Undertaking a decorating job personally will undoubtedly save money, but before donning your old dungarees and wielding a paintbrush, stop to consider why employing a professional can be a wise option. Although hiring a painter and decorator may cost more, it can constitute a real saving in terms of efficiency, expertise and peace of mind.

Why do we find one place appealing and are uneasy in another? Why are we attracted to one product over another? Colour, whether architectural or in products, accounts for 60 percent of our response to an object or a place. The "buzz" about colour is usually called "colour psychology." But the effects of colour are subtle and significant; physical and psychological. Colour use is not something that results in a definitive equation between "colour and our moods," as is a currently popular expression. Wherever we go we respond to colour, but the importance of colour is often underestimated. Colour use is important to us personally in our homes and in the places where we work.