4 colour combos that will revive your home

Pale olive and turquoise: two greens together may sound like a miss but they actually look sensational. The striking black wall, far from making the room dark, brings it into sharp focus.

Sarah says ‘Black and gold is a super-brave combination, but as this ceiling shows, it’s fantastic with the right detailing! You need to stand out when selling – and shabby workmanship is more likely to put people off than a bold colour scheme.’

Is a mix of rich jewel colours – emerald, ruby and sapphire – too much of a good thing: clashing and overpowering? Judge for yourself, as in this greenery-filled dining space, it’s brave and exciting.

An interiors maxim insists you can’t have two patterns, let alone one geometric and the other pictorial! Yet how striking is this, with a subtle monochrome palette to keep the scheme under control?

Writ large... It’s tempting to think that a compact room needs little patterns but large-scale motifs will make it appear open and spacious.

Here’s a bedroom to get wows from your guests. A highly embellished headboard shouts for attention against the decorative chest – yet the clever use of maroon in both assures harmony.