The Furniture Guys are Joe L’Erario and Ed Feldman, stars of Furniture on the Mend, Furniture to Go and Men in Tool-belts.
Beginning in the early 90’s the Guys made a pitch to PBS in Philadelphia and landed a show doing what they knew best: how to laugh AND get the job finished. Both guys had expertise in the furniture industry. Ed owned Classic Furniture Services which did in-house repair on peoples’ furniture, while Joe’s Refinishing by Vincent catered to refurbishing bar and restaurant interiors as well as private clients.
The hitch with PBS allowed them to fill 14 half hour shows with refinishing and upholstery projects in a fun and informative style, which wasn’t (and isn’t) present in the how-to genre. Ed and Joe quickly developed a loyal following in and around the Philadelphia area and this allowed for the move to cable in 1993. Together, Joe and Ed spent the next eight years making trend-setting how-to television shows.
The guys have over 175 shows under their tool-belts, numerous speaking engagements, a Cable Ace award, (won the ’94 ‘Best Host’ category), and are the authors of The Furniture Guys Book. They have made appearances on most of the A.M. talk shows including Good Morning America, Regis and Cathy Lee, Maury Povich and The View.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, over educated by universities to which he stills owes money, he has worked in many professions, all of which have exceeded the legal statute(s) of limitation for prosecution. (Insert public domain sound-alike Law & Order theme here). Limo driver, trucker, Carny Hawker, construction beast, were a few of his vocations before he found the wonderful world of furniture. More recently, he has taught the History of Furniture, History of Decorative Arts, The Roots of Modernism, as well as many hands-on finishing, repair and upholstery workshops to Interior Design students and curious onlookers at The University of Pennsylvania, Moore College of Art, and elsewhere. He continues to lecture on these subjects whenever pay or lunch is included. He has “acted” in numerous plays, sung and danced in musical theater, rock bands, and was the host of his own Internet radio program, Morning Feed. He now returns to his first love, because it made him the most money and got the most people to point at him, The Furniture Guys. And besides, only Joe gets all of his jokes. Joe has worked extensivley throughout North America on restoration jobs, private and commercial. His extensive knowledge of wood, solvents, pigments and technique are documented in two books he wrote for Popular wood working: CREATING THE PERFECT WOOD FINISH and WOOD FINISHING SIMPLIFIED, both available here. Joe is also an artist, and has been painting pictures for as long back as he can remember. He studied at the old Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), Some of his work can be seen and purchased at Edge City Arts. In 1978 he and Ed Feldman met on a construction site and they have been friends ever since.
