Who says an office has to have a desk?

You might call the Merchandise Mart's Dream Home the "anti" house.

It features an anti-office, anti-kitchen and anti-media room.

Most of the rooms -- each by a different Chicago designer -- share a neutral palette, usually grays and golds. And many of the furnishings are from showrooms in the Mart, which often are open only to people who are working with designers.

Metropolitan Home is a sponsor of the event that is open through Dec. 21. The magazine also is involved with Macy's Trend House, bringing a contemporary flair to the area this fall.

Anti office

Douglas Levine's office doesn't have a desk or file cabinet.

The Chicago designer said he and most of his friends never sit at a desk.

They do their most creative work wireless. Give them a cell phone, a laptop and a notepad with a comfortable chair and a fireplace and they'll work their heads off.

"Seems like I'm never really working. But sitting at a desk makes me feel like I'm working and clouds my mind," said Levine.

It's difficult to pin him down about the colors in his office, especially the new square-cut silk and mohair wingback chairs he designed for Bright Chair Company. The retail price for the Van chair is $3,098 plus fabric, while the small-boned camelback-inspired couch is $4,920.

Yes, they look gray, but there's also blue and green in there.

The theme continues with walls covered with dark grasscloth.

"I've done so much light and white, I wanted to look at the different side of modern, changing back to luxurious and rich woods and fine materials instead of cold and hard," Levine said. "Gold is extremely modern now."

His furniture is modern with classic elements.

He even turned back to wall-to-wall carpeting. The five-color wool carpet from Hokanson has a wide dark outside band and lighter rectangles of light blue and gold in the center.

Anti-kitchen

The anti-kitchen label comes from Jessica LaGrange's desire to make it more a living space than an old-fashioned kitchen.

Dream Home officials urged LaGrange to make the space green or environmentally friendly.

"I knew nothing about sustainable except it feels earthy and crunchy," LaGrange said. "I wanted to show it can be luxurious."

The open shelves that seem to go on forever and the cabinets are sustainable walnut from EL: Environmental Language, the company owned by Jill Salisbury of Barrington.

The incredible open-style island is topped with recycled walnut obtained through that company.

And the perimeter countertop is recycled resin from 3FORM, as are the alabaster-looking panels hanging from the ceiling to diffuse light.

LaGrange used gold finishes where she could on metal in her "anti-kitchen."

The wallcovering is abaca fiber or banana leaf with a little silver thread through it.

Wallcoverings with a little silver or gold glitter are popular in this Dream Home, Many are designed by Maya Romanoff, who works to protect the environment and fair labor practices, LaGrange said. Donghia in the Mart carries the brand.

Anti-media room

Gary Lee wanted to show that a media room could be elegant and sophisticated and did not have to be full of recliners.

He designed two sofas with off-white silk velvet and sleek leather lounge chairs.

His large walnut coffee table was fabricated by Birger Juell, the flooring company, which decided to manufacture it for designers.

And the office-style credenza under the movie screen is covered with vinyl wallpaper, an innovative use of material.

The screen is drywall covered with Goo, which is a reflective acrylic paint designed for this purpose. This means a homeowner can have whatever size screen he or she wants.

This one is huge, framed in silver. A system designed by Integrisys of Chicago "plays" art when there's no movie showing.

Other rooms

Tracy Hickman designed the entry around a 5-by-11-foot hair-on-hide leather rug.

The pewter gray material is very durable, she said.

A 4-foot-long chest is covered with liquid leather or patent leather. It would cost about $2,500 from Holly Hunt, she said.

The walls are covered in gray linen that has been backed with paper, a technique that can be used with any fabric.

Sliding screen panels at both doorways are also linen.

"Pewter and bronze quietly try to fight each other for attention," she said.

One of the few designers who used color was Sherry Koppel on her screened porch. The walls are a deep ocean blue with green in it. She also stacked 18th-century Chinese doors with green paint against a wall.

"Color to me is joy," she said.

The stunning copper chaise is available at Odegard for $6,000.

She bought accessories like a round wire platter and several mirrors from A New Leaf in Chicago, which is open to retail buyers and not very expensive, she said.

Matt Lorenz, who won Top Design on the Bravo TV network, used dark leather on the floor of the black and white bedroom.

While leather and silk are used frequently in the room, a surprise is the Ann Sacks wall tile by Andy Blick. It is white with a high gloss and looks like it is a trim band set vertically.

The most outrageous space is probably Doug Nickless' living room. One wall is standing pebble tiles from Ann Sacks. It looks like someone stacked small, smooth rocks on edge to cover the wall.

Another wall is high-gloss sage green showcasing a collection of crucifixes with just the bodies, no crosses.

And the furniture is designed for outdoors, such as the sensuous Croissant sofa from Kenneth Cobonpue. Originally he conceived the large, rolled arms of abaca rope, but the outdoor version is plastic webbing. It is available for about $9,000 through Janus Et Cie in the Mart.

DreamHome

Where: North Lobby, Merchandise Mart, Kinzie and Wells streets, just north of the Chicago River in Chicago.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday.

Dates: Through Dec. 21

Admission: Voluntary donation $5 to the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation.

Details: www.merchandisemart.com/dreamhome/ or (800) 677-6278.

Trend House 2007

Where: 8th floor, Macy's on State Street, 111 N. State St., Chicago.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Dates: Till September 2008

Admission: Free

Details: www.visitmacyschicago.com or (312) 781-1000