Relaxing on the deck? Don't forget to be green

It's time to start thinking of how we're going to spend the summer. And if many of your plans involve time on your deck or patio, you might want to look at new furniture.

Home Depot has several options. A set called Nature's Retreat from Thomasville is built with eucalyptus certified as being from sustainable plantations.

The price is $1,000 for seven pieces, with other selections also available.

Next Sunday is a very special day

You know what next week is, right? That's right, May 10 is Mother's Day. That means it's time to make a decision and get her a gift or make specific plans to spend time with her.

There is hardly a mom out there who would not prefer quality face time with her offspring over any material gift.

And Mother's Day comes at the right time of year. You can do really fun outdoors things with mom.

You can buy tickets to a garden walk, for example. One idea is Wright Plus, the annual tour of homes in the Oak Park area. It is May 16, and last we checked tickets were still available. They cost $95 each. Visit gowright.org.

Or you can buy something to plant in her garden - and do the work, of course.

Williams-Sonoma Home has another idea to perk up Mom's front door. It's a wreath with freeze-dried pink peony blossoms and bay leaves. The price is $98, and it's available at wshome.com.

Celebrate spring with Elle Decor

Don't we love peeking inside celebrities' homes, even when the style doesn't bowl us over.

Actress Alexandra Wentworth writes in this month's Elle Decor about decorating the home she and husband George Stephanopoulos of ABC-TV share with their two daughters.

Wentworth's issues include a palette trained in Hollywood and seashells she's collected since childhood. They can cause difficulties in a colonial revival house in Georgetown.

The seashells - some of them rare ones collected in the 1920s by her grandmother, who worked for the National Geographic Society - are on shelves in the living room. Wentworth, who was helped by her designer-friend Elizabeth Martin, applied her own starfish motif to a white wool rug with violet fabric dye.

Another favorite in the magazine is a secret garden that Richard Shapiro, owner of an art gallery, built in Los Angeles. He started with an existing 1950s swimming pool and added a brand-new but aged-looking copy of a Roman temple.

The results may not look like Italy, but it's pretty amazing for Southern California.