Been redecorating my loft for the past couple of weeks now. Think good progress has been made.

Before:

Most, if not all this furniture, was pretty much inherited from the past, which made it a mishmash of random colors, designs, and styles. It all sort of grew organically, which always bugged me - not much consideration into how it all fit in, besides, "I need a new bookshelf because I have too many books."

The first step was laying out the new room. I ran some ideas by some coworkers and got a final layout I was pretty happy with. I then got the far wall painted (light brown = blech) with a solid accent color (dark red). I picked up a new sofa (I decided I wouldn't go cheap on it - a good sofa will last forever, and the one I picked is incredibly flexible in style). I also got rid of a whole bunch of random IKEA furniture which no longer served much of a utility (realistically I don't need a breakfast table *and* a dining room table in a 800 square foot loft).

So I'm done with the first phase of my redecorating - all the "big pieces" are in place, but I still need to fill in a lot of random areas.

After:

The entertainment area is completely done. A nice wool jute rug (with matching pillows and the throw blanket) are a nice contrast against the dark walnut leather sofa (which is friggin' comfortable).

The aforementioned white media stand - on the left is a pretty nice lamp I found at Target; on the right are planted flowers in a pail (I need more plants).

View from the window. Dining area and piano in the back. The walls need serious work (next step).

I love these bookshelves.

The entryway has this cool floating shoe rack - makes cleaning up that area so much easier.

I didn't know what to do with this extra white shelf, so I used it to "separate" the dining area - sort of acts as a wall, I guess.

This part was an afterthought - I simply needed a place to dump this sofabed which I didn't sell (which I may actually keep). I'm thinking of hanging a bunch of black and white photos along the wall - this is a nice place for people to chill while you're cooking.

So things that are left to do: the walls. The floor lamps (still an eye sore). A coffee table. Painting the column with chalkboard paint (ooh, fun!). New duvet cover for my bed. And (possibly) two rugs - one for the bed area, and the other one for the "chill by the kitchen" area. I didn't know how well rugs could tie together an area until I saw how well the rug worked in the entertainment area.

So before i started on this expedition, my understanding of "home furnishing" was simply IKEA. If you are as clueless as me, here are a list of the stores to start at:

• Design Within Reach (dwr.com): Pricey, but incredibly functional (Plus their stuff looks incredibly cool) - I got the floating shoe rack and the bookshelves from there. I didn't know they had an actual store in downtown San Diego until I had ordered online.
  
• Macy's (macys.com) - I guess they also sell furniture (I thought they just did clothes and fragrances). Their style tends to be older and stuffier, but some of their modern furniture looks really sharp (got my sofa from there).
  
• West Elm (westelm.com) - In my mind, a huge step up from IKEA, but not with unreasonable prices. Their furniture is pretty well-built (that white stand weighs like 300 lbs! - I had fun hauling that up to my place from my car by myself) and their stuff looks really sharp. I've driven by this store countless times on my way to Target - I had no idea it was a home furnishing store until like three weeks ago. (Doh!)
• Crate & Barrel (crateandbarrel.com): Don't like their furniture at all. But their glassware is pretty awesome.
  
• Pottery Barn (potterybarn.com): Got my rug from there. I like their stuff, but it's all a bit pricey. I'm not sure the build quality of their goods, too ...
  
• Target: They have some cool stuff - I bought my table lamps from Target, and I think they're gorgeous. Plus they're like 1/5th what I would have paid from Pottery Barn for something comparable.
• Design Public (designpublic.com) - I love this place. Picked up my duvet covers from there.
  
• Overstock (overstock.com) - Buy all your bedding here. So cheap. Duvet covers, featherbeds, down comforters, etc. Can't beat them.
  

Other links I checked out but did not shop at:

• Inside Avenue
• FLOR - modular flooring (if you need flexibility in your flooring needs)
• CB2 - good accent stuff, not so great for furniture
• NJ Modern
  

The hardest thing to shop for are rugs. I like rugs which are solid, or have simple patterns (not too much noise) - I'm not a fan of Oriental rugs (way too tacky and old for me). I still haven't found a single good "place" for rugs - Target's weren't too nice, Crate & Barrel's were tacky, West Elm had a limited selection ... Pottery Barn had a decent $election.