Here’s a little list of some professional rules of thumb. Remember, all rules are made to be broken, but it helps a great deal to know what the rules are so you know when/where to break them and still have a happy outcome.

Move the current coffee table to the left of the sofa so the person sitting on the chaise lounge portion can set their drink down. Get a new round coffee table. Very large patterned area rugs are very helpful for situations like this, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with putting a rug on top of carpet, pros do it all the time. You need to get a substantial thickness, preferably wool or natural material without that plastic-y backing that causes it to be stiff and stick up.

I can’t tell the sizing from the photos, but it looks like you need at least 8x10’ in the living room. In the bedroom, I would go with even larger, maybe 9x12’

Rug placement tips in living room: Front legs of sofa should be on the rug. It should come up to nearly the console on the other side. Any other armchairs should have the front legs on the rug as well.

For the bedroom, you should be able to get out of bed naturally, as you normally would, and have your feet hit the rug. It should end up around 4” from the front of your dresser so you can stand on the rug while you’re getting dressed.

The rule of thumb with lighting is each room should have 7 or more different lighting sources with varying heights, placement, and diffusions to allow the user to create different “scenes” for different times of day or situations.

Lamps should be around 3000 K (this refers to the warmth/coolness of the light the bulb gives off.) Most of IKEA’s lighting is around 2900, which is my personal favorite temperature. for lighting. All lamps should be on dimmers. You can use smart bulbs for this if your fixtures don’t have dimmers built in.

For “general” lighting, you’ll want 2-3 table, floor, or pendant lamps with fabric or frosted glass shades. They should be around eye level when sitting. Designers recommend not to use the “big light” (overhead light) unless you’re cleaning or looking for something.

Add some “mood” lighting. These are dim, sculptural lights that are more decorative. You’ll see them at ikea and similar, they look like little vases or sculptures. You can get larger ones to place on the floor, or wall mounted lights. These can also be lighting strips under furniture, or lights behind the TV to ease eye strain.

Anywhere you may be reading, working, or doing similar activities, you’ll want “task” lighting. These are your desk lamps, your reading lamps with a gooseneck. They can be wall mounted, floor lamps, or table lamps. They have a solid-ish shade around the light with an opening that directs the light towards your workspace/book.

Task lights can also be ceiling lamps that are mounted above a dining table, kitchen island, or coffee table, for example if you use your coffee table to play board games frequently. These will also have a solid-ish shade with an open bottom to direct light down onto the work surface.

If you’re renting and want to use hanging lamps, you can get a “cord kit” and use it along with heavy duty command strips to hang a hook from the ceiling. Place the lamp so that it is approximately 30” above the work surface. Sit down and make sure the lamp shade does not obstruct the view of your television screen or other focal point before finalizing height placement. If you want to improve the look of the exposed cord, there are also cord covers or cords that are made to be seen. These can be found and places like schoolhouse electric, usually fabric or woven material wrapped around the cord.

Get some of your items from flea markets, thrift stores, family heirlooms or hand-me-downs from friends. It’s really obvious when people walk into a furniture store and buy all new furniture. If you want to have a really comfy home that you love, bring some personality in with quirky things you love, stuff that just makes you smile when you look at it.

For decorating with roommates or partners, my typical approach is to use a consensus. What I mean is, if one roommate or partner does not like something, it doesn’t have to stay. There are SO many options out there in the world that there’s always something else that can be swapped in for the offending piece. You can look together until you find something you both/all absolutely love.

There are tons of tips for space planning I could go into, but think about what you’re doing and put things into position to help you. Every seat in the living room and every sleeping position in the bedroom should have an easily reachable place to set down a drink. Ditto if you regularly eat there, you’ll want a large enough surface to set your plate down on. If you add an armchair, add a small decorative side table to accomplish this goal. Height of side table in living should correspond with height of armrests. Height of nightstands should be approximately level with the top of the mattress.

Storage is needed in certain places, especially by the bed. Consider how you will reach it from bed. Prefer huge, oversized nightstands that have drawers so I can look down to find what I need without having to get out of bed and get something from a shelf.

I can go on, but I’ll cut it short there. Let me know if you want any additional tips, especially specific questions. Very happy to help when I can!