1. Hire a Pro. It is better to spend on the professional service of a designer or contractor that to waste money on a nightmare. There are a lot of talented and competent ones who can help you achieve you dream space on a realistic budget.
2. Start with a good floor plan. Think about the important and major pieces you need in the room, and consider the grouping of your furniture based on function or activity in the area, as well as traffic flow. Furniture showrooms can help you with this. You can also get good advice from an interior designer.
3. Always check the scale of furniture. Everything should look right according to the size of the room. Study the art of scale and balance in arranging furniture. You can always look at design magazines to see how it’s done.
4. For small spaces, less is more. If you can only have the important furniture pieces in your space create multifunctional areas. Integrate the living and dining rooms, or the guest and TV rooms.
5. Play with lighting. Use monochromatic or subdued colors and hang mirrors. These are ways to achieve the illusion of space.