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Best Bets - Week of August 18, 2003

A scratcher for the cat, dishes for the kids, and the first pro-quality digital camera for people like us.

By Rima Suqi

Divide And Conquer
Material Furniture’s Flipper is a screen and shelving system in one. Cut-outs flip up for privacy or down as shelves. In birch or walnut. ($1,500)

Sam Flax
425 Park Ave.
212-626-3000

Scratch That
We can’t promise it’ll keep your cat off the furniture, but this scratcher will certainly enhance your décor. ($325)

The Barking Zoo
172 Ninth Ave.
212-255-0658

Get Shirty
This is the ultrasoft boyfriend shirt you’ll want to “borrow” all fall. ($98)

Swiss Army
136 Prince St.
212-965-5714

Shutter To Think
The Fujifilm FinePix F700 is the first 6.2 megapixel consumer digital camera, featuring continuous autofocus shooting (no shaky images), choice of color, black-and-white, or color chrome modes, and speedy 1.2 second boot-up. ($600)

See fujifilm.com for stores.

Trunk Show
Whimsey Design’s elephant lamp is a cute, cheerful way to brighten a kid’s room. ($125)

Gracious Home
1217 and 1220 Third Ave.
212-517-6300

Block Party
Mary Boone Wellington designed this Luminia tea light using a new plastic that positively glows. ($16)

MoMA
Between Fifth and Sixth Aves.
646-613-1367

Black Magic
Fall’s feminine styles call for an elegant shoe like this pump ($580), available in three colors and as a sling-back ($625).

Chanel
15 E. 57th St.
212-355-5050

Lace To The Finish
Leigh Bantivoglio’s French-lace knee-length dress is stretchy, sexy and sure to get you noticed. ($390)

Bergdorf Goodman
754 Fifth Ave.
212-753-7300

Get The Dish
Bright, unbreakable Melamine kid’s dinner sets feature cowboys, astronauts, or a pink poodle. ($24.50)

Exit 9
212-228-0145 Or, shop shopexit9.com.

Paint By Numbers
Benjamin Moore’s new Personal Color Viewer CD makes picking paint a breeze. Upload pictures, and “paint” your rooms 3,200 colors without ever opening a can. For PC only. ($14.95)

Janovic Stores

Suck It Up
For compulsive cleaners with minimal closet space, we suggest the Hoover Fold Away. This bagless, allergen-filtering wonder has various attachments, and folds for storage. In four colors. ($99)

See hoover.com for stores.

Photographed by Michael Kraus.