Tips for Buying Kids Furniture

Your little girl is a princess, or is she a mermaid? Your little boy is a cowboy, or is he Superman? Sigh... who can decide? We all had our dream rooms when we were young, and as we grew the layout changed year by year. Constantly remodeling, moving, redecorating, what a challenge. We all want our children to have that fantasy room we could only dream about. But what about the cost, the time, the energy?

Buying furniture for a child's room can be a daunting task for even the most organized and skilled of care givers. Design outweighs functionality in the idea, but do children really need a five thousand dollar bedroom suit? Depending on the age of the child, there are a range of cost effective, practical solutions to the dilemma of the ever changing mind of a child. Practicality is the most important factor, cost following suit, space bringing up a close third on the list of priorities when making a choice of furniture for a child. Careful attention must be paid to the first and foremost issue, what kind of furniture does a child really need?

When buying for a child one must consider size, accommodation, sturdiness and functionality. Children don't want or need grown up furniture. Create an atmosphere of playfulness along with practicality, especially in designing a child's room. The bedroom is not just a place to sleep for a child. It is a retreat, a hideaway from the world outside. It is a place where they play and a place to promote individualism where it can be no place else. One must also remember that this is where their child will spend a majority of their free time, as well as study time, so the space has to be suitable for both.

First, the bed, the most necessary feature for the child needs to be considered. Children's needs grow with age. They may start out perhaps in a reasonably affordable crib. Although a cradle or bassinet may be every parents dream nursery accessory, its not very practical as it is only useful for a few months, a year at the most. A three in one crib is more practical. These muliuse items transform from a crib to a toddler bed and finally to a young child's bed. The need to replace the bedding annually eliminated other than the adults taste in bed sheets. As the child grows older, this bed eventually may be replaced by perhaps a twin bed. For more than one child, or a child that has many playmates who stay over, bunk beds are quite handy and reasonably priced for the function. In order to optimize the much needed space in any child's room, a captains bed with drawers for storage under the mattress is recommended or perhaps one with a roll away for stay over guests. Another option for a child with limited space is a daybed, accentuated by the appropriate gender style bedding, can serve as seating during the day and a comfortable sleeping spot at night.

Now functionality need not outweigh individualism and creativity. Canopy beds are quite popular with the younger ones, especially girls, and can easily be hand made, or ordered through a furniture company to accent any child's bed. A princess canopy for a girl can be quite appealing to their feminine imagination. For a boy, a canopy of mosquito netting or military style colored cloth can be used by the imagination in any number of ways.

The next essential piece of furniture is a bureau dresser. Now this particular item has a reputation as being one of the most, if not the most replaced item in a child's room. The reason for this? Kid's have imaginations! It's not at all uncommon for children to see the dresser, a thing grown ups normally associate with clothes storage, as an inside jungle gym. Yes, believe it or not, your little darling will climb on this, jump off of it, use the drawers as a step ladder, and even from time to time topple the thing completely over into the floor. Depending on their level of creativity, they may pull the drawers apart and use them for building material for a fort. They may even put their little brother in it and use it to store him for a while! Needless to say, this has got to be a pretty sturdy piece of equipment.

Now a bureau dresser is probably the most expensive necessary item one will invest in for a child. If you are going to buy a dresser, you want to get one made of real wood, not pressed. Pressed wood will not last long if your child has a thriving urge to any of the above mentioned activities. Shop carefully, check the insides and outsides of the item before purchasing. The backing should be sturdy and thick as well as the interiors of the drawers. If your budget doesn't allow for brand new oak furniture, you might try refurbishing one found at a yard sale or thrift store. You can sand it and paint it any color you like. Something that fits the space available is also a choice you must consider, should it be tall, or long? If limited on space, a tall sturdy dresser would be more practical. You might even consider investing in one that has a wardrobe attached to it if the space factor is a serious issue, so that items can be hung up as well as stored in the drawers. Shelving inside the wardrobe section is not a particularly desirable trait for a younger child as they have a tendency to come apart as well. If buying a used item, make sure to check the drawer guides for needed replacements and wheels. Above all make sure there are no nails sticking through the wood that could hang on the child's clothing or stick their little hands. Anyone who has children knows that if there is some way to get poked, their child will find it, and no one wants to pay a visit to the doctor for a needless tetanus shot. The thing to remember is that the dresser is probably the one item that will not change with the age of the child, as it will always be needed for storage.

