Book educates readers on buying furniture

Book educates readerson buying furniture
Furniture is a major purchase that many people make with minimal knowledge.
Jennifer Litwin wants to change that.
Litwin, a consumer reporter and former furniture buyer, has written "Best Furniture Buying Tips Ever!" It's a primer on furniture construction, materials, styles and other basics that can help shoppers make better decisions.
The book doesn't make furniture-buying simple, but it does teach readers what to look for and helps them ask smart questions.
"Best Furniture Buying Tips Ever!" is published by House of Collectibles and sells for $14.95 in paperback.
High-tech appliancesonly look old-fashioned
Elmira Stove Works, with roots in the stove biz that reach back generations, makes antique-looking, high-tech appliances evoking great-granny's farm kitchen. Now the Canadian company is channeling the '50s with its Northstar retro line of stoves, fridges and range hoods in eight hot colors including pink, aqua, red and yellow.
"They're not kitschy. People don't have to have black and white tile," says vice president Brian Hendrick, though that's how the flooring is shown in ads.
A white, all-electric range or fridge starts at $4,000; prices rise for gas options and color.
To order, call (800) 295-8498 or visit www.elmirastoveworks.com.
Furniture Falsieshelp slipcovers fit
Customers at Liana Toscanini's Massachusetts ready-made slipcover shop were always complaining that their skinny-armed sofas looked pitiful under the one-size-fits-most covers. So Toscanini invented (and cleverly named) a product to help them fake it: Furniture Falsies.
The current fashion for chairs and sofas with ample arms has spurred some desperate housewives to pad their old slim-line versions with towels and duct tape.
The Falsies ($19.95 a pair at www.furniturefalsies.com) are actually arm pillows made of muslin and polyester designed to plump up old sofas and club chairs, says Toscanini, a former executive at Sure Fit, the world's largest ready-made slipcover maker.
Toscanini, who opened her shop, LT Home, in Great Barrington, Mass., in 2003, has spent her career defending ready-made slipcovers, an inexpensive alternative ($67 to $129 for sofa-size covers) to custom-made versions or reupholstering.