Can't open chest/Furnace/ with item in hand.

Can't confirm in 1.8.3. Are you still experiencing the issue?

Well Isaac, I reported this bug on August 28, 2014, specifically for the third pre-release "before" 1.8 came out. Months later we are now in Minecraft version 1.8.3, so I think it's fair to say that after many updates with bug fixes since the date this report was posted, the bug no longer exists in my game. Good night, kind sir.