The Record, Bergen County, NJ

Soak Up Stains; Protect Produce

The editors of Real Simple magazine find alternative uses for common household items and highlight products new to the marketplace. COAT RACK ORIGINAL PURPOSE: Keeping jackets and hats off the mudroom floor. AHA! USE: Displaying a collection of photos, treasured items or seasonal ornaments over the mantel or in a hallway. Use ribbons or strings of different lengths to hang the arrangement from the pegs. REAL SIMPLE REWARD: An easy and creative change of scenery.

Protect Swimsuits From Chemical Damage

Q. I swim several times a week. The chemicals in the water wreak havoc on my swimsuits. Can you suggest a solution? Most swimwear stores sell products designed to protect suits against the thinning, fading or stretching caused by chlorine, sunscreen oils and bacteria.

Use a Feather to Divert Your Pouncing Kitty

Q. I wonder if you have any ideas on how to stop my kitten from biting my toes when I go to bed. I spray water on her each time, but she keeps coming back, going under the covers to find my toes. If your kitten were still in the nest, her mother would be teaching her to hunt. She wouldn't need your toes. Moving them triggers the pounce behavior, says Ken McCort, an animal behavior consultant. Kitty gets a biological pleasure response when she does it. This is no match for your squirt bottle.

Adopt a Pet

Shop Site ; Couponcactus.Com

Teaneck natives Scott and David Fitterman recently launched this site for finding online coupons, coupon codes and cash-back offers. Since there are lots of similar sites, the brothers added a new twist: allowing members to make commissions.

A Decent Deal On Extended Warranties? ; If You Really Do Your Homework

"[Consumers] have to learn to go the next step and shop around for the best-priced warranty." Eric Arnum Warranty Week

Ceiling Job Calls for Spray Paint

Q. We have popcorn ceilings throughout our house. Is it possible to paint them, and if so, how? Popcorn ceilings, which have a thick, soft texture, are difficult to paint with the usual do-it-yourself methods. The sprayed-on material is so soft and porous that attempting to use a roller to apply paint will often just create a mess or even cause some of the material to loosen and fall off the ceiling. Spray painting is by far the best option, but the work should be done by an experienced paint...

Pedestal Postdates Its Supposed Maker

Q. I hope you can solve a mystery for us. For more than 100 years the pedestal in the enclosed photograph has been in my wife's family. The question is: Did Samuel Kirk, the silversmith from Baltimore, carve this piece? The oral history maintains that this stand was carved by Kirk and given to Carrie Mae Horrine Warner of Philadelphia in 1895. Can you help us? W.A.A., Naples, Fla.

Ralph and Terry Kovel

Chip-and-dip sets debuted in '50s Bet you didn't know that Wednesday is National Potato Chip Day. And did you know that the potato chip was "invented" in 1853 by a Native American chef in a resort in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.? A guest did not like the resort's french fries, and the chef, George Crum, decided to get back at the complainer by making really bad fries that were too crisp to eat with a fork. The guest liked the brown, paper-thin potatoes, and soon potato chips were a specialty at the...

Shop Talk

Erin Go Bragh

Looking for a gift for St. Patrick's Day? Try one of these Irish gift shops. Harp 'N Shamrock, 384 Main St., Wyckoff; 201-848-9100. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday, till 8 next Thursday and March 16.

Good Buy

A new Elie Tahari for Men collection has debuted at Bloomingdale's at The Shops at Riverside, Hackensack. Shown here is the Malcolm leather jacket in silt, $1,198; Lennox shirt in parma, $228; and Roman jean in dark volcano, $198.

First Communion Chic ; Whether Understated or Embellished, Stylish Options Abound

I don't remember a single thing about shopping for my First Communion outfit, but I'm certain I was hoping to get something that would miraculously make me look like my fashion idol back in 1962 Barbie. Instead, thanks to the special-occasion perm my mom considered a must for her child with the bristle-straight hair, I wound up looking more like Bozo the Clown in a little-girl party dress.