Start with each room and function...what activities are performed there? How many people do you need to accommodate? What furniture will serve those functions? Do you need more storage? Do you need multiple functions such as play space, tv viewing, entertaining adults? Then you can decide what furniture does or doesn't work in the space.

Then think about style...do you want it warm and cozy or cool and clean? Do you want it modern? traditional? somewhere in between?

Do you have an inspiration piece for each room...a picture or several that you like of how you'd like the room to look, a piece of artwork for color inspiration? Look at pinterest or houzz.com to get ideas of rooms and colors.

Thanks, Annie. Here are some thoughts about the rooms. Just my husband and I are living here. We have visitors occasionally. Usually only three or four at a time, family and close friends. These are just casual get togethers. The family room is separate from the kitchen and we use it all the time. We watch tv, lounge, use our iPads, read and tho I hate to admit it, often eat meals there. So we need comfy lounging furniture, storage for the tv equipment. The tv is on the wall over the fireplace. We also need storage for iPads, phone chargers, my bible study materials, . The dining room is used for meals primarily. We are selling our baby grand piano which has occupied a large space in the dining room. I'm considering an additional seating area in the dining room so that when I'm entertaining guests will have a place to relax and chat close to me. I really like warm and cozy but also sort of clean meaning not a lot of bits about. I think my style is transitional/eclectic. If that's a style. I like unusual pieces not too matchy, but often I make the safe choice which sometimes I regret. I have some pieces I really like such as a green distressed bench, an original pastel drawing. But again not sure where to use them.

If you could post pics of the rooms that would be really helpful. Also, if you go through houzz and see some inspiration rooms that you think you'd like for your space, post a few here.

Don't overwhelm yourself with all the furniture decisions at once. Rather focus on a room, what it needs to work and look best first and then decide if any of the existing furniture will work or not.

You might want to watch Christopher Lowell's 7 layers of design (you tube videos) as he lays out how to go about redoing a room and all the factors you need to consider to get it done.

Then measure, measure, measure...floor, walls, windows, doorways, fireplace. Do a scale drawing either on paper or with a free online software like homestyler.com so you can do a layout see what sizes would fit. The most important thing in making a room look right is scale. Goldie Locks. You don't want furniture that is too big or too small.

Also think about color. You can keep all the colors in the public spaces the same, or you can help define separate rooms by using colors that coordinate. Ben Moore's Affinity Line is great for that as all the paint colors are designed to work with all the other colors in that line so it makes it easy to coordinate.

I have looked at pics online incessantly for a few weeks now. A few had interesting elements. But I need to keep looking. I went to some local stores today just to see what was available and possibly get some inspiration. Nothing really wowed me. Went to a wide variety of stores from Arhaus to Lexington furniture (local) to havertys and Ashley. I have seen the Lowell video but not recently. I'll watch again. Also will post some pics ASAP. Good advice to measure measure measure. I'll get that done too. What are thoughts on selecting a rug as the starting point for color. Is that wise and will that lend itself easily to coordinating all the other elements?

You can choose anything for an inspiration piece, including a rug.

I second the room at a time approach. I find that I need to concentrate completely on one area and then when it's done I'm done and I can move onto the next area.

Here are some pictures of the three areas. Living/family room, entry hall and dining room. Not sure why they're dark. The rooms are bright actually. I guess something with the angle. Stating the obvious - im not a photographer.

More pics

Dining room I posted some of these a while back but just didn't move forward at that time. The piano was picked up today and I just put the bench in its place to see how it looked.

Lilysmom, Thank you for the kind comment. Yes I want a different furniture arrangement in these rooms. In the family room I would consider starting totally fresh with everything going (either to another room or to friends). May have to keep the media chest to the left of the fireplace. It was hard to find a good fit for the space and for the media components. In the entry it seems weird that I have three tables in a row essentially. I will keep the two demilune pieces but they can be used elsewhere. I'm leaning toward divesting myself of the wrought iron table. It has some character which I like but it's so difficult to keep the base clean! I'm over dusting all those curlicues. I was considering using the green bench from the dining room in its place. But I'm open to suggestions. In the dining room I have considered moving the table to the far end of the room and putting an additional seating area close to the kitchen to keep everyone engaged when we have friends over and I'm in the kitchen. I want to keep my dining table and the china cabinet as well as the grandfather clock. Though the clock could be moved to another room. I agree it would be best to do one room at a time but if I'm reorganizing where each piece is used it makes it a little more complex.

Thanks to all who have responded

I'm afraid that I have to agree with Lily'smom. Your home is beautiful. I love your woodwork. Your curved front door is wonderful, and I love the way your adorable doggie is totally unfazed by all the photography work that is going on all around him/her. That's all I got!!

Poopie Doop, Sophie is pretty much unfazed by everything. Thank you for the comments. I'm lol.

The living room sofa, love seat and ottoman do look a little tired, I'm afraid. That would be the first thing I would tackle. Are you planning to keep the pretty rug in the LR? I would remove the cuckoo clocks from the LR and the metal decoration on the wall in the entry. The bench looks good in the dining room but exchanging it for the table in the foyer would be nice. I only wonder if the more formal piece in the corner in the foyer might not clash. I would replace the vase with flowers in the DR and perhaps find other chairs. Often replacing wall art can really give a fresh look. I would look for a neutral shade for the kitchen window since it can be seen from the dining room. Different accessories and pillows can really give new life to a room. Your house is lovely and has lots of potential, and updating it will give it a whole new lease on life. The hutch in the DR might profit from having some prettier and/or more colorful pieces in it.

Thank you, Ingrid for your honest comments. The sofas and ottoman are very tired. That is my focus right now. I do want to replace the rug also. I hate the metal wall decor in the entry. Needed something to fill the space. Should have waited until I found the right piece. The cuckoo clocks are DH's and I may have to find a place for them upstairs. Also the flowers on the dining room table are quite tired but can't seem to find anything to replace them that I really like. I liked the monochromatic look of the China but I'll experiment with some more colorful pieces. Thanks again for your thoughts.