Furniture Business News

Kids’ room styles grow up

August 30th, 2007

BY Elaine Markoutsas | UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE

When it comes to stuff, kids rule. And the clutter quotient can be huge — Transformers, robots, Matchbox cars, Barbies, crafts, video games, iPods, sports equipment, schoolbooks and clothes.

So it’s no surprise that room design for kids has come of age, with a growing palate for personal style equal to the serious need for storage.


Manufacturers are listening and thinking outside the box. Options include containers designed to fit everything from bookshelves to benches to window seats. And there are versatile, multitasking furnishings that address most of the activities that take place in children’s rooms — from playing games and entertaining friends to watching videos and doing schoolwork.

Furnishings for kids range from pink or aqua mini-fridges to plush headboards with plugs for MP3 players. There’s bath furniture, lighting and all the accessories to match. They’re available at retailers like Pottery Barn Kids and The Land of Nod, e-tailers and catalogs like Posh Tots and Pottery Barn’s PBteen, and kids’ divisions of grown-up favorites such as Ethan Allen, Garnet Hill and The Company Store.

Some style and design trends parallel those happening in other parts of the home.

Woven storage baskets, some of which are designed to snugly fit into their own cubby shelving, can take on a playful look with the introduction of color. Some baskets come in bright hues or with colorful fabric liners. Besides baskets, there are bins of all types — canvas, metal locker-style, plastic and bright collapsible mesh. A storage “organizer,” a stand housing 23 colorful bins, was a recent special for $40 at Target.

Even nurseries have been refreshed with traditional pieces that perform more than one function. The Madison changing-table system shows how a basic cupboard with a surface for changing also can include a full dresser (two big drawers, two small) and side cabinets with shelves. The whole thing is connected with a shelf across the top, a logical site for stereo equipment and television when the child is older.

Along with convertible cribs that can morph into twin beds or daybeds, furniture for kids is designed to grow with them and is built sturdy to last, the goal of Stanley Furniture’s Young America collection.

“In the last few years, there’s been much more focus on storage and organization,” says Jamie LaPorta, merchandising director for The Land of Nod, a Wheeling, Ill.-based company that started as a catalog business 11 years ago and eventually partnered with Crate and Barrel.

“Today there are so many more choices to customize,” LaPorta says.

A popular piece for The Land of Nod has been Under the Big Top storage, which is essentially a set of wire shelves topped with a fabric tent.

“The piece ends up being a focal point in a room,” LaPorta says. “It adds a bit of whimsy because of its size and scale. It’s child-friendly,” and, she adds, appealing to adults because of its design aesthetic.

Although there is more furniture available for kids than ever before, manufacturers have not ignored homeowners short on space. The bed is a prime candidate for add-ons, and the space underneath is a logical option. Built-in drawers offer places for clothing or toys. Some beds now have shelves beneath for books or baskets.

Bookshelves also tuck in behind headboards, which may be fitted with cork for a handy bulletin board or shelves, some of which connect to units on either side of the bed like nightstands that have sprouted up the wall.

Among the more clever space-savers is a bunk bed that packs storage into one end (drawers and shelves) and includes a desk at the other end.

Another bunk, part of Stanley Furniture’s Young America collection, features a twin over a full-size bed. Beneath the full bed is an optional “captain’s drawer storage unit,” which features four drawers and two shelves.

Like desks for adults, children’s desks have pullout drawers for keyboards, containment for cords and hideaway space for computer towers. The proportions are appropriate to the age group.

“They’re designed from a child’s perspective, the right size and scale and height,” LaPorta says. Manufacturers “have paid attention to details, the way the features work: Can [children] handle opening a drawer, for example,” she says.

“One of the reasons bins work for children,” says LaPorta, “is that they’re easy to use. It organizes in smaller chunks and ends up looking very clean. What’s in the bin may not be so clean and tidy, but we only see the fronts — which are all clean and organized.”

“The concept of personal style is just as important for children as it is for adults,” says Jackie Hirschhaut, vice president of the American Home Furnishings Alliance. “Childhood is about finding your personality, and one of the best ways to express that is through your surroundings.”

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