The past is alive in 2008

LOOK at the top design trends for the coming year, and it's clear that the past will shape our future. The Hollywood Regency craze has evolved, creating a hunger for antiques and cleverly updated pieces that pay homage to French neoclassicism and all-American tradition. A counterpoint to all this ornamentation? There's a separate move toward minimalism, including chinoiserie that's more Mod than Ming. And as for bringing the natural world home: We're not out of the woods yet.

1. Enchanted forest

The look: Think of it as a tongue-in-cheek riff on the wood-grain prints, antler accessories and trophy heads that popped up in shelter magazines so often last year. After several seasons of realistic carvings and castings, designers are beginning to tweak woodland fantasy motifs, presenting flora and fauna in an almost-surreal way that's more Lewis Carroll than Field & Stream. "Acorns and owls are the new deer and daisies," says Brooke Hodge, curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Cartoon-influenced mass-market accessories aimed at the young at heart may resemble kitschy midcentury knickknacks, but unexpected materials and colors -- such as the glossy black plastic garden gnome table by Philippe Starck -- give these pieces the sheen of 21st century cool.

Why it's hot: "It probably has to do with ecology and going green, because the emphasis is now on stylized forms from nature rather than dead animals," Hodge says, "although I'm sure Damien Hirst's crystal skull encouraged people to take common objects and make them more opulent." Bottom line: In California's indoor-outdoor design culture, people crave natural elements, and even the most cutesy critters can be rendered as modern objects.

The pieces: Looks this bold should shine on their own as accents. Upper right: Kathy Taslitz's Old Leaf table ($14,500) is available by custom order from www.ktaslitz.com. At right: Illustrator Tim Biskup's Gama-Go mushroom character pillow ($27) is from Yolk in Silver Lake, (323) 660-4315, yolk-la.com. The yellow ceramic squirrel nut dish ($32), squirrel lamp ($36) with green shade ($12), and orange fawn coin bank ($18) are from Urban Outfitters, www.urbanoutfitters.com. The new black version of Attila from Starck's Gnomes series ($374) is at Kartell in Los Angeles, (310) 271-0178, www.kartell.com. The Hear No Evil ceramic planter by DF Casa ($180) is perched on bisque porcelain logs by KleinReid ($320); both are from Show in Los Feliz, (323) 644-1960, www.showlifestyle.com.