‘Antiques Roadshow’ twins to visit Maywood designer furnishings outlet, sign Keno Bros. furniture

Leigh and Leslie Keno, shown here with their Contour II chest of drawers, will sign pieces from their Keno Bros. furniture line on Oct. 13 at Design Spree, a discount fine furniture outlet in Maywood. $1,667 suggested retail.

Leigh and Leslie Keno have been on the road, not just in search of life-changing valuables for their Fox reality television series “Buried Treasure,” but to promote their new Keno Bros. furniture line.

The dapper blonds may soon be able to cut down on their mileage, however, thanks to technology that will enable them to talk up their latest tables and chairs to anyone who takes a look.

Anyone who has a smart phone, that is. When the brothers and their furniture maker Theodore Alexander present the latest Keno Bros. pieces to furniture retailers later this month, each of the 15 or so pieces shown at High Point Furniture Market in North Carolina will be tagged with one of the increasingly familiar barcode-like squares. When scanned, the QR (quick response) code will link phones to a mobile-friendly video of the Kenos.

“it will be a short clip of Leslie and I talking about that particular piece so that it’s almost like we’re right there,” says Leigh Keno during a joint phone interview. “we are talking about the piece, what inspired us.”

But fans who recognize the expert appraisers from their work on the bigger screens of television or their columns in magazines such as House Beautiful, This old House or Traditional Home, won’t have to wait months for consoles with interactive tags. They can meet the Kenos in person next Thursday, Oct. 13 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and see pieces from their line at Design Spree, a high-end Bergen County furniture outlet at 29 West Essex St. in Maywood.

Before the Kenos became furniture designers, they earned celebrity status as regulars on “Antiques Roadshow,” PBS’s highest-rated, eight-time Emmy Award-nominated series with about 10 million weekly viewers in its 16th season. In their latest show “Buried Treasure” they travel to homes and look for valuables that would cover a necessary or desired expenditure.

The twins, 54, have spent a lifetime with antiques and collectibles, having had antiques dealers for parents. the 45 pieces that launched their furniture line were inspired by a variety of classic styles from all over the world, they say. But don’t expect reproductions of the good old stuff. Keno Bros. furniture is more contemporary with styling that the twins say is in step with the belief of 18th century artist William Hogarth that beauty is most effectively expressed in curves. for the Kenos, that serpentine “line of beauty” inspires sloping arms on the Love III sofa, and shapely splayed legs on chairs and accent tables. it appears in the gently undulating front of the Contour II chest, its four drawers embellished with button-like bone escutcheons.

Styling relies on clean-lined form rather than ornamentation, allowing the furniture to comfortably move in with antiques and any number of decorating styles. In designing the pieces, the identical twins said they focused on quality, craftsmanship and detail – the same things they look for when evaluating fine antiques.

The Slope chair from the Keno Bros. line by Theodore Alexander

“we want these pieces to be heirlooms for the future in this day of disposable furniture,” says Leigh Keno, owner of Keno Auctions in new York. “we really want to create pieces that are affordable but are great investments.” Suggested retail prices for the line range from $364 for In and Out, a maple jewelry box with walnut veneer, to $3,074 for Leaf, a hyedua console with anegre veneer. To add value, many pieces can serve multiple functions. the Kenos selected responsibly harvested exotic woods including mahogany, rosewoods, sycamore, ebony and tiger maple. the collection, which showcases dovetail joinery and luxurious veneers, also incorporates a selection of less familiar African woods such as anegre, hyedua, ofram and sapele.

“these are all pieces we would live with,” says Leslie Keno, director of American furniture and decorative arts at Sotheby’s auction house in new York. “we have an identical vision of what the collection is,” he adds, explaining that they are consistently in agreement about design. the brothers said they were won over by Theodore Alexander’s hand craftsmanship and hardware forged in its own foundry. Says Leslie Keno: “the tools we see the craftsmen use are the same tools that were used in the 18th century.”

That gives a foot-in-each-world quality to contemporary furniture that soon will be sold with the help of computerized codes and smart phones.

Jay Wagnon, Design Spee president and one of four owners of the Maywood and Lawrenceville locations, said bringing in the Kenos to promote their furniture is part of the company’s effort to make shopping fun. “nothing excites them more than talking about their line and what inspires them,” Wagnon said, noting their vast knowledge, approachability and widespread appeal. “It’s a great partnership.”

Shoppers visiting the 55,000-square-foot Maywood store, which opened last August, might also be excited by discount prices in a spruced-up warehouse environment with tromp l’oeil wall murals and decorator-styled room vignettes. Wagnon says the company buys entire showroom displays at High Point and other trade shows, giving them early access to those pieces rather than placing show orders that can take months to arrive. Design Spree also has developed quantity buying relationships with such premium manufacturers as Century, Henredon, Maitland-Smith, Hickory White and Vanguard, he said. the store will have about 80 Kenos Bros. pieces in the showroom, and others can be ordered, Wagnon said.

The Kenos will speak from 6 to 7 p.m. and then mingle with guests over wine and hors d’oeuvres, Wagnon said. As an added bonus, Leigh Keno said they will sign any Keno Bros. piece purchased from the showroom floor. “we look for signed pieces in our field, so we hope that this will add value to our own pieces.”