These pieces might make it to antique

What new or recent furniture might draw attention on some road show of the future? The Keno brothers, known for their antique savvy, named some choices in this month's Traditional Home magazine.

They found adorable little glass side tables called Barbell because they have circles on each end of a rather chunky stem. The tables come from Venice in several colors, but prices start at more than $6,000 each.

Donghia's Anziano chair is stackable. It features a stitched leather seat and dramatic T-shaped back in an espresso color and double metal legs.

"The chair has that rare balance of airiness and substance," says Leigh Keno. "It appears to hover."

Decorating tips from designers

Traditional Home also lists some tricks of the design trade:

• Make rooms seem larger by using a round rug, says Barry Dixon.

• To gauge the minimum size for a chandelier, measure the width of the room in feet, double that number and convert it to inches. Your chandelier's diameter should be at least that big, says Alexa Hampton.

• Collect maps and decorate with them, says Thomas O'Brien. Frame them like art or blow one up to cover the whole wall. Sepia works, but he likes the charm of hand-colored maps.

Imagine how good the food will look

Sometimes shapes are so dramatic you don't need color or pattern at all.

Villeroy & Boch tries that with its new very white dinnerware series, Urban Nature.

The bowls are rotund and deep -- inspired by a wooden soaking tub.

The company even threw in an arched bridge with a fruit bowl/centerpiece called Fruit Bridge. It is $132, and five-piece place settings are $112.

We're talking architecture for your table here.

Visit www.Villeroy-boch.com

Check this if your garden needs ideas

Lucky people are outside a lot these days, and you might be so busy planting things you don't have time to read about gardening.

But you do need something to at least page through before you fall asleep.

Timber Press is a good choice when you're looking for ideas or information.

Ray Rogers' $29.95 "Pots in the Garden: Expert Design & Planting Techniques" starts with basic design principles.

Then he tells how to create focal points, use water and even exploit the potential of empty containers.

Empty containers? Because you spent too much money on pots and don't have any left over for plants? Because your friends won't let you dig up any more of their perennials?

I guess we'll have to read the book.