WHEN the fashion industry wants to debut haute couture creations, it throws a runway show.

When Bay Area interior designers want to unveil the latest trends in home decor and design, they turn to Winter Market.

Winter Market, or Winter Mart as it's known to the trade, is the San Francisco Design Center's biggest event of the year in which some 150 showrooms introduce one-of-a-kind pieces and new lines of furniture, wallcoverings, lighting and accessories to design professionals. Taken together, these high-end products forecast what will be in vogue in upscale Bay Area homes and businesses as 2004 unfurls.

"San Francisco is the showroom (center) we grew up in," says Sean McIntyre of ...