Leading trends in kids furniture by Dave Nemeth


Recent years have seen a lot of development take place within kids furniture and furnishings, with one no longer being limited to boring and dull furnishings when it comes to sprucing up your kids rooms. One of the biggest trends at the moment which has been spurred on by various TV makeover shows is themed bedrooms. These rooms mimic everything from pirate ships to Disney fantasy lands where even super tubes are the order of the day. As amazing as these spaces are, it is however important to remember that they are temporary and kids will only have a few years pleasure out of them until they need more functional space and more mature décor. Most of these rooms are also custom made so they do end up being excessively expensive as many elements are shopfitted into the existing space.


Custom wallpaper is a key trend element at the moment and a great way to create a themed room without huge expense. Any hi-res digital image can be printed onto wallpaper and hung in a matter of hours, it is also relatively simple to remove it once it become out dated. Lampshades and linen can also be custom printed affordably, so we are seeing these being co-ordinated to the wallpaper and without very expensive furniture the ultimate kids pads are being created regardless of the size and shape.



One of the biggest trends in kids furnishings at the moment is multifunctional furniture. In the past one was very limited and certain items of furniture had to be bought in stages for instance a crib, cot, compactum for newborns, then single beds then possibly bunks and then desks. One of the biggest challenges in kids rooms is and always will be storage and this is where clever design can save you a lot of money.


This thought through design, includes cots that later become a bed and once the child outgrows the bed they transform into a bench, which is no longer simply limited to the kids room. Most new designs are based on a bunk bed system, even if it is just a single bed, it is raised off the floor in order to create desk space or storage underneath. Standard bunk beds themselves have changed drastically over the years and often can be clipped together to create a double bed once the child reaches their teens. Stairs to the upper level bunks incorporate drawers for storage and often additional storage under the bed in the form of pull out drawers.


The major trend in babies rooms is to focus around the decor and have good quality, yet simplistic furniture, there is a definite move away from traditional styles and a tendency towards more contemporary cots and compactum’s. Wallpaper is still very popular and lighting is exceptionally important and mostly on dimmer switches. A general design trend is towards hand crafted products and this has definitely filtered through to things like crochet cot blankets and hand knitted blankets. In recent years we have seen a reaction to hi-tech kids toys with the re-emergence of hand-made wooden toys resembling those of our grandparents youth.



As with all furniture, a lot of kids and babies furniture is manufactured in the East, make sure that you are buying furniture that has been painted with “Lead free” paint and insist on seeing the documentation, whether imported or local. - SAH0





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