Do-it-yourself Diva

FOR Cristi Conaway, necessity is the mother of reinvention. As a self-described "Dallas girl with big hair who dressed like Madonna," she overhauled her style to become a model in Japan. As an actress, she used downtime on film sets to knit the sweaters she couldn't find in stores -- colorful, sexy cashmere creations marketed under her name in more than 500 boutiques. Late last year, frustrated by the shortcomings of Internet gift stores, Conaway and her husband launched their own online luxury emporium for housewarming and baby shower presents.

In the midst of these entrepreneurial ventures, Conaway took on her most challenging transformation to date: turning a Santa Monica house that she calls "Orange County Mediterranean" into a hip young family home in the still red-hot Hollywood Regency style. Lacquered, Lucite and mirrored furniture mix with European antiques and Asian accents in swank, colorful rooms, often with exaggerated patterns. Designers such as Jonathan Adler and Kelly Wearstler have amplified strong graphic elements of the style, giving Hollywood Regency a pop profile in Southern California stores, restaurants and hotels.

Wearstler's design for the trendy Santa Monica hotel Viceroy was particularly influential for Conaway, who met her husband, commercial real estate developer Mark Murphy, at a party there. Inspired by Wearstler's "sense of scale and way with color, her ability to create jewel box moments in rooms," as well as by Slim Aarons' glamorous midcentury photography of Hollywood royalty at home, Conaway fearlessly faced a daunting design task.

"Hollywood Regency is a demanding style," says Scott Mangan of Rubbish Interiors, one of the first vintage dealers in Los Angeles to revive the post-World War II mix of ornate antiques and custom furniture that define the look. But in the last few years, he adds, "people have become more educated about the genre. There are books out on the legendary designers of the period like Billy Haines and Frances Elkins who created rooms that have stood the test of time."

The success of Adler and Wearstler has brought a flood of upscale Hollywood Regency furniture, fabrics and accessories to the market, and some signature pieces such as fretwork chairs and upholstered headboards are trickling into the catalogs of West Elm, Ballard Designs and others. The revival scratches an itch for luxury, Mangan says.