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What defines the California look? Vote to tell us

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What is the California look? Is it modern, casual and cool? Does it celebrate our natural surroundings? Is it an expression of indoor-outdoor living, all year long? ‘Living in a Modern Way,’ an exhibition opening Oct. 1 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, includes a re-creation of the scene in a 1951 Los Angeles Times Home Magazine cover, at right. The headline to the cover package: What Makes the California Look.

Sixty years later, we’re adding a question mark: What Makes the California Look? The 1951 vignette included a yellow Eames armchair from 1948, a Van Keppel Green cord lounge chair, a pot and stand by John Follis and Rex Goode, and a brazier with skewers -- fire pit and barbecue, all in one -- by Stanley Hawk.

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What would you include in a 2011 version of that scene? What pieces of contemporary design speak to the California look of today? In the next two weeks, we’ll be asking for your opinions. Every day we’ll take a different element of that 1951 scene -- rug, room screen, drapes and more -- and offer up nominees for the California Look 2011. We hope you not only vote but also comment on your picks, explaining why you love what you love -- inspired form, efficient function, green production, technological innovation or maybe just a little design irreverance (oh, yes, there will be some of that).

Winning designs and reader comments will be showcased in an article later this month. So bookmark us and check for the daily California Look 2011 poll. Voting starts tomorrow. First up: Patio planters.

ALSO:

California Look, Round 1: patio planters

California Look, Round 2: outdoor lamps

Homes of the Times: California design in pictures

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-- The L.A. at Home team

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