Mismatch plates and hang art low: 18 ways to create a more beautiful home

Matt Gibberd, founder of high-end architectural estate agency The Modern House, shares his top tips

For the past 16 years, I have spent my days nosing round other people's homes like a design-obsessed basset hound. I have been granted access through hundreds of locked doors, perched on wobbly Windsor chairs, and taken tea in stylish studio flats, cleverly converted factories and even a working barge.

Throughout all this, I've learned a lot. As The Modern House has grown, I've discovered that these homes - from studio flats to listed architectural masterpieces - have the same design principles in common: clever layouts, masterly manipulation of natural light, tactile materials, a connection to nature, sheer exuberance and personality in decoration - and much more.