The first step in designing a room is figuring out exactly what the room will be used for. "When people have great rooms," observes designer Katie Leavy of Capital Design in Washington, D.C., "they put their television in there, their kids play in there, they'll even eat in there."If you've got the space, try to narrow things down. Decide, for example, if your room will be a living room that you'll entertain in on just a few occasions, or a family room you're going to use everyday. A room's purpose should be one of the strongest cues for the decor.
See how one fledgling designer gave a bare-bones living room a new sense of purpose.
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