The really useful column

Shades of light
It can be tricky to find lamp shades in the right shape, size and colour to match your interior. Even if you do find what you are looking for, it always seems to cost a disproportionate amount in relation to the light fitting itself.

So I was delighted to unearth Carolina Lighting, a company manufacturing bespoke lamp shades. It can make soft shades hard, cover them in any fabric, re-cover existing shades or make repairs - in fact do almost anything you want in silk or your own fabric (as long as it can be glued). And the best bit? For a bespoke lamp shade you pay about 30 per cent of the equivalent high-street price, simply by going direct to the company. Call 020 8648 6800.

Handy help
A reader recommendation came in for a "hard-tofind" gem: the perfect handyman. Miles Freeman, alias Mr Handyman, works mainly out of the SW postcodes, but will go as far as Brighton. An expert carpenter, he specialises in anything to do with wood, from minor repairs to installing a kitchen and, courtesy of having been an antiques dealer for 30 years, is also knowledgeable enough about antique furniture and pictures to value pieces for insurance and auction. A genuinely useful chap. Call 07776 234902.

Little treasures
For charming and personalised pieces of children's furniture, visit www.bundles-of-joy.co.uk, where you will find toy boxes, treasure chests, name plaques and mirrors, any of which can be decorated with your child's name. A football or flower mirror costs £36.

Up in smoke
If you are thinking of re-lining your chimney, take a look at www.chimneycare.co.uk, a company that can offer an alternative to the traditional method of lining chimneys with metal tubing. Using a product called Thermocrete, bricks can be effectively soldered with a fast-setting concrete-like liquid, a process that strengthens the chimney and prevents the bricks from disintegrating. Costing a little more than traditional lining, it is a mess-free and more permanent solution to the problem. Call 0800 015 4636.

Glass ceiling
I have come across a brilliant way of bringing natural light into the home. Glass floors are generally expensive and have not passed the obligatory half-hour fire rating, restricting their use to areas of the house that are not primary fire-escape routes. However, there is now a glass panel on the market that is fire-resistant, about a quarter of the price of traditional glass floors and sufficiently easy to install for a competent DIYer.

Although still not cheap at £995 plus delivery for a panel 75cm by 75cm, they are a manageable way of bringing light into a basement kitchen from the corridor above, for example, and conform to all the building-control stipulations. The panels can also be bolted together to create a whole walkway. Call 01223 813700 or visit www.liteflam.com.

Girls on top
If you live in the SW19 area, take a look at www.wwib.org.uk for Wimbledon Women in Business. It lists members' names, links to their websites and is a helpful source of female tradespeople, from builders to feng shui consultants and picture framers to garden designers, for those who prefer to have a woman around the house.