Paula Deen introduces new furniture collection

The key ingredients to her newest enterprise - a 50-piece furniture collection that will go on sale later this year - can be found in her home and her personal history, said Paula Deen, whose restaurant, cookbooks and television shows have brought her worldwide fame.

Universal furniture International Inc. of High Point, N.C., contacted her about a year ago, Deen said, and asked if she'd be interested in such an endeavor.

Her response: "Oh, my goodness yes!"

Universal then sent a team of designers to her Wilmington Island house, and "they went over it with a fine-toothed comb," she said.

They looked at antiques that "I bought after I finally started making some money," Deen said, and "at stuff that I'd bought at yard sales."

The resultant collection includes tables, chairs, bars, sideboards, dressers, chests and beds.

"This line is so Savannah," said Deen, who added that seeing it through was an emotional experience.

Jeff Scheffer, president and CEO of Universal furniture, said, "You'll recognize Paula's hand in each and every piece.''

"Paula likes traditional design, but she also has a fun personality,'' he said in a news release.

Deen's favorite piece, she said, is the Bag Lady's Cabinet, a storage chest that features two framed glass doors and that can be used in the kitchen, dining room, bedroom, office or even the foyer.

Its title harkens back to the days when Deen was far from famous. The Bag Lady was the name of the lunch delivery and catering service she ran out of her home in the late 1980s.

Her story since then is well-chronicled: from the Bag Lady to the Best Western on the southside, where she and sons Jamie and Bobby operated a restaurant; to downtown Savannah, where The Lady & Sons now serves hundreds of customers a day.

Throughout it all, she said, her philosophy has not changed. "When I started, I wanted it to be affordable, a great meal at a reasonable price."

That will carry over to the furniture line as well, which will be in retail stores in September, she said.

"My sofa (which comes in a three-over-three configuration with roll arms and a dressmaker skirt) will be about $1,200," Deen said. "That's very reasonable in today's market."