If you are making a studio that you can actually paint in, then you'll need bare boards varnished or silk-gloss painted - otherwise your rug will get ruined! Also, think about a system for hanging your works - either permanently or whilst they dry. No point having a beautifully-painted wall getting pockmarked with pins or blutac, or never changing your wall display because you want to keep things 'perfect'. A system of 'washing lines' running parallell to and close to the walls works nicely. (Jute string and clothes pegs for an old-fashioned look; steel cable or malin wire and metal hooks for contemporary - yacht chandlers are the place to go for the latter. ) Have a look at Gwen John's paintings for colour inspiration. Even though her painted interiors were Parisian, her palette remained rather English. On damp - limewash is magic. It doesn't seal off damp but processes it. Years ago, I painted the north wall of my very unfinished kitchen in Normandy with limewash, but didn't do the patch where the sink was. When we took the sink out to put in the floor(...) we found that the unpainted patch was DRIPPING but the painted parts were dry.

We haven’t ever had damp problems , the house is 1920’s so I don’t know about the old part of the house on the left of the door but the new extension on the right has a good robust dampcourse. I have tried pots in the past, but I do get full sun all day long and me forgetting to water becomes an issue . I have got more plants in the ground along my front and I like that I don’t have to water them, only maintain them. Many thanks for alerting me on the damp course. Great advice.

hi you could have an issue with a poor initial build resulting in a mortar buildup on the lintel over the door and window openings. this could cause damp at this point. it is possible to get a horoscope survey carried out to check the extent, or remove a brick above the lintel and check whether this is indeed the case. make sure your window frames arent rotten allowing water to get behind.

Hi, In need of a bit of advice or guidance regarding the possible need for damp proofing to an existing external wall that now becomes an internal wall after an extension. I plan to keep it as exposed brickwork as attached visual. The problem (or maybe it's not a problem) I have is the new extension lower floor level (blue line) is a lot lower then the existing DPC (pink line). Is there a chance moisture will run up that external wall and create damp issues? If so, what would be my best course of action? Hoping that all made sense. Many thanks in advance.