day in the bedroom, in which case it will need a fireplace!

Do make a space to wash and dry the dog

An outdoor hand shower with a drain and just inside the door a towel rail above a radiator are essentials for keeping the newly upholstered sofa clean.

Do your research

Find out who are your best local suppliers, dealers and talented makers. Work with them wherever possible. A local antique dealer who stocks your regional style of furniture will bring the correct character to your home; certainly more so than hours spent scanning the internet.

Do commission as many things specifically for your home as you can

Work with makers you trust and with whom you can build a rapport. Listen to them if they say they can’t make a thing that size, shape or material. They know more than you. You’re not a joiner, metalworker or glass blower… they are.

Above the chimneypiece in the sitting room is a mirror with hand-blown tinted glass from Dominic Schuster. On one side is a slipware map of the estate made of earthenware panels commissioned from ceramicists Clive and Dylan Bowen, and on the other is an artwork by David Nash.

Michael Sinclair

Do be cautious when buying vintage furniture online

I would avoid buying furniture on eBay, 1st dibs or Vinted unless that is you know the dealer. There are way too many stories of people thinking the thing they’re buying was measured in centimeters when it was in inches or vice versa.

Do make sure that you’ve measured all points of access to your home or room before going shopping

It’s surprising how difficult it is to get that lovely custom made wardrobe into the dressing room (unless you swapped out the local maker with the local Ikea).

Do keep an accurate ‘finishes schedule’

Make sure you have a room by room record of all materials, finishes, paint, etc that you have used in your home with suppliers' details and any relevant reference numbers so that reordering is not a total disaster. The same goes for light bulbs, for which you should keep a big stock of any that are ‘no longer being made’. Replacing a lovely 25 watt incandescent bulb with a vile Warm White LED one will not give the same effect whatever the shop says. Ever.