Paints

Starting with the outside : dark painted windows were traditional, became unfashionable and are now increasingly chic. Using a low sheen exterior eggshell, the Farrow & Ball range of dark greens, greys and blues are far from drab and have an interesting sense of depth. Avoid "scumbled" finishes for front doors, which were in any case, bad imitations of more sophisticated Regency finishes. Again, choose a dark colour which sets off bright brasswork and paint the architraves and flanking windows a warm cream such as Farrow & Ball No 59 "New White".

Inside, it pays to look at notable re-creations. One of the most remarkable of these is the late Derek Hill's house, St Columb's, in Donegal, now owned by the State. An appreciator of the lighter side of Victoriana long before most, he decorated this glebe house mostly during the 1960s with extraordinary Victorian flair. He chose brilliant white woodwork which sparkled beside the dazzling Reckett's powder paint blue of the hall. The drawingroom was a suave sixties mauve which acted as a cool background for bamboo furniture, Japanese prints and cabinets crowded with china and glass. Strong colours are not in vogue today and the brilliant blue worked in St Columb's because it was chalky and very matt and was mixed from goodness knows what by Derek himself. Unfortunately, ready mixed strong colours are so high in pigment content that they tend to have a sheen which is unattractive. A trick is to paint the wall in the chosen shade and then over-glaze with a wash of casein distemper mixed with the base colour and strengthened with universal stainers. This will give a dry, "hungry" finish that is sufficiently strong to be wipeable.

The limpid distemper greys once so common in Victorian diningrooms can be rather more freshly reproduced using Farrow & Ball No 22 "Light Blue" or No 18 "French Grey" cut with Ivory (BS10.b.15).

The Victorians tended to tint their cornices and ceilings in shades of the wall colour. This can appear rather fussy and even though it is not very historical, today it pays to stick to cream or off whites. The same applies to woodwork. Often it was stained to look old or grained to look solemn: avoid this and particularly avoid stripping pine doors - it is rarely successful. Use an off-white eggshell and if you must be sophisticated, choose different shades of off-white for panels and stiles as found in the new Farrow & Ball "Off Whites" colour chart.

Architectural salvage yards generally have a good supply of Victorian fittings, some of them good reproductions which will make up for missing doors and architraves. The faces of skirting boards can be given a bit of weight by painting in Farrow & Ball No 36 "Mahogany" or No 95 "Black Blue" which will contrast well with cream mouldings.

Sometimes heavy Victorian furniture demands a weighty colour background. Wines and plums are traditional in diningrooms, but you could substitute them with deep and welcoming greens or blues such as Farrow & Ball No 81 "Breakfast Room Green", No 83 "Chappel Green" or No 29 "Sugar Bag Light". Dining chairs can be provided with velvet plush slip covers.

Wallpaper, Furniture

The neo rococo or Louis Quatorze was the drawingroom style par excellence throughout the period. David Skinner has several wallpapers with gilt patterning available in a variety of colourways that are successful. Gilt over-mantels and composition console tables are not difficult to find to complement the "French" look.

Victorian seat furniture was designed to be comfortable with voluptuous shapes and sprung seats. Choose antique seats with care: are they still comfortable and if not, are they worth restoring ? Modern equivalents may well dilute the authenticity but improve the domestic bliss.

Floors

Stripping and varnishing pitch pine boards produces a garish orange hue that is unhelpful to decorative schemes. It is not recommended: instead leave a 2 ft space around a Turkey rug or plain carpet and stain the boards to a walnut or darker tone.

Curtains

Victorian curtains tended to be thicker, heavier versions of their Regency forebears - which cut down an enormous amount of light. A simpler treatment that also enjoyed favour was the bold, unadorned pole from which hung curtains, looped up at the sides when not drawn. These were often changed with the seasons : chintz, satin or poplin for the summer and worsted damasks and broadcloths for the winter months. Roller blinds were of course standard. They were not always cream but were multicoloured, patterned and fringed. Occasionally one can still find surviving bright red examples which looked particularly effective from the outside if the glazing bars were a dark colour.