Does anybody know of a sure-fire way to get the stewards to decorate my homes properly? Last time, I bought every furniture upgrade and left the house, returned a while later and it was still empty.

I don't think there is a sure fire way to do anything in Skyrim, I usually cross my fingers and toes, do a hail mary blinfolded and hope it all works as it should.

If push comes to shove, I'll build empty homes and won't even touch decorations until after a patch - if there is a patch.