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" First homes are often easy to spot: Just look for the random mix of furnishings passed down from family, friends, and even the neighbors next door. So Candice Olson knew she was in the right place when she entered the living room of this &amp;#039;80s-era condominium, shared by Nadia, a young attorney, and her law school\u2013student brother, Jordan. With its leather sofa, floral chaise lounge, gilded mirrors, and modern TV unit, the decor was a few centuries of design rolled into one. The awkward shape of the living room didn&amp;#039;t help. Worse still, adds Olson, &amp;quot;the space lacked even a trace of Nadia and Jordan&amp;#039;s engaging personalities.&amp;quot; But by adding a few new pieces, reupholstering some old favorites, and rearranging it all into flexible groupings, the host of Divine Design with Candice Olson gave the siblings &amp;quot;a cohesive living room that works in any situation.&amp;quot;  ALL TOGETHER NOW Olson began by jettisoning those furnishings that didn&amp;#039;t jibe with her design strategy: to merge traditional tastes with urban sophistication. Next she swapped the wall-to-wall carpet for a pecan-wood floor and brought in a new low-pile Persian rug in subtle tones. The rug anchors the central seating area, which comprises an Empire-style sofa and matching Louis XIV armchairs. Those pieces cluster around a new mahogany-finished TV armoire and the reconditioned coffee table. Behind the sofa, a folding screen adds interest and dimension to a blank wall.   TURNING TABLES Olson filled a formerly barren 6-foot stretch of wall between the living room&amp;#039;s main entrance and the kitchen doorway with a shapely 42-inch-high console. Since the table is the first thing visitors see when they enter the room, she dressed it up with an elegant, gold-framed mirror. The tabletop also doubles as a bar and buffet space when Nadia and Jordan entertain.   SURFACE SYNERGY Candice&amp;#039;s sample board, see below, springs to life in this corner. The interplay of floral patterns, natural wood finishes, rich wall paint, and a sculptural table lamp captures the blend of traditional style and &amp;quot;metro-sensualness&amp;quot; that was her stated design objective.   CORNER TABLE An intimate dining vignette fills the living room&amp;#039;s most awkward corner. The 48-inch-diameter pedestal table is store-bought, but Olson and company gave it an ebony-stain finish to make it a suitable match for the new oval-backed side chairs. When additional seating is needed, the reupholstered chaise lounge in front of the window is simply swung around to face the table. The high-arched floor lamp bathes the table in a halo of soft illumination, and its pleated shade echoes the drapery fabric.    Tune in to HGTV to watch Divine Design with Candice Olson, including episode #69, featured here: &amp;quot;Nadia and Jordan&amp;#039;s Living Room.&amp;quot; Check local listings, hgtv.com, or divinedesign.tv for airdates.        BEHIND THE SCENES     1. The previous patchwork living room.           2. Olson helps painter Andrew Downward add a chocolate-brown glaze to the old coffee table.    3. Carpenter Paul Daly installs the new hardwood floor.      4. Electrician Chico Garcia hooks up the track lighting.    5. The empty wall between the living room entrance and kitchen doorway.      6. Daly attaches the center-split sheers to their ceiling-mount plastic track.    7. Sewing professional Edmond Joseph slips the new silk drapes into place.    Perfect Palette    A highlight of every Divine Design project is the unveiling of the &amp;quot;sample board&amp;quot;--the collection of fabrics, finishes, and furnishings that Candice has conceived for the space. Here&amp;#039;s what she came up with for Nadia and Jordan&amp;#039;s living room: 1. Drapes Paisley Panel silk in Aged Copper. 2. Accent pillow Seduction viscose-polyester in Seaglass. 3. Paint Walls in Storm Cloud Gray and trim in Moonshine. Benjamin Moore Canada, benjaminmoore.ca. 4. Drapery trim Matara silk in Celadon with Irissa tassel in sage. 5. Screen Mahogany and bamboo in black stain. South Hill Home; 416-924-7224, southhillhome.com. 6. Chaise lounge Silk Mohair in Cashew. 7. Side chairs Watermark cotton-viscose in Golden Mist and Thoen striped silk in Cashew. 8. Sofa Chenille Damask rayon-cotton in Celadon Mink. All fabrics and trim by Robert Allen Fabrics, available through Design Professionals; 212-759-6894, ddbuilding.com.  With its ten expanses of wall--only two of which have windows--and assortment of oblique angles, the living room truly tested Olson&amp;#039;s spatial expertise. Here are some rules to live by when working in an irregularly shaped area.  Install floorboards so that they run parallel to the longest wall. Here, they lead the eye to the room&amp;#039;s main focal point as people enter. Downplay odd configurations by pulling the furniture slightly away from the room&amp;#039;s perimeter and into self-contained groupings. Center draperies on a wall (even if it means extending them past the edge of a window) to create a sense of symmetry throughout the space.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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