Sheila Bridges '86, fresh from designing Bill Clinton's Harlem offices, shares her decorating savvy in Furnishing Forward (Bulfinch, $40). Lavishly illustrated with shots of her elegant, unfussy rooms, the book includes useful advice for wanna-nesters whose tastes outstrip their furniture budgets. Among her suggestions: Pick up side chairs at flea markets and re-cover them yourself. Don't make everything match. If you can't afford real Aubusson or Oriental rugs, skip the fakes and use sea grass or sisal. Better to invest your cash in a really good couch; it will cost you between $1,800 and $3,500, she says.