hen Cambridge Silversmiths Ltd. went to the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago last March, the Fairfield, NJ-based company faced challenges that were slightly more difficult than knowing whether the soup spoons should go next to the forks: It needed an exhibit that would display 400 tableware patterns in a limited space while tying its diverse lines together under the Cambridge brand.

Turning to exhibit designers Dimensional Communications Inc. of Northvale, NJ, for help, Cambridge ultimately found its inspiration in upscale Manhattan showrooms, which must squeeze a warehouse worth of goods into cramped but chic spaces.

When attendees entered the carpeted 30-by-80-foot exhibit, they passed through an arch-like main entrance with show-window displays set into its sides. In one, the company arranged a historical exhibit about making flatware, while in the other, Cambridge placed several examples of its lines. Inside the booth, the company showcased its lines on 33 onyx- and cream-colored laminated display surfaces, including 10, 6-foot-tall cabinets that offered ample vertical space to house its products.

While the cabinets gave the booth the appeal of a crowded but cultivated bookstore, four display tables highlighted various wares with eccentric centerpieces made from a mix of river rocks, grass, crushed glass, and loose pearls. Overhead, track lighting mounted to a fabric canopy illuminated all the lines - ranging from the Hawaiian-shirt hues of Fiesta, to the coronation-formal Robert Welch - in the same warm incandescent glow. After perusing the tableware, attendees met with company staff in the exhibit's four meeting areas.

By using vertical shelving to maximize space, and employing similar-colored surfaces, as well as one main lighting source to visually unify its many lines under one brand, Cambridge created a setting where hundreds of its products found a place at the table.e