Spring 2012: The Children’s Furniture Company launches the popular Jango range in beautiful soft grey.
It was with a wry smile that I saw a gorgeous picture of David Beckham holding his adorable 6 month daughter, Harper, and she all dressed up in beautiful soft grey. “Out with the pink,” they said, “and in with the soft grey for babies and toddlers”. Aha, ahead of the curve at The Children’s Furniture Company as we were one of the first to introduce soft grey as an option in our Sugar & Spice range and now it’s to be launched into the popular Jango range as well.
Such has been the demand for the soft grey – a colour which strikes a balance between child-friendly and subtle sophistication - that it seemed an obvious one to introduce it into Jango ... and that’s just what ‘s happening this coming Spring 2012. As with the rest of this contemporary range, the soft grey will be juxtaposed against white washed spruce and available in all the best selling items - single beds, bunk beds, under bed and truckle drawers. It’s suitable for children, from the time they first crawl out of a cot, up until the time they leave home. The drawer boxes are extra deep and sturdy; the bunk splits into two single beds and the under-bed will be available as an extra bed or just as storage if preferred.
Read: SOFT GREY IS THE SEASON'S COLOUR ... EVEN VICTORIA BECKHAM CHOOSES IT FOR HER NEW BABY GIRL
It's so incredibly hard to get good press coverage these days. Not least because so many publications want to offer you copy in exchange for buying an advert , which is OK ish, but doesn't necessarily carry a ringing endorsement for your products.
So that's why we were thoroughly chuffed that the Observer Magazine has selected the Kombi Kart Kit in their 'Most Wanted' Section. They painted it beautifully themselves and took the photo and this is what they said about it:
'Now, we're giving you all a huge heads-up here – a whole 49 days before Christmas – so there's no excuse for not coming up with the goods. The original, build-your-own Kombi Kart is here! Unlike most other things that come in flatpacks, it really is simple to put together – our art director managed this one – and the kids can even help give it a lick of paint at the end. And the best bit? It's sturdy enough to take an average adult's weight, too (we know, we tried it).'
What's more, The Observer are offering one to win - so have a go. Competition closes on 20th November. Otherwise have a look on the site to buy one in time for Christmas.
Read: MOST WANTED - The Observer Magazine (6.11.11) Love the Kombi Kart Kit
It’s amazing that no children’s furniture retailers (apart from The Children’s Furniture Company, as of now!), sell bedroom furniture in French Grey, and yet on the Continent it is one of the most sought after colours available.
Painted furniture has been ever growing in popularity and whilst white reigns supreme, you’ll find that a soft grey is one of those adaptable shades that works well with pinks, reds, blues – the list goes one. It somehow adds a little sophistication to a bedroom and is a colour with the ability to stand the test of time, lasting both whilst a child is young and well into teenage years.
In France, almost every range of painted furniture offers an option in soft grey and as The Children’s Furniture Company is launching into France this Autumn, it was one of the obvious colours to add in. So you’ll find the Sugar & Spice range now available in Soft Grey across all ten pieces, including bunks, beds, truckles, desks, bookcases, chests, wardrobes & chairs.
Read: AMAZING GREYS - TRENDS IN CHILDREN'S FURNITURE
If you happen to be in Portsmouth any time soon and you take a fascinating tour around HMS Victory, Nelson’s flag ship - you might take a moment to go deep into the bowels of the ship and look into the doctor’s tiny quarters. In there you will see the most beautifully crafted cabin bed, fitting snugly into a tiny space, yet providing an impressive amount of storage. Probably made by the ship’s carpenter (from his workshop also deep within the ship), the bed has several drawers and cupboard space a-plenty - it just seems to be an organic part of the interior.
They say there are no new ideas, (well, perhaps the internet is one obvious exception); and in the case of the cabin bed, that’s certainly true – they’ve been around for centuries. So when Charles Codrington, award-winning furniture designer, was faced with the task of designing a perfect bed for children who are often housed in the smallest bedroom, the HMS Victory cabin bed sprang to mind.
The point of the cabin bed, surely, is to make use of all the space underneath the bed, so that it fits not only clothes, but possibly games, shoes, sporting equipment, coats and so on. Or at least that’s what Charles thought when he started the design process; but he was surprised to find that the majority of cabin beds
on the market are frankly a bit of a cheat. The drawers go no deeper than a normal chest i.e. 40cm deep and the cupboards don’t make use of the full 3ft depth of the bed. Of course it’s much cheaper to make them like this as you can use standard components that fit any number of scenarios.
