Louis-style chairs

 

 
Louis-style chairs become hip and accessible when they're rebuilt with feather-filled acrylic cushions or upholstered in unexpected fabrics like Unisol, Danish designer Verner Panton's geometric 1965 black-and-white pattern originally designed for knitwear, or the Declaration of Independence scrawled across camouflage in velvet, from Stephen Sprouse.

Clockwise from top: Purple wool felt chair, Charles Nolan; printed polymer Renoma photo chair, Côté France; acrylic feather chair, Côté France; black-and-white chair, Chair Couture by Margaret Elman; graffiti and camo chair, the Future Perfect.
Silhouettes on throw pillows

 

 
Silhouettes become a source of lighthearted adornment on throw pillows by Thomas Paul and trompe l'oeil fabric by Diamond & Baratta for Lee Jofa.
Iron armchairs and steel cape table

 

 
Designers use technological advances to produce familiar wood pieces in metal. Innovations include Martha Stewart's Windsor metal armchair with pewter finish; Gregor Jenkins's steel cape table; Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams's electroplated side table; and the Varenne Collection's iron armchair.

From left: Varenne Collection Opera armchair, to the trade at Quadrille; East Hampton Windsor armchair, Martha Stewart Signature Furniture with Bernhardt; Profile cut table by Gregor Jenkins, the Conran Shop; Martini table, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.
Cuckoo clocks

 

 
Cuckoo clocks, chirping since the 1730s, have always seemed very old-world. But Urban Outfitters' silvery version and Anthropologie's powder-coated metal ticker are defiantly of our time.

From left: plastic cuckoo clock, Urban Outfitters; Silhouette cuckoo clock by Diamantini & Domeniconi, Anthropologie.
Porcelain tea set and Wedgwood blue plates

 

 
Decorative elements from classic porcelain producers are reproportioned, emboldening these emblems of gentility.

On table and wall: Blue Fluted Mega teapot, cup and saucer, salad bowl, all from Royal Copenhagen. On wall only: Blue Plate collection by Robert Dawson for Wedgwood.
Ralph Lauren's Indian-inspired towels

 

 
Ralph Lauren has made a career of reinterpreting regional and ethnic styles. Here, he borrows patterns from Southwestern Native American blankets for his handsome Serape Stripe and Dobby Stripe towels.

Bath towels from the High Desert Collection by Lauren Home, Ralph Lauren.
Vintage porcelain tea sets

 

 
Another gilded age has begun, including tea sets and Clio's one-of-a-kind vintage porcelain pieces newly glazed with platinum.

Reichenbach porcelain service by Paola Navone, Anthropologie. Vintage porcelain dishes glazed in platinum, Clio.
Jonathan Adler needlepoint pillows

 

 
Jonathan Adler grew up in the 1970s, when suburban moms were maniacally doing needlepoint and bargello at PTA meetings or poolside...or while staring into the middle distance. His pseudo-psychedelic pillows are an homage to a former era's desperate housewives.
Introducing Dorothy Draper

 

 
Designers are mimicking the baroque style that made Dorothy Draper the most famous American decorator of the 1940s. She would have liked the saucy marble-topped table with cabriole legs; the cheeky plastic candlesticks and polyester-resin picture frame; and the sly table lamp, in crystal polycarbonate, designed by a former member of the avant-garde Memphis design movement.

Shown here: Cabriole Leg console table, to the trade at Vaughan; Gran's resin candlesticks and My Brother's Frame, Reality by Harry Allen, available at Paul Smith; Bourgie Light by Ferrucio Laviani, the Conran Shop.
Toile de Jouy fabric

 

 
Toile de Jouy fabric—an English and French decorating staple—shifts into contemporary high gear when it is rescaled, recolored, or embroidered with ironic detail.

Shown here: L.L. Bean Pineland cube covered in Paradise Background linen, to the trade at Quadrille; Classic Sofa Billy chair covered in Bengale in Paprika by Manuel Canovas, to the trade at Cowtan & Tout; embroidered pillows by Richard Saja, Historically Inaccurate.
Disposable aluminum pans and Tupperware

 

 
Recycling has never been more chic. Disposable aluminum pans morph into porcelain, and totemic Tupperware is reworked in ceramic.

Shown here: Yoyo Ceramics covered containers, 2Jane; porcelain "tins" by Lorena Barrezueta, the Future Perfect.
Modern chandeliers

 

 
In a nod to the Dadaists, Philippe Starck uses crystal vases to toy with the notion of a chandelier; Dutch designer Nicolette Brunklaus's Ceiling Lamp prints a trompe l'oeil chandelier on a lampshade; and Matt Dilling reimagines a candelabra in neon tubing.

Shown here: Cicatrices de luxe 5 by Philippe Starck, Flos; Lite Brite neon chandelier, Generate; Ceiling Lamp chandelier by Nicolette Brunklaus, Lekker Unique Home Furnishings.