THE NEXT STAINLESS STEEL

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, the cover of New York magazine announced: "Suddenly, Everything Is Stainless Steel." And so everything was: Refrigerator doors, sinks, counters, trims, toilets, and picture frames were swathed in stark, shiny metal. It was sleek; it was industrial; it was . . . 1996.

Of course, there's still plenty of stainless steel around today. For example, you can still get the classic ripped-from- the-prison-cell, straight-outta-hard-time, all-stainless steel toilet—seat, lid, everything—from Seattle Interiors (3822 Stone Way N., 206-633-2900). The $2,800 item is popular among Microsofties, according to store owner Andrea Ivancich, who says she's hoping to see sales pick up with the Redmond company's stock back on the rise.

But nothing since stainless has been quite as overpowering an interior design fad. So we went looking to find out what is hot right now and what seems to be building steam in kitchens, bathrooms, floors, finishes, and furniture. Here are some of the candidates for Seattle's next stainless steel.

SO SMOOTH, SO COLORFUL, IT COULD ONLY BE . . . CONCRETE

Without doubt, one of the biggest hits of the Seattle Interior Show, held two weekends ago at the Convention Center, was the cast-concrete bathtub and sink from a little Ballard company called Dogpaw (206-706-0099). With a smooth, irresistibly touchable finish and striking colors—iron oxide pigments that are in the concrete mix, not an applied stain—Dogpaw's fireplaces and countertops have become popular among local designers and architects. Hensel Design, for example, used Dogpaw in its Showcase Room, which won the top award at the show. And Dogpaw boss Jon Fredericks spent much of last year installing a terrace and shower enclosure and doing other work at Howard Schultz's 25,000-square-foot Madison Park home. "It's an alternative to marble and stone, and it goes well with steel and glass," says Fredericks. His Dogpaw booth was one of the few where bored husbands in tow actually got excited, Fredericks recalls. "They all wanted to know how it's made."

BILLOWY LIGHTING

Lighting design is going "cleaner and simpler," says Joseph Thayer at Kasala (1505 Western Ave., 206-623-7795); "less hanging pendants with colors and more elegant, white." Kasala, for instance, is bringing in curvy cream-colored glass lamps by Logico. "There's more Asian influence," Thayer continues, "with paper shapes." It's a similar story down the street at Current (629 Western Ave., 206-622-2433): "Instead of the usual hard materials, people are responding to softer shapes and natural colors," says Current's Ron Gawith. Fabric is being used more." He points to new Light Volumes from Prandina, which have elastic white fabric stretched over a polypropylene shell, like a glowing sail. At the new Belltown condo development the Vine, interior designer Garret Cord Werner of Ledingham Design has also used papery lamps for the model home he created. The Italian lamps, furnished by InForm (1220 Western Ave., 206-622-1608), "add texture and interest" to a small bedroom space, he explains.

EVERYTHING'S MICROFIBER

"In upholstery it's the biggest thing going now," says a salesperson at the Bon March駳 downtown furniture store (Third and Pine, 206-506-6650). He's talking about microfiber, once known as "ultrasuede," now known as ubiquitous. Previously limited to high-end furniture, ultrasuede has become affordable at a wider range of prices and has virtually taken over showrooms at department stores and elsewhere. Close to half the floor models at Dania downtown (825 Western Ave., 206-262-1001) are in ultrasuede. The selling points: a buttery texture and that suedelike way of turning a darker shade when you rub it. Even more importantly, it cleans like a dream: "You can spill mustard on it, and it cleans up with Ivory soap and water," says Karie Brodhun, upholstery buyer for the Bon. Plus, she says, "it takes color so well. Sometimes in furniture, you get a lot of color play, depending on light, etc. But microfiber stays true." At the Bon, even old-fashioned French chairs of the type once covered in satiny damask patterns or a European moir頳tripe are now done in microfiber. "I see it just getting bigger," Brodhun concludes of the craze. "We haven't seen it top out."

EXTREME BATHING

This Thursday night, Best Plumbing in Wallingford (4129 Stone Way N., 206-633-1700) will hold a kickoff party—strictly for the trade—to celebrate its new overflowing tub from Kohler, called the "sok." A tub surrounded by another tub, the "sok" allows you to fill your bath to a full 25 inches in depth, until the water is spilling over the sides; the recycled water then continuously pours over you while "champagnelike bubbles" are created through a series of adjustable controls. According to the brochure, "sok is a place where inhibitions disappear." (And let's face it, people in bathtubs have been behaving too well for too long.) The "sok" is typical of the new style of plumbing fixtures that function, as a builder quoted in Time magazine recently put it, like "a human car wash." Best also carries the Kohler BodySpa System, which consists of anywhere from six to 10 water jets, pointed at strategic points along the body, that pump out some 80 gallons a minute—"more than the combined delivery of 25 average showerheads"—in an invigorating recirculated torrent. (Undercarriage rinse available, but no waxing.)