BOOMER CASUAL; NEW FURNITURE DESIGNS GO FOR SUBTLE LOOK AND CLEAN LINES.

Byline: Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub South Florida Sun-Sentinel 

If you're a big fan of Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel, you'll love what the furniture folks are calling boomer casual.

Nearly all the major furniture companies at the spring International Home Furnishings Market, a semiannual wholesale furniture frenzy, are betting that this will be the look that attracts the dollars they aren't getting now from baby boomers and older Generation Xers. It isn't a direct rip-off of the Pottery Barn/Crate & Barrel formula, but there is a strikingly similar sensibility.

This is a look that's subtle, informal and nonthreatening. Lines are clean and casual. Woods favor cherry, maple or ash solids and veneers dressed in a light, almost bare finish that shows the grain of the wood. Even hardware is low key - favoring the mellowness of brushed nickel and pewter rather than the brashness of brass.

``The catch phrase for this look is Friday casual, dressing down for the workplace,'' Furniture Today's Gary James said. ``It is the kind of casual furniture that invites family and friends to enjoy your home. The finish is natural. The colors and materials are reflective of apparel.''

Metal bases on end tables and coffee tables are de rigueur. And elevation is vital - whether it's a sofa showing some leg or a hutch on a metal base.

The overall feeling is a lot like Solutions, the collection that Drexel Heritage introduced to the market last April for the younger furniture shopper.

But Leonard Eisen, a longtime designer for Pulaski, says he saw this look first at the Cologne furniture market in January 1997.

``Almost every item that Drexel had, I also had in the photography that I shot from Cologne,'' Eisen said. Although Eisen tried to convince his bosses to do a similar line right away, he says they felt it was too radical.

For this market, though, another Pulaski designer has created a look-alike line called Visions. It has the light wood, almost invisible finish and oversized casters, but it also has a more sophisticated art deco flavor. The cross-hatch backs of the dining room chairs are high and elegant, the detail at the top of the wall system looks like glass block, and the prices are right. For example, a dining room table and four chairs could sell for $1,200 to $1,500. The oversize cocktail table with casters is about $500, and the cable-ready armoire is about $1,100.

Nearly every major manufacturer introduced at least one of these lifestyle or boomer casual lines - Pennsylvania House with Essentials, Stanley with Translation and Evolution, Thomasville with Encounter, and Bassett with Urban Loft and Studio. Lane added pieces to the popular Eddie Bauer Collection, which it introduced last October. So, if you like the look, you can find it at almost any price.

Pennsylvania House, known for its traditional furniture, includes more than 100 pieces in its Essentials Collection, which it says is consumer driven. The collection is divided into three distinct lifestyle looks: Cottage is a casual country group; Bungalow is a solid oak group in the Arts and Crafts style; and Studio, the most contemporary, is made from solid cherry with a dry (matte) finish and brushed nickel hardware. Studio also includes some painted pieces to give more of an eclectic look. Several occasional tables are offered in two base designs and with solid cherry, oak or pine options for the top.

Pennsylvania House researched the younger customer to discover which fabrics, colors and frame styles he or she preferred. As a result, the fabrics include brighter, more vivid colors as well as the popular muted, vintage looks. The scale is moderate to fit in smaller rooms, but the seating depth is generous. Choices include slipcovers, plush cushioning and a lot of texture.

Another company changing the way it does business is Thomasville, which introduced Encounter. The 47-piece case-goods collection for bedroom, dining room and living room is made of ash solids and quartered ash veneers with a soft, natural finish called Quartz. Hardware and metal trim are in a brushed platinum finish. Tables have frosted glass inserts. And an optional black granite top is available on selected pieces.

Some perspective on why everyone seems to be betting on this lifestyle look comes from Steve Feldman, sales manager of Vermont Tubs, the company that has been building solid ash bedroom furniture for Crate & Barrel for more than a decade.

``Don't look at the furniture; look at the consumer,'' he said. ``We are not who our parents are. Our tastes are more casual, more relaxed.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) SATURDAY CASUAL

Home furnishings reflect boomers' relaxed lifestyles

(2) The romantic waves of the ocean provided inspiration for the Capri chaise designed by Michael Smith for Urbanas. Its molded and bent plywood frame sits on cast aluminum legs.

Knight Ridder Tribune Photo Service