Look to Fashion, Celebrities, and the Internet for Latest Color Trends
While their parents may have been clueless about color and fashion trends when they were growing up, today’s kids are much more sophisticated. Credit the internet, the proliferation of celebrity journalism and home improvement shows for creating a generation that knows what’s hot, and how to use it.
While offering a broad choice of styles and pricing, designers and manufacturers of kids apparel, accessories and furnishings are trying to capitalize on this demanding market. When it comes to color trends, the kids market isn’t so different from the adult market. Kids are becoming very sophisticated, and they know exactly what they want.
Some trends for youth furniture being in the nursery
Style Trends – Parents are purchasing furniture that grows with their children. The best pieces sellers are the simple, clean designs possessing a level of sophistication in look that stretches the life of the furniture. Timeless designs last well past toddler years. Classic styles such as Shaker, Louis Philippe and Cottage that have been adapted for younger consumers.
Many furniture manufacturers offer cribs that convert to daybeds. Retailers are happy to suggest ways to add dressers and storage units that work beautifully in rooms with children of all ages. Parents are finding more solutions that are cost effective and appropriate for growth in today’s market.
Regarding color trends, some furniture designers feel that gray is the new black. That doesn’t mean that six-year-olds across America will be living in pale gray bedrooms. Gray is just one of a host of hues that are popular. The introductions of more sophisticated, striking colors, such as royal blue with maple, natural finishes, and walnut or mahogany finishes with gold or silver metal pulls or trims, have also made waves in juvenile bedrooms.
Consider these tips to make a youngster’s play study and sleep world complete:
- Quality construction that withstands active wear
- Compact design that provides ease and versatility
- Ample storage in clothes cabinets, desks, bookcases, nightstands, and TV stands.
Versatility / Function Trends – Consumers want purchases to last longer as evident in the substantial increase in the sales of full-size beds. In addition, much more of what is termed “piece buying”: purchases made by identifying a needed function and then identifying a particular piece of furniture that satisfies that need. This a movement away from choosing a room full of correlate pieces at one time.
Children today have so much in their rooms compared to 10 years ago: PC (computer desks), TV/VCR (entertainment storage pieces), more clothes than the closet can hold (larger dressers and chests, armoires).
Spending Trends – Overall, the various forms of media attractions (Internet, music, TV/DVD/iPod) that can now be found in the child’s room has increased the amount of time kids are spending in their rooms. This leads to more of the families disposable income going towards making the child’s room more of a haven than just a place to sleep. It is not uncommon for parents to sacrifice spending on other rooms in the home for the child’s room.
Furniture shopping for your child is a fun experience! — Follow these tips to make it a successful one for years to come.
Style and function-friendly are the rules for today’s children’s furniture. If Mom and Dad can have a sleigh bed with their initials carved in the black, distress-finished headboard, then your child should be able to as well! At least that is what today’s furniture companies believe, as evidenced by the products they are producing and the focus of the marketing.
Functionality
As noted earlier, parents are looking for furniture that can grow with the child. Many retailers offer a “combo dresser.” A combo dresser is a dresser and a hutch that has a changing pad under a flip-up top and plenty of room to hold baby supplies. When the dresser is flipped upside down, the changing pad hutch disappears and it looks like a regular dresser with large drawers. The drawers are reversible and have double sets of tracks as well.
Other ways the industry is meeting parental demand is with changing tables that convert to toy chests, bunk beds that have a twin on top and full on the bottom and raised beds that have a desk underneath. Don’t be afraid to be practical when shopping with your child. Children’s items are flowing directly out of the adult market. Black or gray never used to be an option for a newborn baby’s crib, but now it is all the rage, as is distressed painting. Gone are the days of pretty pastels. Color is bold and everywhere, so spice it up!
Personal
While function and style are important, there is still that element of making a child’s room, a child’s room.
For the young child, parents still like to have monogrammed crib bumpers and step stools with personalized pictures on them. All kinds of companies have caught on to personalizing children’s rooms. Now, there are specialists in everything from kids rugs, lamps, artwork to bedspreads. Accents are where a child’s personality can really be brought into a room’s decor. They can be found in every shape and design imaginable. Your child will love making the room his own.
Safety
Finally, safety is an important concern. Thankfully, today’s companies are a lot more safety-conscious when designing their items. For example, most toy boxes now are designed so they won’t snap shut on little fingers. Also, the industry is moving towards non-moving parts.