HIGH POINT — A mix of elegant looks with European influences, and casual looks inspired by Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel, dominate the home office arena this market.

Old World European styling turns up in Hooker’s Chateau Marquette and Stanley’s Tre Venti and Serafina collections.

Chateau Marquette has six main pieces, including three executive desks featuring a physically distressed finish on cherry veneers and hardwood solids.

Hooker also is introducing Casablanca, a Mediterranean-inspired collection with executive desks retailing at $999. In birch solids and pin knotty cherry veneers, the collection features fretwork and leather desktops on its executive desks and inlaid marquetry veneers on file cabinets.

Stanley’s Serafina and Tre Venti collections include a total of 20 home office pieces. Serafina features swirly ash burl veneers in a frosted almond finish. Tre Venti features pecky pecan veneers and oak cluster burl accents in a casual carmel-colored finish.

European design elements include canted posts, moldings and octagonal fluting.

European influences are also seen in Universal’s Cortina, an Italian-styled home office collection that features laurel burl veneers in a rich brown finish. Executive desks retail for about $1,499, and credenza/hutch units retail from $1,999 to $2,299.

Sligh Furniture’s 11-piece Melbourne home office collection is in English traditional styling, but its honey-colored antique finish with physical distressing and wax burnishing gives it a more casual feel.

Meanwhile, Sligh’s 11-piece Chestnut Cherry collection now has a new red/brown mahogany finish, giving the 125th anniversary home office collection a darker, more traditional look.

Despite the Old World European styling, all of these new home office collections have plenty of functional elements, ranging from pull-out writing trays and CPU and file storage to curio display fronts like those seen on Universal’s Cortina.

“The style is very pleasing, but we address a lot of features,” said Phillip Siler, Universal’s vice president of occasional merchandising.

Fusion Designs’ Edwardian-style Regency home office collection is another example of how elegant style meets function. With executive desks retailing at $899, Regency’s  functional design elements include back entry doors that permit the easy loading of electronics.

Other new collections are more casual in nature, reflecting a relaxed lifestyle embraced by many of today’s consumers. Examples include Wynwood’s Camden and Halton Hills collections, which have executive desks retailing for $799. Camden, a seven-piece transitional group available in a ginger cherry finish, features reverse-framed panels and diamond-veneer tops. Halton Hills is a six-piece transitional group in a warm toasted oak finish.

Wynwood’s six-piece Wellington collection also features $799 executive desks. It is more traditional in nature with its hand-carved ornamentation such as egg-and-dart moldings, reeded pilasters and leaf details. It, too, has a more casual look, thanks in part to the claret cherry finish and transitional knob hardware.

“We are trying to take traditional looks and make them feel more comfortable for a casual lifestyle, a more lived-in look,” said Sarah Balmer, Wynwood’s merchandising and design coordinator. She added the finishes on the collections also help give them a more casual appearance.

Other home office collections with casual footprints being introduced this market include Hooker’s Colonnade and Stanley’s Shelter Island. Colonnade is a seven-piece group with cherry veneers and birch solids in a two-tone, black and medium cherry finish that gives it a youthful, urban look and feel.

Shelter Island is a relaxed casual collection inspired by life in the Hamptons. It includes 24 home office pieces in either a piano-key white or a black marimba finish. The white pieces have hardware in a frosted pewter finish, while the marimba items have hardware with a dark antique bronze finish.

In addition, Riverside Furniture is introducing a casual group called Harlequin, which includes a $999 computer cabinet in a Bridgewater Black and Shores White finish. Its Palais Royal group also has a $999 computer cabinet, in espresso and royal distressed cherry finishes.

Nantucket by Winners Only includes 11 home office pieces and is another example of a casual shore-inspired collection in two lustrous finishes, ebony and buttermilk.

Winners Only also is introducing the Metro collection, with Art Deco influences inspired by old and new Hollywood. It comes in both dark and light finishes.

Retro looks appear in new groups by Hekman/Woodmark and Creative Elegance. Hekman’s 10-piece Metropolis is made from mahogany solids and mahogany veneers, ribbon- striped mahogany and rosewood veneers. Bridges, by Creative Elegance, has nine new retro-inspired home office pieces. It is crafted from white birch and anigre veneers and solid white beech with a variety of finish options.

Customization is also the big story at Jasper Cabinet. This market, the domestic producer is touting 20 different finish options on its secretaries. Other options include five to seven different grill styles, including solid door panels with laser-engraved art.

“This will further separate us from the imports and other domestic companies,” said President Robert Cribbs, adding that the employees of the Amish-run factory near Jasper, Ind., came up with the idea. “We’re trying to make it so you can get what you want, the way you want it.”