The final step is to start applying what you've learned about yourself to your decorating. This is a process that will evolve more as you practice it. Some parts of it may be more difficult than others to actually apply. And it may take some imagination to translate what you love into something within your budget or room size. But it can be done! And it will be rewarding. Now that you've discovered what you really like, you CANNOT ignore it! Maybe you found that, although you love navy blue and thought you wanted to do your bedroom with it, every room you marked is decorated in soft light colors. Trust me, if you really would like a room done in navy blue, you would have found plenty of dark rooms that you liked. To try to do it in navy anyway, would be a waste of time, because you'll never get it to where you're happy with it.

Let's go over the aspects of decorating that I listed above, and see how we can apply them:

• Colors - Let's look at the problem above. You wanted to use navy blue... maybe you've already bought a navy sofa or drapes. What you need to do is choose one or two soft colors and use the navy as an ACCENT. Use these soft colors all over the place, and only add more navy if you need to balance a side of the room. If your entire sofa is navy, just change the throw pillows to a light color and drape a soft throw over the back. Put the lighter colors on the walls, and in another chair or an addition to your draperies. If you use enough of it in more prominent places, the navy will become an accent in the background, and you will achieve the look of light-colored rooms that you will be most comfortable with.

• Fabrics - A common problem here might be that the type or amount of fabric that you like is beyond your budget. What if you discovered that you really like tons of fabric at the windows and on the bed, and the patterns you like are $30/yard Waverly prints? An affordable solution would be to find one or two inexpensive solids somewhere else that would coordinate. Perhaps you could show off the Waverly prints in a valance, tiebacks, Flanged Shams, the bottom two-thirds of a duvet cover and covered buttons for it (needing perhaps only 5 yards total) Then use inexpensive twin sheets (often a bargain) for extra-full curtain panels, double ruffled bed skirts, ruffled shams, flowing table skirts, lots of throw pillows, and the top one-third and underside of your duvet cover. You would achieve the look of lots of fabric that you love at a fraction of the cost that the Waverly designers spent. And the look would be very similar since you used the Waverly in prominent places! Get the idea?

• Walls - As I said before, walls are important - they are the background and frame of the room. Pay close attention to the colors that you like on the walls. Paint is cheap, and anyone can do it. When it comes to moldings, pay attention to whether you like them lighter, darker, or natural wood. Sometimes this is a difficult area to duplicate affordably, since designers sometimes spend hundreds of dollars on fancy moldings all over the place. This is a more challenging problem to conquer and will take more imagination. Look at where the molding is, and how fancy it is. Perhaps a simpler molding in the same places will be possible. Maybe a scroll border will give the same effect that fancy moldings give. Sometimes simple 1/2" by 4" boards from a hardware store, painted white and spaced 8" apart on the lower half of the wall will achieve the same look. Whatever you do, make sure that your moldings fit the size room, and type of house that you have.

• Wood - There isn't much you can do to change what you already have here, unless you love painted wood. This discovery will be of use to you mostly when you are about to get new furniture. If you do love painted wood, then don't be afraid to paint what you have! There are tons of do-it-yourself guidebooks on painting furniture!

• Furniture - Here again, is a discovery that will help you most when you are about to buy furniture. But there is always the possibility of adding more pillows, or taking away some of what's there already.

• Arrangement - Here is the totally affordable part... because it only takes time to move what you've got! You can make a huge difference here by applying what you've discovered. It may take several tries, but don't be afraid to try something totally new! So many people consider it too "weird" to put their furniture anywhere but against the walls... but how many designers EVER do it? Don't they know what they're doing? Don't be afraid to try it, you'll be overjoyed when you discover that your rooms finally look like a professional came in!

• Knick Knacks - You will probably find here, that you've already got a lot of what you like. Knick Knacks are usually impulse buys, and therefore are a reflection of what we really like. When we buy figurines and other knick knacks, we're not usually trying to figure out if it will fit; we're going on the fact that we love them, and that preference will show in the rooms that we've marked. On the other hand, if we like clean lines and empty spaces, then we probably haven't bought many knick knacks because the 'cluttered' displays and tables where they're sold just don't attract us to begin with.

• Lighting - This is often a revelation to people... we just don't often think about it. Either we don't buy lights because we moved into a house with a light in the center of every room; or we move into a home where there aren't any lights, so we go buy some! Don't forget you have a choice here. You don't HAVE to use or keep the ceiling the way it is! You can always take down or leave off that overhead light and illuminate your rooms with the soft glow of accent lamps. You can always sell those lamps you were forced to buy and put up track lighting or recessed lighting along your ceilings. Be brave!

No matter what, enjoy, appreciate, and don't forget the discoveries that you've made. They are a reflection of who you truly are. And if you remember these preferences as you decorate, you will have a much easier time creating the look you want. Have fun!