Ashby Decorator Centre will be inviting people to  come and 'have a go' this Saturday - letting them loose on their vast range of high-quality paints.

The Derby Road-based shop has been in the town centre since 2009 in what was a newly-built unit opposite the town's main Co-op.

Since then, it has specialised in top of the range paints and wallpaper - and is set to become even more in demand with the number of houses due to be built in the Ashby.

But on Saturday (July 1), Ashby Decorator Centre is throwing open its doors to allow the general public to pick up a brush and see if they are a dab hand at home improvements.

Manager, Will McNeice, explained: "It's not really an open day as such - we're open most days - but it is a chance to for people to come down and use the brushes and paints.

"It's a sort of 'have a go' session, which is designed to be fun, but also demonstrates the types of paint we have here.

"We're all really looking forward to it, as it's something a bit different."

Ashby Decorator Centre is the latest company to team up with Ashby Nub News as a sponsor.

It wants to offer customers a personal service - after all, it is not every day that you decide to give the inside of your house a fresh look.

The store sells the upper end of the market Farrow & Ball paint among other quality items.

Will explained: "We're selling more of the designer brands now - paints and wallpapers.

"One of the main reasons we went down this road, is that some major stores use paint to get you through the door - then sell you other things when you're there.

"It's difficult to compete against that - but the demand around Ashby is more for the higher end paints.

"Eventually, we took the plunge and became a premium Farrow & Ball stockist - which is how they refer to us. We can mix colours on site now as we have a tinting machine.

"It means we don't have to keep tons of different paints. There's nothing we can't get."

With a number of housing developments under construction at the moment, Will hopes that new homeowners will turn to Ashby Decorator Centre to put the finishing touches on their houses.

He added: "We hope so, of course. We'd like to connect with new people moving into the area.

"Perhaps when they've been there for about 12 months, and settled down a bit, they're looking to make use of nice paints and wallpapers.

"I'd describe us as a specialist store. You won't find our stock everywhere, people come here from quite a long way around to shop here."

Will says the store is not one for standing still - and uses the paints being sold on the shelves to decorate the shop.

He added: "We like to freshen the place up as much as we can, and people can see how good the paint looks when it is used."