Paula Deen Kids line debuts

Heath E Combs -- Furniture Today, July 16, 2012

The Paula Deen Kids Gals reading bed is highlighted with decorative molding and beading. It features a hidden, built-in snake light in one headboard post.HIGH POINT - Universal Furniture is introducing a Paula Deen Kids line under its Smartstuff youth furniture brand.
     Universal has had a licensing agreement with celebrity chef Deen since 2009.
     Collections in Paula Deen Kids are named Guys and Gals and were created for "young gentlemen and young ladies with an upscale sense of style," a press release said. Each of the collections has about 25 pieces.
     The line will be presented in the company's High Point showroom for the first time during Premarket in September, but can dealers can see it now by appointment, the company said.
     Universal introduced the Smartstuff youth line last year with a focus on better features and styling. Deen's Kids pieces were inspired by her comfortable, casual Southern influenced style and by her grandkids, nieces and nephews, officials said.
     Jeff Scheffer, president and CEO of Universal, said the line will likely appeal to children starting around eight years old.
     In addition to coming with extras like nightstands with coasters, desks with proper posture guides, dressers with a folding board for shirts and hutches with world maps, pieces have charging stations, removable partitions in lower drawers, built-in lighting and hidden storage compartments.
     The Gals collection is aimed toward girls growing into their own sense of style and features a linen finish with a gesso-like under layer. Design elements include arching shapes, beading and turned posts that end in a bracket foot or an exaggerated bun foot. The Gals collection includes four beds - reading, panel, sleigh and daybed - all offered in single or double width.
     Guys was created for "manly young gentleman with an upscale sense of Southern sophistication," a press release said. It features a rustic and rough hewn wood in a distressed deep Molasses finish, with mineral streaked poplar wood. Pieces also feature uneven planking with a hand-planed, handmade wood antique look.
     Other design elements include simple turned feet, dentil molding, antiqued bronzed hardware and numbered medallions on drawers. The Guys collection includes two panel beds and a reading bed.