Be smart.The economy is still not out of the woods and It won't be getting better any time soon.
If you must decorate now, go to Barnes and Nobles every week and grab a stack of decor magazines and sit down and look at them right there. Don't go buy a huge amount of magazines which can really cost a chunk of cash. When you are all done you just end up throwing them out anyway.
Take some time to look over a decorating 'book', which should have a section that will give you some basic understanding of styles and lines of furniture. For example, I chose french furniture with its lovely cabriole legs and country feel. So I also picked fabrics that are french country in feel, roosters, small plaids, florals, vegetables, and old country crocks, watering cans, rod iron, etc. If I were to choose stark furniture like scandinavian, which is more modern, I would also choose modern , bold large patterned fabrics, possibly more solids, box pleating, simple lines and not anything too foo-foo. If I liked British furniture, and maybe the darker woods, I would be comfortable in traditional decor, with ruffles on drapery tops and bottoms of chairs, wing chairs, toile fabrics, Ceramic dogs on the mantle, classic paintings, maybe a chinese urn thrown in for flavor.
Another place to get a free magazine of "styles" is Ethan Allen. I am not suggesting you go in and immediately buy their furniture, but go in looking interested, and ask for a catalog to take home. Then study it. Study the colors and fabric patterns they used with that style of furniture in the room they pictured.
Hiring decorators can be SO expensive. So can making mistakes. That is why I suggest buying used goods to save money- then if you decide it was a bad purchase you dont loose thousands. YOU can be your own decorator if you just open your eyes and study their work.
I 'eyeball' shopped at ethan Allen for years. I recently purchased a big Ethan Allen armoir, but not at the showroom, at a second hand furniture resale store, where the price was $300, instead of $2100. Go to stores that sell people's used furniture for them. I got some wonderful new looking pieces from these places for a fraction of the new price. When I had to downsize and sell pieces, I only lost one tenth of the amount of money I would have lost if i tried to resell a brand new piece.
Also look on craigslist.com. A LOT of people right now are loosing their nice homes. These same people are selling their newer case goods and furniture that were in those homes at bargain prices. Trust me, you will start seeing a lot of REALLY nice stuff saturating the markets. Just be patient, and have fun in the hunting process.
You might not be able to find an exact copy of that rod iron sofa table in your picture, but you might find a comparably sized one that has slender wood legs with rod iron decorator inserts which would give you a similar feel.
When you look at the color in a room (in a picture) try to find a paint chip that looks close- then you might want to go two or three shades lighter. For example I wanted warm gold walls, and when I bought the color I thought was on the magazine page- it was SO dark. I ended up having to do a light gold paint to wash over it to tone it down. What you see on a paint chip can look quite a bit darker on a big wall. Colors also change depending on daytime or nighttime lighting. One paint job I did years ago was a lovely "beige' during the day, but at night it almost looked butt pink! So before you invest in many cans of paint, order one small can and try a wall, leave it there for a few days to see if you like it.
Examine fabric patterns in the pictures. Notice that they will mix large scale with small scale. A large floral with a small plaid for example. Or a large stripe and a small floral. The colors in your fabrics should be similar. Pick one color to be a dominant color. If you love a burgundy floral, try to use it in 3 places "around the room"... on throw pillows of the couch, on a corner comfy chair, and maybe an edging on the drapery topper on the opposite wall. Maybe it should be 40% of the coloring in the room. Pull the sage color out of the leaves of that fabric and find a plaid,and try to use this around the room too, maybe in barstools covers, and the drape side panels. but only in 20% of the room in that color. You get the picture.
For example, in my recently sold home, my wall were washed gold, I had gold oak hardwood floors, and sofas were (always solids) in golds and beiges.Burgundy was my dominating "color" (in my paisly fabrics Pillows and easy chairs). I also made companion pillows out of a plaid burgundy and sage fabric, and also made a buffet runner and barstool covers. I did one pillow for the middle of my sofa in a Tapestry, (in black background) with a chicken on it. (I was doing country french). Black can act as a neutral when mixed with other colors and help break up monotony. Black is especially nice with golds and reds/burgundies. But I use it sparingly. I also had the black of the rod iron bar stools to balance that color on the other side of the room.
Anyway, just some things to consider. Have fun.