Right backdrop to set off objects d'art

matter of money, more a question of good taste.

While for some it may be possible to make investments out of antiques

or bid over the odds so that their walls are lined with old masters, a

discriminating eye is still needed to choose the right soft furnishings

which will weld such artefacts into an artistic togetherness.

It is this backdrop of curtains, carpets and cushions which should

provide the sophisticated setting against which treasured objects d'art

or Chippendale heirlooms are shown off to their best advantage. Yet the

fear of either appearing foolishly ill-informed or being forced into a

false lifestyle often prevents the more timorous from asking the advice

of those available experts, the interior decorators.

Lady Susan Douglas-Hamilton, wife of the Scottish Office Minister,

Lord James, and her partner, Mrs Alison Burt, married to a leading

Scottish banker, have proferred such guidance so successfully over the

past nine years that this summer they are about to open a new interior

design showcase in the east coast golfing village of Gullane.

Until now they have been storing samples of fabrics and wallpapers in

their own East Lothian homes, and travelling to their clients for home

consultations. Now, with the advantage of a shop window, attractive

lampshades and decorative mirrors, as well as rugs, marble ornaments and

china plates, will complement their selection of soft furnishings.

Neither are in the least intimidating, nor would they willingly impose

their personal tastes on others. Instead they much prefer to spend hours

discussing their clients' needs, so that they can give individual rather

than general advice.

''I always try to find out first what colours people like,'' says Lady

Susan. ''I love colour myself but obviously a lot does depend on whether

rooms are south or north facing, and, again, what use is to be made of

them. A study, for instance, can be furnished in dark colours, whereas

other living rooms need to be in lighter shades.''

With an itinerant lifestyle as the wife of an Edinburgh MP, she also

has clients in London and other parts of the south. This gives her an

additional insight and the ability to make very pertinent points about

the different demands of Scottish interiors.

''The northern light we have in Scotland is very strong, more so

perhaps than most people realise. This means that some of the colours

which are currently so popular in London, such as the very pretty

mixtures of mauves and purples, prove difficult in Scotland. Quite

simply, they just don't work so well up here. This also rules out quite

a few fabrics.''

She herself particularly favours the warm apricot shades and enjoys

mixing such unusual combinations as corals and mauves, sometimes adding

a spice of yellow. Like every other aspect of home-making down the

centuries, there are subtle changes differentiating one decade from

another.

Stripling, ragging or marbling of wall surfaces is one current vogue,

though mainly among the wealthier since such apparently casual effects

require at least three applications of paint, ending with a preservative

coat of varnish. But, with her in-depth knowledge of what is available,

Lady Susan Douglas-Hamilton can find cheaper ways around this by using

imitative wallpapers.

This is an illustration of where interior decorators, apart from

providing fresh ideas, come into their own, with their knowledge of

exactly where the pick of furnishing designs can be tracked down. A

superb painter of wall murals is, for example, another alternative Lady

Susan can offer, though she agrees that those moving house regularly are

not so keen on lavishing money on decorations which cannot be removed.

Carpets she places in the forefront of any design scheme since this is

what first catches the eye on entering a room.

''That is why I tend to select stone-coloured carpets so that you are

forced to look elsewhere. But there are also carpets with small

patterns, much prettier than those rather awful large floral ones, which

are also very practical since they do not show up the marks so readily.

My own particular preference is to have exciting curtains, making them

as dramatic as possible with the use of lovely pelmets, fan edgings and

ropes.''

Curtains are also high on the list of the priorities of Anne Davidson,

co-owner of Galloways, an Edinburgh interior decorating and antiques

business which has been in the forefront of furnishing belted earls'

castles and business tycoons' town houses over the years.

Decisively she insists that curtains must come down to floor level,

and has, in her time, had radiators which stood in the way moved

elsewhere. Not that Anne Davidson is a design dictator either.

''Our customers really do care about making their homes look at their

best and most are individualists who have their own ideas,'' she

explains. ''I find that those who are most humble about asking advice

often have the best thoughts while those who think they know all about

it usually don't.''

She is also aware that many people are frightened of using bold colour

or are nervous about the scale of some wallpaper designs, imagining that

these will swamp small rooms. Her skill lies in persuading them to be

more ambitious, often by only doing up one room at a time. Creating the

soft furnishings around some cherished possessions is a task at which

she is particularly adept.

''Many Scots have had connections with China in the past, and the

chinoiserie style has never really gone out of fashion,'' points out

Anne Davidson. ''Even some of the chintzes which are produced nowadays

in all sorts of fabrics, including silks and damasks, have a Chinese

feel to them. They also have a long pedigree, with copies now available

of original chintzes from National Trust houses which go back a very

long way and look marvellous with antique furniture.''

As with other fashions, soft furnishing designs always hark back to

previous styles, though, like the Victorian reproductions of Georgian

furniture, there are also always changes.

What does date most rapidly are the previous decade's ideas of style,

such as the co-ordinated colour schemes, embracing everything from

upholstery to wallpapers and curtains.

''These are now as passe as festoon blinds,'' says Anne firmly.

The use of mirrors to increase the size and light in rooms, and the

clever application of colours are, in her estimation, time-honoured

practices which will never alter.

One of her clients, Mrs Marguerite Ogilvie, can vouch for the

constancy of the decorating schemes with which Galloways transformed her

eighteenth-century home, the House of Pitmuies, near Forfar, in the

mid-1960s.

''When we moved then to this sizeable house it was a question of doing

things on a shoestring, but happily Galloways were perfectly prepared to

do a lot of remaking. For instance they re-used old curtains, putting

new tops on them, and buttoned old sofas which I had picked up at sales.

They had such a good range of materials, and didn't automatically send

you those which were out of your price range. They also went to endless

trouble too, finally locating my dining room wallpaper in Switzerland.''

Mrs Ogilvie's advice is to investigate what different interior

decorators have to offer until the most helpful and imaginative one is

found.

''I have very definite ideas as to what I want, and obviously if you

can find someone whose ideas coincide with yours then that makes doing

up your home so very much easier,'' she summarises.