Choose quality children’s furniture that can be cherished for a lifetime.Kids are growing up faster these days - and their furniture is keeping pace.
As children’s needs have grown more complex - computer desks and entertainment centers for the under-8 set - furniture makers have responded with a sharp upturn in range and quality of children’s furnishings.
The reasons are numerous. For one, an empty nest doesn’t always stay empty. Post-college boomerang babies are moving back into childhood rooms, for a few months or an extended stay - and a toddler bed just won’t cut it. Two, when childhood rooms are abandoned, parents want to adapt the furniture to other uses, such as furnishing a home office or guest bedroom. Or kids may move their furniture with them, to fill out a dorm room or first apartment.
“There has been a real increase in demand for better quality kids’ furniture,” says one furniture manufacturer. “People are looking for groups that can be coordinated throughout a child’s life. These are pieces kids can take with them when they go to college or start a career — or pieces the parents can adapt to a spare bedroom when the children have grown.”
“It makes sense when you think of it,” he adds. “People are just looking for the same quality furniture in their children’s rooms that they have in their own rooms, and that’s a big change from years past.”
When children leave the nest, use their furniture in a guest room or home office.How to furnish a room to grow with your child:
- Rather than buying “baby-only” furniture, personalize a young child’s room with bright wall hangings, posters, and throw rugs that can be exchanged for more grown-up decor in time.
- Don't choose temporary toddler furniture: After the crib, invest in a solid twin bed and put a removable side-rail on it for toddler safety.
- Look for dressers with a removable changing-table top, which can be stowed away when baby’s out of diapers.
- Choose full-size bunk beds for older children that can be disassembled into attractive twin beds for later use in a guest room.
- Use low, open bookshelves for toy storage that can be turned over to books and papers as kids reach their teens.
