It's 2009 and time to make some changes. I recently spoke with my son who is a furniture designer with a trendy shop in Los Angeles and I asked him what he things will be hot for the home for the next month. Although he caters to a high-end clientele, his advice seems to work for any budget. These are his picks and pans of the new season before us.

"After a decade of designing furniture in my own boutique shops I've seen trends come and go," says Craig Olsen of CraigOlsen on La Brea. "Here we are in the beginning of another year and it's time to call Salvation Army and purge your place of things that no longer belong."

In the bedroom Craig sees that often copied and never quite chic, sleigh bed. "If you've got a team of Clydesdales to hook up over the foot of your bed, drive this old chestnut right straight out to the barn. Beds should be clean and decorative. Try something that brings the pizzazz back into the boudoir, like a touch of soft gold leather with nail head designs. One client even tufted her headboard with gorgeous Swarovski crystal buttons."

The drapery in the bedroom is usually where people try to save a few dollars. "Rip down those out-of-the-bag drapes and donate them," Craig insists. "They never hang right and even if you buy extra panels, they somehow never work. Spend your money finding fabric designed by talented textile people and have them custom made. You'll thank yourself when you've still got wonderful, crisp, perfectly fitting drapery that lasts for years.

"Shall we talk about matching sets," Craig asks. "Mom and Dad copied their home after Grandma and Grandpa's styles. Everything matched, from headboards to the vanity; the living room was straight out of Sears with the coffee table and end tables that matched the wood on the sofa. Please, no more matching sets! Find one piece that you love and put it in your room. Walk around it and see it from every angle. Build from there. Your room will become unique when you understand that each piece is like a personality and no two should ever be identical."

"Cubed ottomans are O-U-T," Craig says. "Give your room more shapes - hexagons and ovals will lead the eye straight to the piece and it will be something that will make the room remarkable. This is what we are always trying to achieve as designers. That's why we ban the obvious when it's been overdone."

Coral and seashells are also donation fodder in Craig's estimation. Out they go. "We aren't living in a little Maine seaside cottage where everything is seagulls and bits of driftwood. That look was cute in its time, but there are very few cottages in Los Angeles, so send the seashells back to the ocean and toss the coral right in after...good for the habitat, bad for the current design motif.

"One trend that has also gone way overboard is the use of Philippe Starck's Ghost chairs. They are still hot, don't think they aren't. He uses polycarbonates to shape baroque Louise XV chairs. I can see one or two of them as accent pieces but when you see ten of them clustered around the dining room table you know someone just doesn't understand overkill."

Craig talks about those pathetic cowhides stamped with zebra designs. "If you can't afford the whole hide from Africa just leave it alone. Again, JAB and Stroheim, my current favorite fabric people, have fabulous zebra print in everything from cotton to silk. Make some pillows to pull in the jungle and think about adding a sumptuous silver backing to give it the punch it needs."

Above all, Craig recommends that the dawning of the New Year is the perfect time to walk through every room and see what works and what doesn't. He says that there is no need to hang onto things you don't absolutely love. Once you've tossed the detritus you are free to let you inner-designer replenish with fresh tastes.