When to Do It Yourself, When to Hire a Pro

Restyling a Room

Problem: You have a living room full of lovely furniture, but the arrangement isn’t working.

Enter: The professional restyler. Also called redecorators and interior refiners, restylers will pop into your home, look at what you’ve got, and rearrange it, giving your old furniture new life.

Cost: $200 to $350 a room.

To find one: The Interior Redecorators Network (interiorredecorators.com) has a directory of local restylers.

Consider doing it yourself when: You want to learn the tricks of the styling trade. One book you might want to consult is Home Therapy (Perigree, $20, amazon.com), by Lauri Ward.