I agree whole heartedly. I also agree on starting with the bed. The bed should be the "hero" of the room. Night stands are always needed, but even they do not need to match. Then figure out exactly what you NEED for storage in the bedroom. There is no rule that you have to own a dresser if you store all of your clothes in the closet. Will you have a TV in the room? How do you plan to view it? From a sitting area, in bed? A sideboard with storage or a media center may be a better choice for you. Do you have a seating area, or at least a chair you can sit on and tie youe shoes or put on socks. Buy furniture for your specific needs, buy the best quality for the work horse pieces you can afford. Don't forget lighting, and a mirror of some sort. Look at the photos of Master Bedrooms here on Houzz, you'll get an inspiration for mixing and maybe land on a style that appeals to you. Fall in love with a piece, the green tags show you where they came from, or ask the question. Have Fun!!

Formal living rooms are rarely used from my experience. I can't tell you how many times I have "re-done" them for clients because after living in a home for a while the home owner realizes that they are wasted space. My advice to you about a formal living area is to leave it undone for 3-4 months and utilize the rest of your new home. See what is missing. Do you need an office, a den? A library? Quiet reading area? An exercise room? A craft room? Or maybe you really do need a formal entertaining area for your multitude of guests that come around every weekend where you entertain very high-brow style. But figure that out first otherwise your investment will be wasted. Part of why you and your husband are drawn to different furnishings is for these reasons: 1) The function of the room is not well established. So he envisions sitting on a big bulky comfy couch watching TV, and you envision sipping tea on a gorgeous ethnically inspired piece of furniture and chatting with your friends. This can only be vetted out with time and understanding how you as a couple will use all of your house. 2) You have different ideas about home design. Your husband is interested in comfort and you are interested in style. You will need to find a happy medium. Instead of saying well his style isn't going to fit with my style, think about how he can have a comfortable piece of furniture in the room that is perhaps tailored enough to go along with some beautifully wood carved, ethnic pieces. And this may actually enhance the look and make it look less "themed". And at the end of the day you may want to consider hiring a designer to help you through the process - often times that can help you weed through the process of balancing out form and function and his wants and your wants in the space. Best of luck!

We bought one with premium leather from Kardiel for our library. It is super comfy and well made. 1.5 years and so far so good. Getting a second for my family room, but may spring for a knoll original this time. It will be interesting to compare.

Bhaskar, IMHO, there is no right or wrong for any interior design projects. What suits one family may not suit another. Readymade and custom built have their own pros and cons. You need to decide it based on your preferences/ availability. I would agree that it is extremely confusing for a new person. But, it is more often so because we try to do to much work ourselves. While we rarely question other professions like the builder on the materials , design, finish e.t.c. when it comes to designing we want to be our own designers to fix everything. Participating in the design process is good. Some people are born with the eye for details and others just think that they are good at it. It's the second bunch that takes most of the hit. For e.g. You would see some recent posts here where homeowners decided to call their own shots and ended up making extremely costly mistakes. Feels bad because they will end up living with it for a lifetime. Long rant :). Coming back, to get a uniform comparable quotes - Hire a design consultant, draft the designs and specify all the possible material, measurements hardware details . Prepeare a BOQ and share this with the vendors and then request a quote am sure you will get better comparable numbers. Thanks, Nitin Cornerstone Designs, Bangalore.