If asked what style they would want their dream home to be, most people wouldn't know what to say. The response is usually, "I can't tell you what I want. But show me something and I'll tell you if I like it or not."

All our likes and dislikes are there in our psyche somewhere. But expressing those preferences isn't always easy.

Coming up with a design style that best suits the inhabitants of the home is a gradual process. Personal experience, interests and taste are but a few of the ingredients that develop over the years and make us who we are and tell us what we like. Perhaps it is precisely because it takes years for a style preference to develop that we are often unaware of what exactly it is that we like.

So what do we do if we don't know what we want? Sometimes the architectural style of a house will help draw out what style is best. After all, if the house was purchased or even rented, it was most likely acquired because we liked its style. So that's one place to start. Is it a ranch, a contemporary or a very traditional home?

Say it's a ranch style home. The furnishings would look best if kept in low profile; furniture with simple looks and inviting, warm colors. A contemporary home would call for a sleeker look and, perhaps, bolder colors. The traditional style would do well with period furniture such as Queen Anne or Baroque.

Other sources of inspiration are interior design books and magazines. It is never a good idea to copy someone else's room exactly because then it is never personally yours. But taking elements from a room you like and using the ideas is fine. If a magazine picture of a black and tan living room scheme really hits an aesthetic bone, then keep the picture and start looking for the combinations of fabric and furniture that work for you.

The picture might also show wood floors with black and tan sofa and a black chair. Think about that wood floor. It might look great in the picture, but will it be as comfortable underfoot as a cushy carpet? And the black chair in that setting might look great but is there a big white-haired dog in the house that would always be on that chair _ at least when you're out of the house? Perhaps a fabric that was mostly tan with some black pattern in it would serve the purpose better.

These are the types of questions you should be asking yourself when selecting fabrics and other appointments for your dream home. Practicality is first. From there coordination will bring it together.

Your own lifestyle should generate the proper design scheme. If formal is the way you live, then formal is the way your home should look. Even in a ranch setting, there can be a formal setting in place with the proper furnishings. Keep leafing through those magazines, cutting out the pictures that strike your fancy, and eventually you will have a folder full of inspiring ideas that will guide you to your dream home.

The idea is to find inspiration wherever it is available, then to personalize the look.

By ROSEMARY SADEZ FRIEDMANN
Scripps Howard News Service
15-JAN-07

(Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, an interior designer in Naples, Fla., is author of "Mystery of Color," available at Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Amazon.com.)