Textured, checkerboard or woven woods, textured lamp bases or elaborately pleated shades, walls of individual non-matching mirrors, each with their own elaborately textured frames, large checkerboard plaids in muted tones and checkerboard rugs in still more muted tones are all featured in the showrooms at the prestigious Boston Design Center. Textured, tone on tone, three-dimensional design has been wed to comfort and practicality to compose shabby chic or casual elegance, the newest interior design look. The woven basketwork patterns and lines of the wicker, rattan and cane furniture that once sat on Grandma’s porch have been reinterpreted and renewed.

Gary Riegal, a coordinator at the center, attributes the inspiration for this comfortable yet elegant retro style to the designs of Jean Michel Frank who introduced smaller scale, clean spare lines to furniture in the 1940s. "His pieces were designed to fit newer construction," he said. "They look at home in rooms with lower ceilings. This is a hot new trend and yet, it’s not too trendy. People won’t get sick of it in five years."

This relaxed furniture features open backs with cushions. Chair arms and frames may have woven patterns of wood or rattan. Fabrics may feel soft like cotton and silk, but may be composed of polyester or polyester blends for durability and practicality. Patterns echo wooden basketweaves or have a worn, shabby look. Matched sets are gone as pieces mix fabric and design, creating casual, stylish and appealing furnishings that pull together odd pieces, redecorating a corner without ruining the rest of the room or possibly decorating an entire house. Colors are soft, muted and restful, featuring earth tones and neutrals. Green, the dominant color, is mixed into the natural tones of forests and moss. Yellow greens, purples and primary colors are gone. "Decorating is based on earth tones," Rachel Gray of M-G, a design center showroom, advised. "Greens, browns, golds, yellows, warm beiges, along with the classic colors of dark red, rose and blue never go out of style."

The newest "oriental" rugs use vegetable dyes in earth tones to achieve interesting variations in shading giving the rug an instant aged look. Quality of workmanship is more important than site of origin. "In just the last three years, the new rugs have become so much nicer," Magdy Zaki, of the Zaki Collection, another design center showroom, explained. "Rugs are used to balance the color in the room. If fabrics have strong colors, than rugs have softer colors. If the room is primarily neutral, then more color is needed in the rug." Carpets in other showrooms feature woven basketlike effects using a mixture of greens, browns, beiges and blacks in two color combinations. Some have leaf patterns, faux animal skin patterns or small prints with a border. Riegal warned that the new faux animal skins, faux woods and animals prints, including the popular bee and dragonfly insect prints, are probably only trendy. "The newer cut velvets are burned out to look worn, but might also become trendy," he said. "Traditional cut velvets and brocades always remain in style." Trendy items are recommended primarily for accents pieces that are easily replaceable.

Heavier upholstery-weight fabrics cover windows, while light window-weight fabrics are used to upholster pieces getting little wear or sunlight. Polished silks are mostly used at windows and for throw pillows, while raw silks are also used for wall coverings and upholstery. Elaborately trimmed draperies are tied back with chunky woven silk or cotton tassels of all sizes and colors.

Plain walls may be enhanced with faux architectural elements such as columns, pilasters or pediments, or trompe l’oeil scenes may be painted to create interest or depth.

The Boston Design Center features 70 showrooms representing 1,200 product lines. Although many showrooms welcome browsers, purchases are made only through the account of an interior decorator. Those coming to the design center may request the assistance of a "designer on call." Individuals are also admitted with a letter of introduction from their decorator.

"Choose a decorator you feel comfortable with and whose taste you like," Riegal advised. "A decorator can help you avoid time-consuming and costly mistakes, providing you with access to material not available in retail shops and showing you options, materials and products you never thought of. Most people go to a designer because they want to create an atmosphere that is comfortable for them. Many people know what they like, but they don’t know about the technical end or the details of putting everything together. Start with the rooms you are going to use immediately. Clip photographs of rooms or products you like. Research furniture on the internet and in design magazines. Then see it. Always touch the fabrics and sit in the chairs before you order."