Hey, Seminoles, check out this garnet and gold sofa. The furniture industry experts think that color scheme reflects an ornate Sicilian look in furniture for the new year, but we know its real origin. (The camelback sofa, by Vanguard, with bullion and rope cording, retails for around $8,450; visit the Web site at www.veryvanguard.com.) "Rococo meets rustic" with colors such as wine, olive green, rosewood, mineral yellows and mocha in this Sicilian palette, developed by the Pantone Color Institute, which tracks color development in consumer products.

Everything old is new again

Everyone's making predictions of the new year's hot trends. Many of these items will sound familiar, proof yet again that if you hang on to your furniture, eventually it will come back in style. From Metropolitan Home magazine: recliners; white ("soothing, peaceful, Zenlike"); upholstered headboards and footboards, in fabric or leather; handmade objects, including crafts, quilts and ethnic objects; healing gardens (herbal and aromatic gardens; secret gardens that function as outdoor meditation or reading spaces); and home cooking. . . . "Houses on steroids" get thumbs-down from a number of leading design figures, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, along with Zen, novelty drawer pulls, bordello draperies and chain-link fencing. Favorable nods go to patriotism, polished concrete surfaces and bamboo flooring.

Mark your calendars

Time to jot these events on those new calendars.

Spring Parades of Homes, showcases of new construction sponsored by the builders' association in each county: Citrus, Feb. 23-March 3; Hernando, March 23-April 7; Hillsborough, March 9-24; Manatee, Feb. 16-March 3; Pinellas, April 6-21.

Tours: March 2, St. Petersburg Catholic High tour of homes.

Designer show houses: ASID show house at 5022 Bayshore Road, Sarasota, Jan. 19-Feb. 17; call (941) 926-7794 for information.

Florida West Coast Symphony Designer Showcase, Feb. 17-March 17 at the Edson Keith estate in Sarasota. Designer show house presented by the St. Petersburg chapter of the Florida Orchestra Guild at Villas del Verde in Gulfport, March 9-30.

A new event, the Suncoast Premier Remodeling Expo, is April 13-14 at the Harborview Center in Clearwater. Sponsored by the Remodelors Council of the Contractors & Builders Association of Pinellas, this will be a one-stop-shopping array of products, services and vendors for those who are planning a remodeling project. We'll have details on all these events as they draw near.

Dreamy bedrooms

Here's a book that will put you to sleep -- happily. The latest from TV design expert Chris Casson Madden is Bedrooms: Creating the Stylish, Comfortable Room of Your Dreams (Crown, $35). Dozens of bedrooms are pictured here: adults' and children's, city, country, mountain, seashore. Some of this is "money is no object" decorating that most of us can only dream of. But there are good ideas here for anyone: how to create storage space in tight areas, effective use of color, good lighting, great accessorizing (well, all right, not everyone is going to display a crystal bowl of lemons in the bedroom). There are sparely furnished rooms here inspired by Tuscan farmhouses and Moroccan-styled tented rooms awash in dozens of patterns: a little something for everyone.

- Compiled by Homes Editor JUDY STARK

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