INFORMATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE






               FURNITURE BRANDS INTERNATIONAL COMMENTS ON OUTLOOK
                    FOR THE SECOND QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2003


St. Louis, Missouri,  June 3, 2003 - Furniture Brands International (NYSE: FBN),
announced  today it expects second quarter diluted net earnings per common share
to be in the $0.42 to $0.45 range.

W.G. (Mickey) Holliman,  Chairman,  President and Chief Executive Officer, said,
"When we issued our earnings  guidance in April we announced that we had removed
the growth  assumptions  previously  included in our second  half  expectations.
Business in the second quarter has been modestly weaker than we expected, and we
have now brought the  guidance for the current  quarter  down  slightly as well.
Business conditions remain very soft across nearly all segments of our industry.
While it is  particularly  challenging at our high-end  companies,  Thomasville,
Drexel  Heritage,  Henredon  and  Maitland-Smith,  strong  results in the second
quarter of last year at Broyhill  and Lane are making  comparisons  difficult in
the middle-price business as well.

"With respect to the full year,  we are still  comfortable  with our  previously
stated  expectation of $2.00 to $2.05 per diluted  common share.  We will report
the final results of the second quarter on July 23."

Furniture Brands is hosting its first Analyst & Investor Conference today in New
York City beginning at 8:00 a.m.  (EDT).  The conference is being webcast and is
accessible live or archived on the company's website, www.furniturebrands.com.

Furniture   Brands   International   is  America's   largest  home   furnishings
manufacturer,   manufacturing  and  sourcing  its  products  under  six  of  the
best-known brand names in the industry - Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville,  Henredon,
Drexel  Heritage and  Maitland-Smith.  The company markets its products across a
broad  spectrum of price  categories  and  distributes  its products  through an
extensive system of independently owned national, regional and local retailers.

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe
harbor"  provisions  of the Private  Securities  Litigation  Reform Act of 1995.
These  forward-looking  statements  include the company's  expected earnings per
share, the prospects for the overall business environment,  and other statements
containing the words  "expects,"  "anticipates,"  "estimates,"  "believes,"  and
words  of  similar  import.   The  company  cautions  investors  that  any  such
forward-looking  statements  are not guarantees of future  performance  and that
certain factors may cause actual results to differ  materially from those in the
forward-looking  statements.  Such  factors may  include:  overall  business and
economic  conditions and growth in the furniture  industry;  changes in customer
spending patterns and demand for home furnishings;  competitive factors, such as
design  and  marketing  efforts  by  other  furniture   manufacturers;   pricing
pressures;  success of the marketing  efforts of retailers and the prospects for
further  customer  failures;  the  company's  success  in  furniture  design and
manufacture;   the  effects  of  manufacturing  realignments  and  cost  savings
programs;  and other  risk  factors  listed  from time to time in the  company's
public  releases and SEC reports,  including  but not limited to the most recent
reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K.  The company also  cautions  investors  that our
forecast for the second quarter and the year 2003 represents our outlook only as
of  this  date,  and  we  undertake  no  obligation  to  update  or  revise  any
forward-looking  statements,   whether  as  a  result  of  new  developments  or
otherwise.