Chris Barrett on California Style

What are recent design trends you’ve noticed in California?

I am noticing more and more that people are moving back to traditional architecture and furnishings—even when building a new house they want the "new old house" look. They want classic details with 21st-century conveniences.

I have just purchased a home locally. The house is Spanish and was built in the late '20s. It is very small but it sits on a creek. I bought it for its charm and location. My biggest challenge is working within its original footprint and trying to get enough closet space and storage.

I read a Wall Street Journal article about people doing their own design, as in customizing rugs and other furnishings. Is that really a trend? How does that translate to those of us who don’t have a lot of money?

Everyone wants to personalize his or her own space. Most of the furnishings for our projects are custom. I think it's great to customize as long as you don't sacrifice good design principles (scale, proportion, appropriateness). If your budget is limited you can make your own pillows, trim your window coverings with something special, or use in-stock carpeting and have it bound to make an area rug.

We hear a lot about the "new intimacy" in home design. Does that mean that the great room concept, with entertaining and dining together in one room, is dead?

It's true that there seems to be more attention paid to intimate and private spaces, but I think that more and more people are entertaining in their own homes rather than going out, so they need the great room. A lot of times we incorporate multi functions in the great room—creating intimate spaces within.

I think that "suites" of matching furniture are boring. I believe that every room in your house should look inviting and interesting. The only way to do that is to mix it up.

What is really "out" for 2005?

The color orange and granite countertops.

What three things are really "in" for the new year?

Pony hair is in style for a multitude of color options for upholstery. The color pink is in. And so is the recycling of old materials. I have a client who is building a new house. All of the wood flooring throughout the house is from an old tobacco factory.

What three things are classics, will never go in or out?

Black, leather and a chesterfield sofa.

I saw an exterior where the landscape had incorporated chaises made with concrete built into the grass landscape into the outdoor furnishings. It was amazing.

What are the hot colors in 2005 and why?

Last fall it was pink, pink and pink. For 2005 I think it's going to be blue. At least I want it to be so it will be for me.

What is the number-one design mistake that people make?

Poor scale and proportion.

I am inspired by everything I see. Nature, peers, history. You have to look at it all. And I look to the legends: Sister Parish, Andree Putnam, Axel Vandervoodt.

What other influences are affecting home decorating and design?

Since 9/11 we have been cocooning more and more. Now with the war, I think we are confronted with the fact that life is precious and we are making our family and home top priority. Hopefully, people are also more aware of the fact that the earth is not an endless resource and that it too is all we've got.

What are five things that you can’t live without?

I can't live without my antique leather chesterfield sofa, a chocolate brown cashmere throw, my collection of portraits from the '30s and '40s, my all-white bed linens and towels, and all of my antique light fixtures.

Anne Krueger is the editor of HGTV.com's Decorating newsletter. She has written for In Style, This Old House, Martha Stewart Living and The New York Times.