Have a nice den

A strange thing started happening to the chichi displays of bath fixtures in Billie Brenner's showroom earlier this year. Colors and materials that have not been in vogue since the days when Joyce DeWitt was landing steady acting gigs began resurfacing with alarming frequency in the fittings that fill Brenner's Boston Design Center space.

``I was designing in the 1970 s," Brenner says, picking up a citrus orange faucet. ``And no one has been using these colors since then. These are the colors that we were taking out of houses in the 1980 s. Trust me, nobody wanted these."

The most striking example in Brenner's showroom, an orange Lucite lounge chair from German company Dornbracht, epitomizes the new approach to 1970 s decor. While the colors and patterns are familiar -- oranges, acidic greens, florals, lattice prints, and enough faux bois to fill the Black Forest -- designers are reenvisioning the decade from a sophisticated new perspective. The bold hues, metallic wallpaper, and cork flooring are back, but being used far more judiciously than they were during the Carter administration.

``We haven't seen any avocado or goldenrod yet," Brenner says. ``But there's no shortage of orange."

Orange, the color of Broyhill living rooms that were given as prizes on ``Match Game '74," was the most prominent of the 1970s influences to seep into this year's High Point Furniture Market in North Carolina. Companies such as Gus and Della Robbia featured pieces upholstered in various glowing shades of cantaloupe, tiger lily, and tangerine. Thayer Coggin reintroduced its 1975 Milo Baughman sectional, and Todd Oldham, who is designing furniture for La-Z-Boy, debuted a sofa sporting an orange, 1970 s print from artist Charles Harper.

``It's always been a decade of interest to me," Oldham says. ``I'm not interested in re-creating the '70s, but I like using elements of it. Some of our most beautiful color palettes came to fruition at that time, and they still look incredibly fresh. There was also a lot of optimism and silly decadence, and you can feel it in the designs and colors. "

``I think there's something comfortable and warm about the 1970s," says Nicole Chiala, co-owner of Amenity, a California-based accessories company whose new line features orange and gold pillows in nature-friendly grass prints that would be at home in either a city loft or a paneled room dotted with macrame plant hangers. ``Those of us who grew up in the 1970s don't necessarily see it as an era that was all tacky and gaudy. I think that's why we're using a lot of colors like orange and peacock blue. It's more nostalgic than anything else. People were nostalgic for midcentury furniture for a long time, and I think that feeling is beginning to shift toward the '70s."

Amenity's textiles, which revisit the earthier side of the 1970s, reflect the broader trend of designers who are increasingly smitten not only with silhouettes of botanicals, but also wood veneer, wood grain, and anything tree-related. In the late 1990 s, Mike Shenk started a Freedom, Calif., company called Seascape, producing lamp shades sporting wood veneer. Initially, the shades had a loyal but limited following. Over the past year, however, he's seen demand for the shades increase dramatically as appetite for the '70s increases.

Even paneling, the staple of every shag-carpet-covered basement rumpus room of the '70s, is reappearing in a limited and stylish new capacity. Pop Panels, three-dimensional plywood squares produced in Finland, look like they were pulled from the set of a 1977 made-for- television movie about the Brady Bunch visiting a Scandinavian disco. More shocking, cork, which was stuck to almost every surface imaginable, is also staging a comeback. Cork magnate Sonny Jelinek, vice president of Jelinek Cork in Ontario, says that sales of cork for home decor have increased at a rate of 100 percent a year over the past three years. Cork wallpaper, cork sofas, cork pillows, and cork flooring are following the return of cork wedge heels into American homes. Even the menus at the chic Back Bay restaurant Match are cork covered.

``We sold tons of cork for homes in the 1970s," he says. ``And then the shift went to wine, but now it's back in home decor. I don't know if it's the desire for eco-friendly products or the return of the '70s, but it's taking off."

The nature-meets-disco motif, showing up in the sleek cork furniture designs of Daniel Michalik and the glittery florals of Cole & Son wallpaper, will probably not impress beige purists, but in the design community, linen-wrapped chairs and wood veneer lamps have won over even those who never thought they'd see the return of the decade, with the exception of the occasional Starlight Vocal Band reunion tour.

``I can't really say why it's back," says Eduardo Lizarraga, owner of Furn & Co., as he flips through '70s-inspired toile in his Boston showroom. ``But there's something about it that looks very current. Maybe we've been unfair to the '70s all these years. Well . . . maybe not."

Christopher Muther can be reached at muther@globe.com.