NEW YORK - Theodore D. Nierenberg, who started Dansk International Designs in his suburban New York garage and helped popularize Scandanavian-themed tableware and cookware in American kitchens and dining rooms, has died. He was 86.

The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, his daughter Karin Weisburgh said Tuesday. Nierenberg died Friday at his home in Armonk, N.Y.

The company's motto was "from the kitchen to the dinning room table" because its pieces' sleek, clean lines were both functional and beautiful, said Weisburgh.

The Dansk line included wooded salad bowls and trays, stainless steel flatware embellished with exotic woods such as teak, glassware and porcelain-coated steel casserole dishes with lids - known as Kobenstyle - in an array of colors. For a time, the company also produced textiles that included placemats and tablecloths.

Nierenberg and his wife, Martha, started the company in their garage in Great Neck, Long Island, in 1954, after a trip to Europe in which they were taken with the work of industrial designers. They later moved their company to Mount Kisco, N.Y.