I’ve used this Kasbah light fitting by Eichholtz many times in period settings to fill the space of a conventional chandelier. The brass details suggest a hint of the East and the shape casts beautiful circular shadows through the individual glass pieces. It costs approximately €1400 from Minnie Peters and is also available in smaller sizes and as an oval shape or with nickel instead of brass detailing. Photograph: Renato Ghiazza.

These low steel stools (€155 each) from Industry could be used in a shaker style kitchen for contrast. A small quantity of steel in a kitchen is great when supported by timber and paint finishes.

I’m creating a new showroom space on Fitzwilliam Square which will have a sisal floor (because all styles of furniture look good against it) and window dressed in yellow wool with a second curtain of embroidered Ralph Lauren voile behind it. Hoping this will be a happy, cheerful combination. The walls are being painted Charleston Grey by Farrow & Ball, which despite the name, is actually a deep brown shade. I also having a custom sofa made with moss green herringbone wool. Finished pictures to follow!

I like to think of every bare surface in my home as an opportunity to display old and new treasures. What others call clutter, I think of as the detail that makes a room interesting. Pictured here is a Donna Karan singing bowl and wood vase from Brown Thomas, a giant shell and a picture frame holding a favourite postcard. The term for this type of decoration is “tablescapes”, as coined by interior designer David Hicks in the ’60s. He was the master of arranging everyday objects, art, flowers and such into a pleasing and cohesive statement. When creating a table-scape, combine small and large items for variation of scale. Colour is another important factor – keep it fairly consistent, using just one or two colours or variations of one color. Grouping accessories of one colour makes small items read as a larger whole. Use an odd number of items (3 , 5 or 7) to keep the balance right. Obviously low level items should be at the from, moving to medium and tall ones at the back. I use books or magazines to raise up some of the objects if necessary. If your table is close to the wall then incorporate items onto the floor and wall as part of the overall look. Use trays or baskets as part of your tables-cape, they’re always useful for gathering small items together. Use things you already have but stock up on some new ones every so often to keep things interesting. Keep an eye out for sales – for example, at the moment Merrion Square Interiors are selling all sorts of beautiful mirrors, candlesticks, vases, trays and so on. Photograph: Renato Ghiazza for The Gloss.

The Hector is a failsafe bedside reading light. Designed by Peter Bowles, it has a translucent bone china shade and a brushed steel stem. The angle of the light is adjustable and it has a retro-style braided flex. It’s available in other sizes (plus a floor lamp, wall light and pendant version) and has a reasonable price tag of about €120 from The Conran Shop, Peter Johnson Interiors and Hicken Lighting. Pictured here at a client’s home, I’ve also recently recommended a string of pendant versions to hang over a kitchen island. For a variation on the domed shape, there is also a Pleated or straight-sided Flowerpot style. The Hector range is available in white, blue or green bone china or polished aluminum. Photograph: Renato Ghiazza.

New things should be made to be with you for a long time. That’s if you choose them well and the quality is good. When it comes to curtains, details matter as much as quality. The wrong pleat size will always let a curtain down – small pleats look mean. The standard length of a French pleat is 6 or 10 inches but you don’t always have to stick to the rules – consider the height of a room and have pleats made accordingly. A tall room needs long pleats. I  usually use 8 inch pleats in period rooms. Photograph of curtain by Mary Wrynne: Renato Ghiazza.

Anything that looks simple usually involves a lot of work. There are no formulas when it comes to creating a casual looking picture display. When hanging a few pictures at once, the ideal is that the grouping should look as if it evolved over time. You’ve got to trust your eye but, generally speaking, leave generous room between unframed works or abstract art. The eye gravitates more naturally towards framed pictures and representational pieces (i.e. a painting of a horse or a photo of your nephew), so you can get away with spacing these closer together. How close, exactly, depends on the size of the picture or the frame. Place similar pieces (a series of photos, a painting with a similar theme) much closer together than completely unrelated works. In dark corners, leave twice as much room between works as you would on a brightly lit wall. If you’re hanging multiple pictures together on one wall, pick one to go in the center and hang it at eye level. Figure out how far it is from your eyes to the floor and use the center of a piece (which includes the frame, if there is one) as your reference point. Give the bull’s-eye location to the most important piece, regardless of its size. Then radiates the rest of the works out from that focal point, always separating two same-sized pieces with a smaller one. It helps to alternate between bright and dark and large and small works as you move outward. This keeps the energy alive. Keep photographs of people out of a corner. Unless you’re trying to make a point! Photograph: David Sleator.