The cabin bed from The Children’s Furniture Company doesn’t follow this tack. Every part of it is uniquely designed to provide maximum storage. The drawers are 70cm deep on smooth action runners; the cupboards make use of the full width of the bed and have an adjustable shelf inside; there is a fixed safety rail along the wall side to stop anything falling down the side and then an adjustable safety rail on the outer side which can be removed if wanted when the child is older.
And don’t just think these beds are for little kids! Our son, Ben, has the one you see in the picture which he got when he was 4. He’s now 14, nearly 6ft, and has no intention of changing beds.
Read: CABIN BEDS - A SHIPSHAPE STORAGE SOLUTION
People often ask us about the latest trends in children’s furniture, and to be sure, a lot has changed in the 10 years since we have been making and designing exclusive children’s furniture. For one thing, parents are much more clued up about what’s out there; how to make the best use of the space available and how to bring it all together to create a fun environment for their kids.
One thing that hasn’t changed over this period is the enduring popularity of
white bunk beds. No surprise really when you consider the reasons:
· Firstly, it will brighten up a smaller, possibly darker room (the kids don’t usually get the master suite);
· when brothers and sisters are sharing, it makes the decision so much easier – no colour stereotyping to consider;
· And
white bunks tend to go with just about any duvet covers and soft furnishings – from Dr Who to Peppa Pig.
But aside from the colour alone, you need to consider the practicalities. You don’t want the bunks to be too high if it’s going in a room with a low ceiling (they do have to sit up in bed sometime); and will the children want separate rooms when they’re older – does the bunk split down into two proper
single white beds.
Lastly of course there’s the look and quality of the bunks. There are literally 100’s to choose from on the web at a vast array of prices. And as with everything, you get what you pay for – although in the case of bunk beds, you probably don’t want to go for the cheapest that tend to be less sturdy and may not comply with EN747 safety standards (which we at The Children’s Furniture Company comply to, but are not the law).
So whilst favourite colours come and go; super heroes come in and out of fashion, the white bunk bed will always be on trend.
Read: The Enduring Appeal of White Bunk Beds
Junior Magazine is one of the pre-eminent publications produced solely about children and children’s products, so we at The Children’s Furniture Company were extremely delighted to be shortlisted with our Sugar & Spice bunk bed for this year’s Junior Awards.
The judges liked the contemporary feel of the bunk with its unique, Mexican inspired pattern at the head and footboard of the single bed and bunk. They went for the light blue colour option, but the bunk can come in any number of colours including: white, red, dark blue, bright green, purple, yellow, orange … and more.
Read: CHILDREN'S BED AWARDS - JUNIOR MAGAZINE 2011
When we started The
Children’s Furniture Company in 2001, one of the first, and frankly at the time, revolutionary things we did, was to set up a website. It was a bit clunky and I thought, well it’s just a computer catalogue, no one in a million years will actually buy furniture off the web. How wrong was I!
Amazingly within a year of my wholly inaccurate prediction, we were compelled full tilt into making our site ‘transactional’ and I was flabbergasted that people would buy directly from photographs – but thankfully they did.
At that time, the web was peopled with interesting, small companies like ourselves, designing and selling unique products that you couldn’t find anywhere on the High Street. We were web pioneers and didn’t want to deal with ferocious buyers, demanding their three times mark up on the wholesale price and who would drop you like a stone if the product didn’t fly off the shelf within three months.
Today (sadly to my mind) everything has changed on-line and you might as well be walking down any clone high street in Britain. Have you noticed that the ‘big boys’ are everywhere you go across the web? Tesco, John Lewis, Sainsbury, M&S … any product you can think of –
bunk beds, desks,
cabin beds in our field - and they’re battling it out to sell to you both ‘on’, as well as ‘off’ line. With all their huge spending power, these mega companies are able to out fox Google and get to all the top slots. And once you’ve clicked on them, they never let you go – ‘re-targeting’ or ‘re-branding’ as they call it, so that their ads appear on every directory, every holiday website – just about anywhere you click.
