Q. I used to work for a well-known decorator and have now branched out on my own. Some friends of my parents have asked me if I’d like to redecorate their reception rooms. They’re very nice people and I think they have partly given me the work to help me establish myself. I’m a few weeks into the project and the awkward thing is that they are pushing me into ordering fabrics etc that are pretty hideous, and I’m worried I shall be marked down by people who could be prospective clients as a decorator with no clue as to how to decorate a room with taste. – Name and address withheld

A. There are more than enough decorators with good taste. Even if you have to start by making a niche for yourself as a reverse Robert Kime, specialising in clients with bad taste, business is still business. Word needs to circulate that you are a competent professional who delivers on time and that it is a pleasure it is to work with you. You can start to put your foot down once you are established.

Q. We are all exhibitionists in our family and love old after-dinner games like charades, Who Am I? and Two Truths and a Lie. Usually our guests do too. But lately we find the younger guests seem much more worried about making fools of themselves, when that is the whole point! How can we encourage them to join us in having a laugh and not take their images so seriously?

– G.C., Abingdon

A. Try using the ‘gateway’ game Blood Pressure Sweepstake as a de-inhibitor. Buy a blood pressure monitor for £22 from the British Heart Foundation website (bhf.org.uk). Issue pens and paper and get everyone to make a guess at the blood pressure readings of everyone else playing the game. Engage the juniors by charging them with taking the real readings and noting them down. The prize will go to the person who has made the highest number of accurate guesses. Not only is this a brilliant icebreaker, it can also be a lifesaver.

Q. In a Lisbon restaurant I ordered a dish called Açorda, containing bread, salted cod and shrimps – all things I like. I didn’t realise the ingredients would have a raw egg broken over them at the table and then be enthusiastically mashed up by the waiter. I was devastated to offend this lovely man but I couldn’t eat it. There was no way to tip such a ‘wet’ dish into a paper napkin. What to do should this happen again?

– M.W., London W8

A. Put an empty water glass on to your lap and gradually fork the dish into it. Go to the loo with the glass under your clothes and empty its contents. Rinse the glass and return it to the table.