LaDifférence

125 S. 14th St.
648-6210
ladiff.com

Second Place: Decor Furniture and Mattress Showplace

Third Place: Virginia Wayside Furniture

LaDiff offers 50,000 square feet and three floors of home décor heaven, and if your idea of paradise involves a fire pit and fresh air, it has you covered there, too, with a newly renovated, 5,000-square-foot, outdoor furniture gallery. It’s been a good year, says Sarah Paxton, its vice president and co-owner. “We feel like everyone has weathered the Great Recession to a certain extent and is coming out the other end tired of brown furniture. Color is back: blues, greens, oranges, reds. Gray remains the top neutral shade and — pardon the pun — we’ve seen at least 50 shades of it.” Decor opened in 2008 and probably is best known for its custom upholstery selection and unfinished and custom-built solid wood furniture. “You can come in and say I want my bookcase to look like this and we will make it for you,” general manager David Stein says. Family-owned, locally grown Virginia Wayside Furniture is a perennial reader favorite, known for its wide selection of quality furniture made in the United States.