Furniture Finds

Even without a sale, Designer Interiors offers deals for anyone looking for top-quality, upscale home furnishings at prices that are much more affordable than most retailers’.

I wrote about this off-the-beaten-path warehouse about two years ago, and since then the quality has become even more evident.

It appears management has uncovered new sources for furniture used in model homes and for photo shoots.

The tags here usually reflect about half of the going retail, but sale prices will prevail Friday through Monday.

The deals include: an Italian marble pedestal dining table with a thick marble top and rounded bullnose edges that usually goes for $2,200, reduced to $790; a matching cocktail table will be $490 (retail $1,200); console and end tables will be $390.

Several tables with carved wood and Mactan stone tops are valued up to $2,200, but their sale prices will start at $890. Some sofa/loveseat combinations are a superb buy at $790 for both pieces.

You may have run across prices like these--but not for this quality.

* Designer Interiors, 9132 Jordan Ave., Chatsworth. (818) 709-9918. Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m.; special hours Labor Day, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

The Sidewalk Sale at Dishes A La Carte will offer inexpensive choices for tabletop pieces. This new addition to San Fernando Valley dishware bargains has a mix of restaurant supply merchandise, ceramics and some Williams Sonoma products.

For the Sidewalk Sale, the store will have bushels of restaurant baking dishes and cups of various sizes for 25 cents to $1.50. Trivets that once retailed for $15 at Williams Sonoma will be $4.95, and charming hand-painted egg cups from Portugal are $1.95.

For $2, you can pick up some pitchers that may not be gorgeous due to the baked-in kiln dust but are oh so practical. I predict the hit of the sale will be the 13-inch pasta bowls, which regularly sell for $19, marked to sell four for $19.95.

* Sidewalk Sale runs Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Closed Monday. Dishes A La Carte, 11743 Ventura Blvd., Encino. (818) 990-1779.