Before

"What a spacious, light-filled room!" I exclaimed as I entered my client's family room. The light and space were the only things my client liked about this room. She didn't like the mishmash of furniture, particularly her husband's old black couch, and she felt the room didn't reflect her personal style. Her daughter's toys were heaped along the opposite wall (out of view on the left) and this bothered her, too.

"We can fix all that!" I reassured her. I asked how flexible she was in moving furniture about, and she was game to try anything. But she didn't have the budget to buy new furniture, so we would have to use only what she had.

Before

• The black couch did not meld with the rest of the room's furniture and blocked the space off from the adjoining kitchen.

• This room had some nice pieces, but the arrangement looked awkward.

• Clutter was heaped on top of the dresser, and a large quantity of kids' toys and books were piled in front of and around the fireplace (out of view on the left).

• The room needed a little more color and a lot more pizzazz.

After

• No matter where we put the couch in the room, it didn't look right because its style was so different from all the other pieces. (The photo doesn't show the slanted arm rests and the "just out of college" look it had). We had to find a home for it since her husband couldn't bear to give it up.

After

I admired my client for having the courage to convert her dining room into a playroom for her daughter. This was a really good use of the space, considering that they probably only used their dining rooms about once a month, but her young child played every day, all day! When I asked her where she sat while her daughter played, she said: "Usually on the floor." When I suggested we move the black couch into the playroom she agreed. All it needed was a few brightly colored pillows and it would fit right in to the décor.

• The sofa and dresser seemed scrunched too far to the left. I moved the dresser to the right of the couch, where it became more accessible and helped balance out the room. I found another cube hidden amongst the kid's toys to use as a coffee table/footrest. Moving out the black couch made the room look more cohesive and inviting.

We needed to find more seating, since we had moved out the black couch. Fortunately, my client had the perfect leather armchair downstairs in her master bedroom. We lugged it up her back steps and positioned it at an angle across from the couch (You can just see its arm in the lower left had side of the photo). This helped create a simple conversation area.

• We did a quick clutter clearing. We moved all her daughter's toys in to her nearby playroom. The revamped family room looked more "adult" and calmer without all the house plaque lying about.

• We added more personality to the space by hanging family portraits, and placing some colorful pillows on the loveseat. I found a tea set and set it up on a tray, along with an iPod dock to put on top of the dresser.

On completing our room makeover my client felt a sense of relief. She loved that the room looked more pulled-together, the balanced arrangement and that it was now clutter-free.

Kit Davey, an interior designer based in Redwood City, Calif., helps clients redecorate their homes through the creative use of their existing furnishings. E-mail Kit your questions: kit@ctwfeatures.com

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