One palette is once again in vogue, from fashion runways to tabletops to walls and flooring to bedding and furniture.

Black and white is, well, the new black and white.

The opposites attract in solids and tone-on-tones, or in patterns from soft toiles to bold florals and vines, pinstripes, polka dots, zebra markings, chevrons and geometrics. They're showing up on everything from houndstooth shoes and stationery borders to damask couture jackets and pet clothing.

You might snap up a black-and-white-checked enamel pot from MacKenzie-Childs for the kitchen, and for the dining room black-and-white flatware designed by Oscar de la Renta for Lunt.

"I don't think I've seen so much black and white since the 1930s," says Casey Fisher, principal owner and designer of Haute (playfully pronounced "hot") House, a Hollywood, Calif., company that takes its furnishing cues from haute couture and then amplifies them, adding sequined, lace-ruffled skirts to sofas, for example.

"Maybe it's the times," Fisher says. "People want clarity - a nice clean palette to come home to."

Edward M. Tashjian, vice president of marketing for Century Furniture, couldn't agree more.

"In a world where things are getting muddier, people are looking for absolutes. They like the contrast, the yin and yang," he says.

Solo, black can be mysterious and edgy, sophisticated, elegant and sexy. Snowy white is pristine, innocent, fresh, minimal.

"Together, the two represent balance," Tashjian says. "People respond in a way that's almost visceral."

Black and white channel 1940s Hollywood glam (as in Ralph Lauren's Bel Air furnishings collection), retro (think polka dots), a Paris flat with iconic baroque wallpaper, country styles with checked fabrics and line-drawn rooster plates, or a metropolitan loft decorated with black-framed, white-matted, black-and-white photos.

Then, too, black and white may signal a countertrend to the proliferation of color in the home. But color actually strengthens the dynamic duo.

At the fall High Point market in North Carolina, Century Furniture debuted a dazzling black-and-white collection, and in its press kit borrowed from the Paul McCartney/Stevie Wonder song the notion that ebony and ivory "live together in perfect harmony." Lime green was used as an electric foil in one vignette; in another, a robin's-egg-blue mirror frame pops against a punchy black-and-white-striped paper.

"A splash of color works to balance pattern," Tashjian explains. Indeed, imagine any color - coral, lemon yellow, orange, red, cobalt blue, turquoise, pink, taupe or gray - playing off black and white.

That versatility is one reason the combination is so appealing. The colors can be chameleons, embracing both modern and traditional styles.

And edginess isn't limited to the use of bold patterns. When New York designer Larry Laslo opted for black and white for the bedroom and bath that he designed for the fall Kips Bay Show House in New York City, he let materials and nuances of gray and textures create his patterns. For example, in the bath, stone tiles were cut and positioned to let the veining fall at random, to set up an intriguing pattern.

"And just a shot of color - magenta orchids, hot pink poppies here and there - makes it all come to life," Laslo says.

The simplest approach is to start with white walls. Just a single piece of black furniture in a matte or glossy finish is a magnetic focal point.

Black walls are, of course, more dramatic but also a little more risky. Still, either black or white walls can be trimmed with contrasting crown, baseboard or picture moldings.

Should you be drawn to pattern but concerned about long-term wear, try Wall Pops, a stick-on, peel-off marvel that allows you to go boldly where you might not if you were stuck indefinitely. One giant black-and-white harlequin design, paired with an equally big checkerboard, is smashing when shown with all-white furnishings.

Floors also offer options for grounding or introducing patterns. Black granite or stained hardwood floors always look crisp with white baseboard moldings. Alternating black-and-white tiles is a classic look, enduring since the turn of the 20th century. Florals and graphic designs can be dramatic on area rugs, especially when the rest of the space is more monochromatic.

Ebony furniture has become the little-black-dress equivalent, but what's distinguishing it these days is hardware - often large-scale, clean and polished, such as gleaming nickel.

At High Point, Hickory Chair showed a serpentine chest of drawers in a black frame with creamy white drawers. Michael Weiss' riff on Chinese for Vanguard Furniture combined ivory drawers with Eastern hardware on its black frame. A zebra pattern on a French-style bureau at French Heritage stopped traffic, and a giant houndstooth pattern covered the surface of a dresser at Guildmaster, a Decorize company.

Barbara Barry took a playful approach with fabric design for Kravet, which features some of her upholstered-chair silhouettes in black on ivory.

Tashjian says the simplicity of black on white or white on black is the perfect canvas for dressmaker details such as piping or welting, which really make a piece pop. A tufted and scalloped ottoman in creamy Brisa leather (a convincing look-alike) from Century Furniture is punctuated with black banding and black buttons, all underscoring its sculptural form, with sides fluted like Greek columns.

Black, curiously, has the same slimming effect in a room as it does with clothing, Tashjian says: "A black sofa seems to take up less space."

And as you would with a black dress, accessorize away - nearly every color plays well off black and white.

"It's hard to make a mistake with black and white . . . it doesn't limit your options," Tashjian says. "You can have fun with it."