Store designers are nothing but furniture sales people.The are not required to have amazing portfolios, or licenses. They do not have the knowledge, or experience of independents, and are only allowed to sell from manufacturer's approved by the store owners. They are also on a minimum commission sales base, so they will push you as fast and hard as they can to make the sale to keep their jobs and make their quotas. Therefore, your choices will be very limited AND not done by qualified, independent designers. Many comments on here I suspect are from people whose homes are, er, how do I say this, NOT well appointed. If you are looking for a real upgrade, especially with children, it's an easy task for a pro. Also, we will not push inapproriate choices on you because we work for the furniture stores. We can specify anything on the market and make sure you get the choices for your project. Also, all designers are NOT created equal. Do you want a talentless hack doing the work or a real visionary designer? You get what you do (or don't) pay for like everything else in life. Two places I can tell you are a joke are Havenly and Wayfair, whose "decorators" will sell you super awful, cheap furniture and tacky accessories that will fall apart in 1 year and soak your children's home in toxic chemicals. There are no safety standards or design standards, again their goal is to load you up with as much junk as possible for the furiture companies. I work by the hour like an architect. This promotes a serious and professional partnership between clients and designers. Some stores do offer designers discounts on furniture, and I pass those on to my clients, but many stores do not offer discounting. My main goal is to create the best design possible within a given budget. It also frees me to reuse or repurpose existing items as I am not making money off the furniture and do things that "decorators" like Havenly and Wayfair can't do like making architectural or finish changes to your walls or windows. So there's some free honest advice. If your designer is the style you like, negotiate and go with them. They are pros just like a good doctor.

Here is the furniture moved and I certainly can do that . I had it like that for a while and I don’t know how much the family was digging it. The loveseat people are hoping for something to put their feet on and the sofa people would like an ottoman. This arrangement still didn’t seem to work for them to share. It also does make the living room look smaller which is not a bad thing, just something I noticed How about one of those large upholstered ottomans that do double duty? This way both can put their feet up. The important thing with seating is making it easy for everyone to be able to converse without having to shout across the room. Once everything is in, with the excellent help from grover for extras, I think you'll all be much more comfortable with the arrangement.

I am going to show a couple patterns.. but recognize we would need to add a couple pillows too for the sectional and then add art that helps pull it together... going on the brighter side here with some blue. also, recognize you can have multiple blues in the room https://www.potterybarn.com/m/products/balboa-upholstered-swivel-armchair/?pkey=cchairs-ottomans&isx=0.0 https://www.ballarddesigns.com/larkin-upholstered-swivel-glider/furniture/living-room/chairs/224074?uniqueId=224074 https://www.ballarddesigns.com/larkin-upholstered-swivel-glider/furniture/living-room/chairs/224074?uniqueId=224074

Oh thanks so much! yes, i dont think i have given much thought before now and been a bit impulsive and looking for comfort. i do enjoy artsy things but would like a more sophisticated look. i have been trying to incorporate the wonderful ideas, and stay away from dark colors. ive recently got a few things and will post below. thank you!