Another handy piece of furniture for a child is the all purpose toy box. All children need somewhere to put their toys. Now for a young child, an ordinary plastic toy box is probably OK, but remember, the older the child is, the bigger their toys get. You don't want to try to fit your eight year olds' race track into a little plastic toy box you bought when he was five, it's just not going to happen. Large toy boxes on the other hand have the drawback of becoming a box to play in. This is going to happen, no matter how hard you try to organize your child's room, sooner or later they are going to dump the toy box in the middle of the floor and turn it into a tent, so get something safe, preferably with no sharp edges or nails or hinges sticking out of it.

A desk is handy for an older child. If the child is at the age where study time is a must, a simple wooden desk can suffice. Consider buying a combo style furniture with a corner desk attached to other storage areas. If your child is going to use a computer in their room, a desk designed to hold the computer and have space to sprawl out books to study would serve a duel purpose and be more practical than a simple computer table. The desk may be a little more expensive but you will save money in the long run because you will more than likely have to replace the computer table with a desk anyway as the child gets older.

Shelving is a great space saver, but do consider the use of such items. Shelving in the closet is handy for organization, but you might want to go with space saver bins as well in combination. Remember, for young children, shelves are equivalent to step ladders so you don't want to store anything heavy very high up least it fall on the child and injure them.

Other items, though not necessary can be used to accent the child's room and make it cozier. A small nightstand with a decorative lamp is quite cozy. The lamp should be made of material not easily broken due to the fact it will probably be knocked over, alot. Get lamp stands made of wood or thick ceramic rather than pretty though not practical glass. The lamp shades, thankfully, can be decorated and changed as many times as the child changes their mind on what make believe character they want to outfit their room with. Children also often enjoy mirrors, so they can admire themselves in their make believe prowess or dress-up clothes. Be careful when considering a mirror to place in a child's room. If it is free standing, it should be very sturdy, if hanging it on the wall it mustn't be very heavy as children have a tendency to touch mirrors in playing, though a full length mirror is ideal for playtime, as well as for when children grow into their teen years. It is one of the few items that will stay with them to adulthood.

One thing that can help in the process of outfitting a child in the house is to include them in the furniture buying process. You might like a cozy child sized Ashley recliner that happens to match your living room suit, they may prefer a bean bag chair. Either option is fine, but base your preference on the chances they will actually use it rather than sitting in the floor.

Children also enjoy having their own place in the kitchen. If space in your home allows, consider buying a small plastic table with a few child sized chairs to match. There are several brands of these on the market. Most suitable are the kind that are made of one piece rather than the folding chairs because these tend to break easier as well as injure the child by snapping shut on their fingers. It is not necessary to have the child sit at the small table for their meals, but it is an enjoyable piece of furniture to use throughout the day especially for smaller children to have snacks, play with friends and have tea parties. It's also a great thing to have when you are trying to cook meals for the rest of the family and need to keep an eye on junior at the same time. The kitchen or dining room is also a more suitable place for children to engage in messy activities like finger painting or other artwork, since most are equipped with non carpeted floors it makes clean up easier.

When shopping for furniture for a child, you don't want to buy items long distance. Don't depend on a catalog or Internet site to give you the full description of an item. Though this may be easier for some, you want to physically inspect the item first. Make sure it is appropriate and safe for your child. Only you know your child best.

Buying furniture for a child can be an overwhelming task, but with patience and consideration of all the necessary components it can be both fun and satisfying for you both. The smile on your child's face and their contentment with the items you provide are the best reward.