  Let $G$ be the unit distance graph in the plane. A well-known problem in
combinatorial geometry is that of determining the chromatic number of $G$. It
is known that $4\le \chi(G)\le 7$. The upper bound of 7 is obtained using
tilings of the plane. The present paper studies two problems where we seek
proper colourings of $G$, adding restrictions inspired by tilings:
  Let $H(\epsilon)$ be the graph whose vertices are the points of ${\mathbb
R}^2$, with an edge between two points if their distance lies in the interval
$[1,1+\epsilon]$. We show that for small $\epsilon$, $0<\epsilon\le
\frac{3\sqrt{2}}{4}-1$, we have $6\le \chi(H(\epsilon))\le 7$. This improves
the result of Exoo and Grytczuk et al. that $5\le \chi(H(\epsilon))$ for small
$\epsilon$.
  Suppose that $G$ is properly coloured, but so that two solidly coloured
regions meet along a straight line in some neighbourhood. Then at least 5
colours must be used.
