Martha Stewart Signature Furniture Kingsland Chinoiserie Secretary. Click photo for larger image. Sources For local retailers or more information on any of these products. Martha Stewart: 888-5-MARTHA or www.marthastewart.com Babette Holland: 718-349-1325 or www.babetteholland.com Magnussen Home Furnishings: 336-841-4424 or www.magnussen.com Bolier & Company: 336-887-2815 or www.bolieroco.com Pascal French Furniture: 706-613-2997 or www.pascalfrenchfurniture.com Thayer Coggin: 336-841-6000 or www.thayercoggin.com Seabrook Classics: 843-846-0133 or www.seabrookclassics.com Metropolitan Home Collection: www.methome.com or www.BNOdesign.com Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams: www.mitchellgold.com

HIGH POINT, N.C. -- Familiar forms received furniture-style face-lifts at this year's International Furniture Market here.

A little tweaking can turn an old, tired look new again. But you won't get a close-up of these fresh faces until spring when they arrive in local showrooms.

Manufacturers doing makeovers included Martha Stewart, whose design team took inspiration from her favorite chinoiserie secretary and modernized the motif. The result is the Kingsland chinoiserie, which will retail in the neighborhood of $3,100.

No more pagodas on this Asian-influenced piece. Hand-painted gold swirls on the bottom half represent a pond while the top shows blossoms over the water. The interior got a 21st-century update as well with a sliding keyboard access tray. It was part of Bernhardt's Martha Stewart Collection from Katonah, the name of her farmhouse north of New York City and her newest residence. In all, 45 pieces debuted, including a lava stone coffee table and the Hunterbrook plate rack and server.

Going uptown this year with one of her largest introductions ever was Brooklyn, N.Y., designer Babette Holland, who has spun aluminum into gold with her handmade metal pottery, lamps and mirrors. For the first time, she is doing a licensed collection for Silvestri. The Babette Collection of tabletop accessories and table lamps will sell for a fraction of her normal retail cost.

The Uptown and Longneck Bird collections, also by Ms. Holland, will carry more substantial price tags, representing the labor-intensive program required to produce each piece. The Tower Lamp in the Uptown Collection has the irresistible appeal and intelligence of black and white photography -- very last century New York in a 21st-century form. It's expected to retail for $399.

Magnussen Home Furnishings took the traditional country French bench and designed it to facilitate modern life with sliding doors to hide storage space below. The Provence bench ($630) comes in very practical white or black finishes, and its simple graphic X back rail and arms lets it blend with a variety of decors.

Magnussen is also known for its Biltmore Estate Collection, which continues to introduce updated reproductions from the estate. Sevenoaks Collection was on target, being influenced by George Vanderbilt's Buckspring hunting lodge. Billed as "relaxed sophistication," it boasts walnut burl veneers and a burnished sable rub.

Veneering in another direction was Bolier & Co. The Bolier Classics Collection designed by John Black adapts familiar 18th- and 19th-century forms for modern lifestyles. The tall sideboard, which houses a bar, is mahogany with a rich, satinwood veneer, dramatically outlined in an ebonized finish. The center server compartment is a fold-down door. Interior lighting and a mirror make it useful as a server if happy hour is not on the schedule. It will retail for about $7,500.

Taking your basic lounge chair and redesigning and dressing it as the center of attention was what Ransom Culler did for Thayer Coggin. His Axel chair framed with steam-bent plywood is shown in Kermit the frog-colored shag chenille with a walnut finish. The chair features a criss-cross solid maple base and will retail for $2,649.

Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams took a basic leather club chair and covered it in a new sapphire blue leather for a stunningly crisp, contemporary aesthetic. The company, synonymous with cool, also treasures comfort.

"Believe it or not, we started using the word in 1989 and no one was using it to describe their furniture," said Mitchell Gold.

Along with their case goods and upholstery, the duo's first coffee table book, "Let's Get Comfortable," will be available in the spring.

Finding a fresh approach with color, cutouts and monograms was Seabrook Classics. Customizing doesn't get any more personalized. Seabrook's classic cottage furniture can be monogrammed in five different styles. With 45 colors to choose from and innovative cutouts of palm trees, whales, sailboats, fish and pelicans, the line can be distinctly coastal in style. Sans cutouts, its bead-board or raised-panel doors and pineapple finials will fit in anywhere from sea to shining sea.

Nothing says "now" like aluminum, which is why Pascal Furniture's Marquis armchair and ottoman in a lime green or red vinyl version is so avant-garde. Introduced in the spring at High Point in black and white, the pair now look refreshed. The Louis XV style chair in cast aluminum is outdoor safe and retails for about $3,200. It's also available in leather for an indoor-friendly feel.

As the benchmark for modern living, Metropolitan Home magazine has made the bold move from print to furniture design. The magazine debuted an eponymous collection designed by Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz. Editor in Chief Donna Warner and her staff joined the designer in the showroom to roll out more than 65 pieces whose launch was lauded by lovers of contemporary.

Mr. Noriega-Ortiz' use of exaggerated silhouettes, sparkling hardware and exotic veneers helped bring to life the magazine's vision of what it means to be contemporary. The products were categorized into three lifestyle trends: weekend getaway, loft living and luxury upscale habitats.