11 Steps to a Well-Designed Room

By Emily Lapkin

One of the biggest issues facing homeowners today is the ever-expanding scale of sofas. "When I'm called in to rescue a room, it's often because the furniture pieces really don't fit the size of the room," shares designer Jackie Glisson.

The solution? Take out a measuring tape and a piece of graph paper. Draw a floor plan of your room to scale (let one square equal one foot, for instance). Or if you can find your blueprints, use them and make extra copies. As you consider buying additional pieces, mark off their intended location and make sure they'll fit before bringing them home.