Our homes have become our entire world. Suddenly, we view our homes in a new light and really have time to think about how they feel. The dream of an open-plan living area may not seem like such a fantastic idea now that everyone needs to find their own space for working, home schooling and relaxing! Rooms which before may have only been used during the evening, might now feel better if they were lighter and brighter.

If your room doesn’t benefit from lots of natural light, don’t be tempted to just grab the whitest, brightest tin of paint available in an effort to lighten it up. A dark room painted in brilliant white will just end up looking dull and dingy. And still dark. By choosing a softer, pale shade instead and painting the ceiling, walls and woodwork all in the same colour, you will really see how the sense of light and space is increased.

If you don’t have paint to hand or you’re simply not keen on completely redecorating, there are plenty of small changes that you can try to make a space work better. Shake things up by moving furniture around; placing a chair or a table in front of a window will make the most of the natural light. Perhaps take down those heavy curtains during the summer months to let more light flood in. A clever way of creating the illusion of a sunny day is to paint the window surround yellow. Even though I wouldn’t say I was a big yellow fan, it does have an almost subliminally uplifting effect, and after all it needn’t be permanent.

Channel the power of plants and bring the outside in by placing pots next to windows, even if your view is only of next door’s wall. When my husband was organising our tiny snug as an office, he asked if he could have a plant. Not known for his green fingers, in my view that is absolute proof that plants really benefit us on an entirely subconscious level.

Using up old tins of paint for small projects or finishing off odd jobs which have been overlooked because they’re just not that important, can have a reinvigorating effect; not just on a space but on the people in it too. Sample pots can be used for art projects or you could hand-paint a design on to a lampshade; try transferring a favourite fabric or wallpaper design. Most of the paint colours you might have stashed under the stairs will have been used somewhere in your home so will most likely fit within your colour palette. If a colour is a bit a). too light b). too dark or c). too bright, you could try adding the tiniest bit a). black b). white or c). its complimentary colour. This is fine as long as you don’t need to recreate the final colour at a later date!

If you don’t have enough emulsion to repaint an entire room, you could use up small amounts by creating or ‘zoning’ a small home office or a cosy reading corner. For jobs like this, Frog Tape is your friend; remove the tape before the paint is fully dry and you will get a lovely, crisp line.

Any leftover Eggshell can be used to paint the lower half of walls in a tired hallway, making a feature of where the two finishes meet and creating a tough, scrubable surface. Eggshell is also perfect for updating an unloved piece of furniture or injecting an unexpected pop of colour to a kitchen cupboard; remember that Interior Eggshell should not be used outside, but if you have it, Exterior Eggshell can certainly be used inside.

As I write this, no one knows when this will end but it is important to remember that it will end. Any decisions we make during these unusual times needn’t be long term. Remember it’s only paint.