Children\'s furniture fits all home styles

Tag : italian furniture
ANTIQUES Children's furniture fits all home styles
RALPH AND TERRY KOVEL
Design-conscious parents who want the best for their children arelooking for contemporary furniture pieces that might someday beheirlooms. Today's nurseries are either very traditional andnostalgic or filled with the latest colorful plastic tables andfoam seats.
One 2008 table has transparent legs so children can fill them withrolled-up drawings. A Spanish designer has created a fantasy animalchair and an Italian has designed "Puppy," a plastic stool.
During the 1700s and 1800s, children's furniture was exactly likeadult furniture, but smaller. By the 1930s, a few designers weremaking special children's pieces. Alva Aalto's birch stackingstools came in child sizes. And a child-size version of Panton's1960s cantilever chair made in bright colors has been abest-seller.
So if you have a house filled with country or Victorian pieces, youcan find antique child-size furniture to use. But if your house isdecorated in a modern style, your children can have specialfurniture in colors and shapes not seen in full-size furniture.Will the innovative furniture inspire children to be moreimaginative? Some think so.
Question | I found a stainless-steel kitchen utensil I cannot identify.It's a small ladle with a long handle, but the narrower side of theladle's cup isn't open for pouring. Instead it has a little closedend that wraps around the edge of the ladle. The ladle is marked"Nevco Japan."
Answer | Your utensil is a nut scoop. Some nut scoops look like littleshovels, but others look like little ladles with a closed end onone side of the cup. The end helps prevent nuts from falling outbefore you can pour them into your hand. Nevco was a New Jerseyimporter that was in business during the 1970s. It also might havebeen operating earlier and later than that. Nevco imported a lot ofkitchen wares and utensils from countries all over the world.
Tip | If garage windows are painted, burglars won't be able to tellwhether cars are home. Use translucent paint to let light into theclosed garage, especially if it has an entrance to your house.
Write to KOVELS, The Sun News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57thSt., New York, NY 10019.