Furniture for baby/kids

[CurlyQ284]

So other pregnant ladies I know are looking for furniture that will last for LOs whole life and are spending a little extra for quality furniture. I distinctly remember ruining my furniture as a kid. My brother and I drew on it, put stickers on it, spilled things etc. I got new furniture when I was 10 which is still in good shape. My mom was a little free spirity with us, maybe if we got in trouble we would have taken better care of it. Can I hear from moms on this? Should I buy cheap furniture and get nice furniture later or just buy one nice set now to last?

[Deleted]

my kid doesn't play much in her room, and all of her art supplies are on a different floor so we aren't drawing on anything yet. her furniture has been in use for 2.5 years and is in good shape, but this could be partly because it's nice furniture. that said, other than the dresser we didn't really pick anything that we intended to last for ages. and that dresser is rather small and she'll need more space by the time she's 8 or 9 i'd guess anyway.

i'd get something of good/medium quality in the dresser/nightstand department and get a cheapo changing table and crib.

disclosure: i hate convertible cribs and in no way planned to transform a crib into a full bed for my kid anyway.

second disclosure: i got all of my baby furniture on sale at PB, because i was lucky. pretty good quality for much much less than their typically ridiculous prices.

[lazyphoque]

My kid has chewed on her crib since the moment she got teeth, including the back rail which is supposed to serve as a headboard. I have also found her trying to lay down in the bottom drawer of her Ikea dresser more than twice. I vote no "forever furniture" for small children.

Also, why would you assume that their taste would be your taste? My parents bought me a bedroom set for my high school graduation (I stayed home for college). That was awesome and I still have it almost 20 years later. I'd feel guilty and annoyed to this day if I was expected to love and cherish the furniture that my mom and dad would have picked out back in the 70s. Save nice furniture for grown ups who can pick things out for themselves.

[poppyseed]

We got nice furniture from a local store's discount warehouse, so it was on clearance and we didn't pay an arm and a leg for it. It's good quality, sturdy, and will hopefully last a long time. We got a convertible crib and a dresser/changer combo. My parents still had a white bookshelf in my sister's old room at their house that I decided to use, so that was free. I bought a cheap floor lamp from Target.

I was advised by people on here and irl to just get a dresser and put a changing pad on it, or to get a dresser/changer combo instead of a separate changing table and I think that was really good advice.

[Deleted]

We got mid grade furniture from JCPenney from the nursery and now he has a different set in his big boy room handed down from my ILs anyway.

[CurlyQ284]

Oh yeah I wasn't planning to get a changing table. Good points all around for convertible cribs and everything. I will go with my initial instinct to cheap out then. Thank you!

[hi725]

My son does not play in his room. We did go the "spend extra for good quality/long term use" furniture.

When I found out I was pregnant again, we gave the baby Shane's furniture and bought a cheaper loft-style bed for Shane. I am sorely unhappy with the quality, but it will do for now. Shane will get his good furniture back when Ethan is old enough for a regular bed. I haven't decided if he will get Shane's loft bed, or if we will buy a really nice set for him at that point.

[partiallysunny]

I went for cheap Ikea and plan on upgrading when LO is older. Even with discipline and precautions, shit happens.

[livinitup]

The best thing I did for furniture when DD was born was to buy a wall unit that ulized cubbies and baskets. I've used it for clothes, toys and books interchangeably. It is SO MUCH easier to organize her room with it than a traditional chest of draws. DD is 4 and she's been picking up after herself and putting things away for at least a year. It wasn't expensive and the room looks great.

[KKD]

Our kids also don't play much in their rooms, and they've never drawn or otherwise damaged any of their furniture. (Kate did chew on her crib rail, but we have a plastic guard so the crib itself wasn't touched.)

We bought a nice dresser for the nursery, and have been using a hand-me-down dresser in Em's room but will be upgrading that one soon to a matching set since we'll be moving Kate in there before this baby comes.

As a kid, I'm pretty sure my sister and I had the same bedroom set for most of our lives, and it's still in good shape today.

[lizrd7579]

We went with expensive, last a long time, furniture with DD #1. Like one of the pp's, she chewed on the front and side rails when she was teething. Now that we've put it in a full sized bed, we don't need the side rails, but I have to have a blanket over the foot board because she chewed it up

With DD#2, we did buy a convertible, but it's one from Wal-Mart and a dresser and bookcase from IKEA. If it lasts through age 10, I'll be happy. DH feels guilty for not doing the "good stuff" for the second one, but I'm not paying all that $$ to have it chewed up!

[litebright]

Aug 1, 2012 10:50:59 GMT -5 livinitup said:

The best thing I did for furniture when DD was born was to buy a wall unit that ulized cubbies and baskets. I've used it for clothes, toys and books interchangeably. It is SO MUCH easier to organize her room with it than a traditional chest of draws. DD is 4 and she's been picking up after herself and putting things away for at least a year. It wasn't expensive and the room looks great.

What kind did you buy? That sounds like a great idea. I love the PBK ones, but damn, they're expensive.

We got fairly cheap furniture for the nursery, except the crib (Munire). But the dressers will last a long while. When we moved DD1 out of the nursery into her own room, we got her bed from PBK and dresser from a local furniture store. We got the same bed for DD2 when she turned two; it's the Catalina model and frequently goes on sale. We got a small PBK bookshelf on sale as well.

So far, so good, as far as things holding up. I remember having very fancy-looking, ugly (IMO) French-style furniture in the room and sister and I shared as kids. Then wicker in my bedroom as a teen. I didn't really care for either of them and the style of stuff we've gotten for our girls is classic enough that even if we change room decor/style, it's not going to look horribly out of place/dated. I hope.

[tulip]

We got DDs crib, changing table & dresser from JCPenny. We bought it on a holiday weekend so it was on sale.

This set will be used for baby #2 when the time comes. DD will get a new set & when baby #2 is around 4 it will also.

Honestly the dresser is too small for it to be used past age 4. My parents did this route with me, but my Dad loves to buy furniture. When I was 12 I got another new furniture set which my brother has now. He will take that set whenever he moves out.

[sawyerthedestroyer]

My sister and I ruined our furniture with stickers, makers, even nail polish. I didn't invest in good furniture for DS for that reason. He got a basic convertible crib, a hand-me-down changing table, and my old dresser, which I painted with chalkboard paint to cover my old artwork and I don't mind if he draws all over it.

I like antiquing and buying second-hand furniture so I'm sure if he needs anything else in the future that's how he'll get it.

[mrsjuleshs]

DD has the furniture I had as a kid that was my aunt's furniture when she was growing up. The dresser finalyl broke but the nightstand and desk are still in pretty good shape. They have been repainted a few times over the years though. I would invest in a bit more expensive pieces that you can always sand and stain or repaint if the kid does get stickers or marker all over it.

[cleo29]

I bought a nice, sturdy crib which was not too outrageous a price, because wanted it to hold up through two kids. I am very happy with the Bonavita crib.

I bought C's bed from Land of Nod. Once again, I love it. We went right to a twin size bed with a rail and are very happy. It is sturdy and honestly, she doesn't play in her room all the time yet.

[Deleted]

Our mini-cribs convert to twin beds, which is perfect since they'll be sharing a room until they move out, lol.

We got a decent dresser and use it as a changing table too. I figure once they're old enough to destruct things and are out of diapers we can switch and they can have our crappy IKEA dressers lol.

The one thing I do wish we had money for is a glider like this: