MCT / Mike Ransdell

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fall decor is a hoot: Playful-looking, retro owls are turning up on everything from jammies to cookie jars, sake pitchers, and salt and pepper shakers.

For some, owls have always been a beloved figure.

But Minneapolis-based trendspotter Michelle Lamb says there are a couple of reasons for their sudden return to style status.

“In the past couple of years, there’s been myriad silhouetted birds. If we’re looking to move on from that, but we like birds, maybe owls can work.”

In addition, Lamb, who blogs about design at www.trendcurve.com, says, “There’s something in the shape and form that feels sort of surreal.”

She said she expects we’ll see more surreal patterns and forms in 2010.

“It’s not a huge deal, but it’s part of what makes contemporary new.”

Owl motifs are a natural for fabrics, says Debbie Dusenberry, owner of Curious Sofa in Prairie Village, Kan.

“Owls can be drawn and printed in a real graphic way that can be used really well in fabrics and textiles. They are easy to carve and to etch. The owl is like the new bird — a retro perspective on the bird trend.”

Lots of home decor trends evolve from fashion trends, but the owl craze might be influenced by vintage jewelry, Dusenberry says. She remembers her mother having a Sarah Coventry owl necklace in the ’70s. “They used to make really fun jewelry out of owls; it’s having a resurgence. They’re really hot on eBay.”

Dusenberry says owls are going to be a strong theme in Christmas decor this year.

“White feathered snow owls combined with snow flakes and twigs are big. For years it was doves and partridges.”

With other interior elements from the early ’70s — this year’s trendy mustard and moss green are really just reincarnations of harvest gold and avocado green — one has to wonder whether polka-dotted mushrooms are waiting in the wings for their revival.

Hoo-hoo knows?