We have incredibly hard water, no softener and lots of mineral deposits on everything that touches water for any length of time. The solution is incredibly simple: white vinegar. It very simply and easily and gently dissolves the minerals. We had a shower head that my husband was ready to replace because the mineral deposits had clogged it. I unscrewed the head, submerged it in a cup of vinegar for 24 hours, rinsed it off and screwed it back on. Voila! Like new! I have tried CLR: worthless. I have tried abrasives: all they do is scratch and don't get rid of the deposits. Another spot where minerals accumulate is around the kitchen faucet. I take a bunch of paper towels, soak them in vinegar, then pack them around the faucet over the mineral deposits, keeping them good and wet with vinegar and let them sit for about a day, more or less. Rinse and wipe clean, will look like new! Our cat loves water. His favorite thing in the world is if I fill the bathroom sink with water and let him play in it. What happens? Water spots all over the mirror. Wet a cloth, add a dash of vinegar to the cloth, wipe the mirror... clean and shiny!

This Cabinet is $155 at Ikea. You could take the 4 items you had hung, and put them in a "shadow box", or individual deep frames to tie then together, to create I piece that looks more substantial on the wall, Then add a little ledge for photos, and you would even have room on the cabinet for the cool bottles that were on the floor, and that cool chest could definitely find a home as an end table, or entry table. You could also add a larger plant in a really nice pot in turquoise. The cut and paste renditions arent always completely accurate in scale.

Leather sofas can really dominate the room and can give an overall cold feeling. I would add some earthy elements, like a wood coffee table with glass or metal. Go to Restoration Hardware's website and look at their sofa room scenes. And I'm sorry I think the art is too harsh for the room. That's all your eye goes to in the room. too overpowering. I would look for something softer or maybe a cool mirror and I would add color to the room with pillows and some colorful lamps. I also think woven blinds would look great. They add warmth and give a finished look. The color of your window treatments should contrast your wall color a bit, not match it or else it starts to look generic and blah.. You have warm walls, warm floors and the woven blinds, like Hunter Douglas brand would pull it all together for you.

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.