Offers simple techniques to transforming drab furniture into showpieces, including easy-to-follow instructions for spray painting, applying gold leaf, wall papering, stenciling, and dip dyeing.

Describes how the chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture fought for his more than seven hundred employees in a small Virginia town using legal maneuvers, factory efficiencies, and his wits and determination in the wake of sales losses to cheap Asian furniture imports.

Christophe Pourny learned the art of furniture restoration in his father's atelier in the South of France. In this, his first book, he teaches readers everything they need to know about the provenance and history of furniture, as well as how to restore, update, and care for their furniture -- from antiques to midcentury pieces, family heirlooms or funky flea-market finds. The heart of the book is an overview of Pourny's favorite techniques -- ceruse,...