Thank you for your tremendously positive response to the fabulous bathroom makeover last week.  My friend Amy is now a celebrity in the most prestigious circles of New Jersey!  I hope that you will be able to use my valuable tips for your own project.  Now I am back with more insider guidance to take you every step of the way in designing a beautiful living room.

Today I am featuring a project I completed on a very tight schedule.  Normally, after carefully considering my client’s wants and needs, I order custom furnishings that take at least 3-4 months to be fabricated and delivered.  In this instance, my client needed to move into the apartment within 2 months and he wanted a Modern look.  With a little ingenuity and a lot hard work, the project was successfully completed in 2 months flat, from start to finish.  For 90% of the project I used the very same retail sources that you have access to in My Secret Database.

Here’s an easy way to successfully furnish a fantastic living room:

1. Have a clear vision of the look you are after.  Look through magazines and at photos online.  Be honest with yourself.  Trends are tempting; but will you still love the look a few years from now?  Keep these photos with you at all times as a guide.
2. Look at the bones of your project.  In this project the carpeting and the walls were drab.  We changed the carpeting from a flecked Berber to a solid one and then choose a warm celery color for the walls that was used throughout the whole apartment.  A small space feels larger and more unified with one color.
3. Furniture first - the rest later.  You might be inspired by a pillow, but that should not be your first purchase.  Select your furniture and then move on to pillows, window treatments and accessories.  They are the icing on the cake.
4. Be patient - If you you find a sofa and chairs you love at a great price, but you have to wait a couple of months for delivery, then wait it out.  So many people will drive themselves crazy for the next two months looking for a replacement that can be delivered immediately, only to come back to the original choice in the end.
5. Great design is in the details.  This project is 3 years old, but you would never know it.  Here are some affordable tips to get the designer look.

• The custom-made draperies shown are white cotton panels with silver grommets.  Lately I have seen many low-cost imitations at JCPenney, Restoration Hardware and Linens-N-Things.
• One of my great designer secrets is that Crate and Barrel has a phenomenal selection of pillows with down fillers at great prices. 
• The lamp shown is quite expensive, but I wrote a post in January showing an affordable replacement.

I hope this inspires you to start your project and to move forward with confidence.  Explore My Secret Database to quickly find the treasures you seek!