Jonnie Irwin has wowed fans with his “genius” hack for choosing the right paint colour – and revealed we’ve all been doing it wrong.
The A Place In The Sun star is still working despite being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer at the age of just 49.
He is also trying to renovate as much of his family home as possible for his wife Jessica and their three kids should the worst happen to him.
Taking to Instagram, the TV presenter revealed a helpful hack for anyone thinking of decorating their house.
While most of us try a tester pot out on the walls, Jonnie says this is a “useless” way to test out colours.
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Demonstrating what you should do, he said: “Choosing a colour. Don’t get a little pot and paint patches on the wall. It’s useless.
“Get a lining paper and paint the whole bit of paper with the paint.
“Therefore you can put it on the wall and see what it looks like in direct sunlight and how it looks in indirect sunlight.
“But more importantly, you can get to see how it reacts to different colours if you’re going to do a feature wall or maybe a different coloured wardrobe.
“You can also get to see how it reacts when it reflects its own colour upon itself.”
The property expert continued: “Doing it this way gives you much more flexibility AND you can use it all the way round the house.”
Fans were quick to praise the decorating hack with one commenting: “Thank you Jonnie. Would never have thought of this!”
Another said: “Brilliant. Why have I never thought of this. Thanks Jonnie.”
A third posted: “What a great idea. I especially like the way you demonstrated in the corner how the colour looks when it reflects on itself... genius! Thanks for that nugget of information Jonnie.”
While a fourth joked: “Good advice, just a little late as my sitting room wall looks like a patchwork quilt.”
At the end of last year, Jonnie revealed he could only have months to live after his lung cancer spread to his brain.
He is now making plans to say goodbye to his wife Jessica and their children, Rex, six, and two-year-old twins Cormac and Rafa.
Knowing his kids will grow up without him “breaks his heart” but he plans to record video messages for them so he can speak to them after his death.
Speaking to BBC ’s Morning Live, Jonnie shared: “It's amazing to think I could speak to my wife and children after I pass away.
"My diagnosis has taken a lot from me, but it has given me the ability to prepare. The only way to make sure your digital legacy is as you like it, is to take control now. I'm going to take every opportunity to do that for the people I love.”
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