Sometimes Good Moms - Round Trinket Tray

Housewares covers the things a house runs on that aren't furniture. At High St. that means kitchen and tabletop, barware, candles and room scents, garden and floral, decorative goods and holiday. If you serve with it, pour from it, plant in it or set it on a surface because you like looking at it, it's housewares.

Buy for four jobs, something to serve on, something to store in, something to set the table with and something to finish it. A set of nesting bowls, one good canister, cloth napkins and a cheese knife set cover most kitchens. Pieces that only do one narrow thing end up in the back of a drawer.

Kitchen decor changes how the room looks, and kitchen accessories are the pieces you use. A tray on the counter or a pot of herbs on the sill is decor. A cake stand, a canister or a set of napkins is an accessory. The best ones do both, which is why we keep them in one collection.

Barware is one part of housewares, the shelf for mixing, pouring and serving drinks. Housewares is the whole collection around it, from serveware and planters to candles and decorative objects. If it holds a drink or makes one, look in barware first.

Start with the finish and where the pot will spend the winter. Unglazed terracotta breathes and suits plants that hate wet roots, but it holds water and can crack in a freeze. Glazed pots have a sealed surface and take a covered porch more easily. Bergs Potter's Copenhagen runs from 10cm to 35cm, so a group of sizes is easy to build.

Pick something they'll use every week or use up. A Bergs Potter pot for a windowsill, a jar of Boozy Cherries for the first round of Manhattans, or French Home's Laguiole cheese knives for the first party all work. Every purchase leaves in High St. branded tissue and a premium bag with cord handles and a gold-foil logo.

No. We don't carry pots and pans or small appliances. We stock the part of the kitchen that gets looked at, serveware, canisters, linens, utensils and pantry goods.

High St., a 17,000-square-foot lifestyle store at 1401 Reading Rd in Over-the-Rhine, carries housewares across kitchen, bar, garden, candles and decorative goods. We're open every day but Tuesday, 10am to 6pm, with Sunday hours of 11am to 4pm. In-stock online orders are usually ready for pickup in about two hours, and shipping is free over $150.