dcrBefore you begin thinks function. If you have young children, u needs fabrics that don’t show dirt and furniture without sharp corners. If you like to entertain a lot, plan dining and living area closely . If you have ten for dinner a couple of times a year, don’t design your room around it. Instead, invest in fold up table tops and chairs. If you can’t afford to do it all once, make basic repairs first. Then get the sofa. Then think about basic like paint, window treatments, seating and lighting. Occasional pieces and accessories come last. If you have all different periods of furniture, decide which pieces you love want to keep, which to discard. Don’t mix more than two furniture style or periods in one room. You can pad the arms and back of sofas and chairs to make the thicker. You can change a three-seat sofa into a two-seater by having cushions remade. You can tuft or un-tuft backs, raise skirts on sofas and chairs, or do away with them altogether. Cushions can be made to look softer. Often it’s better to reupholster an old sofa that’s well made than to buy a new one. If its eleven years or older it’s probably constructed more sturdily than newer sofa.