Modern Furniture

The first thing to plan in any room that is going to be both bedroom and play space is storage. Children, even babies, have a lot of belongings - toys, clothes and equipment of various kinds - that are going to accumulate with the years. Where are you going to put it all?
For an average, say 4×3 metre (12 X 10 ft) room that has no existing cupboards, either build in a full-length double cupboard, floor to ceiling, or buy a sturdy, roomy second-hand wardrobe. It really is
In the very early stages, your basic cupboard/wardrobe can be divided in two. Use one side for hanging space, with perhaps one rail at waist level and either another rail or removable shelves above. These can be removed as the child’s clothes get larger and longer. Fit the other side with well-spaced shelves and use it for toy storage; later on it will be useful for sweaters, shirts and a lot of chunky, bulky clothing.
You will also need at least two chests of drawers. Unpainted wooden chests of drawers are inexpensive and perfectly adequate. Set them against the wall leaving a knee-hole space in between (to form an eventual desk/dressing table) and top them with some sort of easily cleanable laminate surface. If these can run along the length of one whole wall so much the better: such an arrangement looks neat and tidy and these are words you are going to be using a lot over the next ten years.
The drawers can be used for nappies, night clothes, underwear, talc and all the other baby necessities in the beginning as well as for an overflow of toys. Later the same drawers will take other clothes, other toys, other games, school work and general clutter.
The long run of work surface along the top of the chests can first be used for changing the baby, then for play (painting, drawing, cutting out) and later still for school work and displaying possessions. The actual chests can be painted, lacquered or otherwise decorated, many times over the years in whatever style happens to be in keeping at the time.
Against the wall behind and above these units it would be a good idea to build a series of shelves or shelves and lockers interspersed with pinboards and space for drawing and the inevitable posters and pictures of pop stars. Make sure all drawing pins are out of reach of toddlers.
In the first instance, shelves can hold soft toys later giving way to books, records, files. The pinboard takes progress charts and nursery information to start with and can carry on into school years to provide space for homework timetables and general reminders.

Given the way most children prefer to sit on the floor anyway, you would think there was little need for chairs at an early age. In fact there are quite a number of chairs associated with each of a child’s growing stages and all of which are very necessary to them.
In the beginning you need a good comfortable chair for nursing and feeding the baby. This should be low with either no arms at all or the sort that will allow the mother plenty of unrestricted movement. An ordinary straight-backed wooden kitchen chair with the legs shortened is ideal, padded out with cushions for comfort. Out of the baby stage you need the sort of relaxed chair that is both good for comfort and comforting and for climbing on: a capacious, overstuffed armchair with lavish arms that will go on to be a favourite chair for a child to curl up in to read. Children love being nursed and cuddled in a rocking chair and the smaller versions are comforting for small children to sit in while they watch a new baby being fed. If there isn’t a spare knee to sit on, a rocking chair is a good place to be for watching television or listening to a story.
You will definitely need a strong, stable highchair, preferably one that can be adjusted to a convenient height for feeding the child from the table, or that can come apart to be put on a lower level. Unless you are fortunate enough to have a nursery, this will, of course, be located in the dining room or kitchen. There are low level chairs with trays as well, but a dual-purpose one will save money and space. If the chair is made of metal, there should be no sharp ends or open-ended tubes and when the feeding tray is in position there should be no possibility of the child slipping out from under it. There should also be a safety strap, a seat adjustment device that locks securely and, for maximum stability, the base should always be wider than the seat. You may have to buy the harness separately. Either way, make sure that there is firmly fixed anchorage for it. A proper foot rest adds comfort. As they get older children will need proper chairs so that they can sit at a table to eat, sturdy chairs to climb on to reach things, soft, comforting body-moulding chairs for relaxing in and chairs that give good support for working. They particularly like chairs that move (rockers, chairs on wheels or castors) or chairs that they can sink into, like bean bags or sag-bags. These should have fireretardant stuffing. Toddlers prefer low seats so that their legs rest on the floor, otherwise they get very tired. Stackable plastic chairs in bright colours are ideal for mealtimes and for working. So are sturdy wooden chairs, especially those with arms which feel safe and are more restful. Stools, too, are quite good for painting, model-building, drawing; there is an adjustable variety which will grow with the child. If you can get a step-stool you will find it invaluable in the bathroom (for reaching the basin or sink) as well as in their playrooms and/or bedrooms. Look for the kind with suction devices that keep them steady and firm.
Benches, wood-topped or upholstered are useful for accommodating several children, marvellous for games of pretend, especially as they can be turned upside down, good for putting under a window (with bars!) and handy for model-building when things can be spread out along them. From the safety point of view, there are not too many don’ts about chairs that are not taken care of by common sense but here are some points to bear in mind:
• Buy strong sturdy chairs that won’t tip over when they are climbed on.
• Don’t provide children under eight years old with canvas folding chairs as they could collapse when climbed on.
• Be wary of plastic or wood folding chairs. They might be sturdy enough but the folding mechanism could easily trap and hurt small fingers.
• Make sure wooden chairs are smooth and splinter free.
• Check that paint is non-toxic.