How dull, dull, dull … OK, I admit, slightly sour grapes because we, as a small designer/producers, cannot reach the heady heights we once did on Google; but I do think you and me are poorer for it.
Read: IS THE WEB TURNING INTO A CLONE HIGH STREET?
Our painted children’s furniture Sugar and Spice range is available in a mind blowing 12 different colours, OMG, each piece lovingly painted with 4 coats of hardwearing lacquer to produce a smooth, durable piece of furniture that will last for years. “Great, I’ll have a set” you say, drooling at the thought of the fantastic room you can create for little Johnnie/Jennifer. “But it’s made of MDF - that’s cheap and cheating isn’t it?” “Not having that, squashed up cardboard, will fall apart, oh and it’s dangerous isn’t it?”
Well, no, no, not quite and no again!
Cheap? Actually, not any longer. In fact per sq. foot/metre, solid pine is cheaper.
Cheating? Again, disagree. Cabinetmakers since the dawn of cabinetmaking, even the venerable Thomas Chippendale himself, have been covering cheaper base materials with more expensive coverings, be it valuable woods - rosewood, unstable woods - burrs or other stuff such as gold leaf or tortoise shell. In the case of our white beds, why on earth would you want to paint solid timber?
Squashed up cardboard? Well almost right. The raw materials for MDF come from many ‘wood’ sources, including a few old bits of cardboard, but the boards are predominantly made from pine, saw dust, off cuts, with some element of
by-products from the paper making industry and recycled timber.
Will it fall apart? No, absolutely not. You see wood is actually really tricky stuff to make furniture from, as it keeps on moving - correct term is hydroscopic, which means it absorbs moisture. When wood absorbs moisture the individual cells expand, just like a sponge and contract when they dry out. The charming little chaps never stop doing this, doesn’t matter when the tree was cut down, they carry on regardless.
In plain speak this means that if the doors of our children’s wardrobes were made from solid timber they would shrink in the winter (when your house is warm and very dry) and swell in the summer (when the windows are open and house filled with relatively damp air) eventually cracking, warping and generally misbehaving. The more solid timber you add the bigger the problem. Our painted Milkshake range used to have solid wooden tops on the chest of drawers and wardrobes but after many cases of tops splitting, we had to have them made from MDF.
Dangerous? Incorrect – although the glue in MDF is formaldehyde based, you’d have to eat an awful lot of it to make you ill. In fact gram for gram tomatoes have the same formaldehyde content as MDF. Someone with far too much time worked out that the lethal dose of tomatoes was 56 lbs (must have been an American), if one ingested 56lbs of MDF, formaldehyde poisoning would the least of your problems.
Dust is actually the biggest hazard when working with MDF. The dust, if not correctly extracted at source, can not only release the formaldehyde, but can be an irritant and explosive. Lovely combination! However, put into perspective with machining of other woods, MDF is no worse - you try cutting Iroko! So that’s why any factory we use passes all EU strict health and safety standards.
So why do we use MDF at all? In a word, stability.
No cracks, no warping or cupping of doors, tops or side panels, Stability for a smoother, better finish (no knots, splits, grain and chips in the paint). Stability means that drawers don’t bind and doors don’t twist, breaking the runners and hinges.
Read: Why use MDF?
White and pink have dominated the bedrooms of Britain’s children for so long that surely it’s time to add back some fun colour. Even one bright spot amongst a sea of white, or colour juxtaposed against wooden furniture.
There’s a reason many retailers don’t offer coloured furniture and it’s simple - just too complicated! They don’t want to hold stock in 12 different colours, that’s expensive; but nor do they have the capability to prepare colours to order. Fortunately, we at
The Children’s Furniture Company, do.
How amazing to have a
bunk bed in bright orange; a bedside table in lush green, a bookcase in sumptuous blue and a desk in vibrant red. Well maybe altogether it would be a bit much, but to have the choice is fabulous. Take for example a customer who has a passion for purple. Everything in her house is purple and she was so thrilled to find a company who could paint her child’s bedroom in purple, with a professional lacquer finish.
The nine different pieces in the
Sugar & Spice range can all be painted in one of 12 different colours.
Read: Red bed; Orange bed; Green bed; Blue Well actually, furniture in a massive range of colours.
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© The Children's Furniture Company Limited 2011