Issue date: October 06, 1999
By JENNIFER DEITZ
The wait for newborns to arrive may seem interminable, but once they arrive, they grow up fast. So while you're putting together your new child's bedroom, it may be worth seeking out furniture and accessories that will have lasting appeal.
Local designers and shop-owners say one way to stretch your dollar is to buy convertible furniture in more sophisticated designs. Just a few options are cribs that can turn into daybeds or dressers, or bookshelves with removable changing tables, according to Jeannine Henry, who owns Planet Kids, a children's furniture store in Menlo Park.
Ms. Henry says a line of maple furniture called the Morijeau-Lepine 1900s series has been a particularly popular choice for children's rooms because of its longevity.
"It does not look like a children's piece of furniture," she said. "That's what we find people are tending to buy now. There's not so much of the 'baby stuff.' It needs to be able to grow with the child."
Cheryl Driver of Hilary Thatz and Cathy Smith of The Goodnight Room in Oakland say practical concerns are only part of the picture. They also try to lend a personal touch to their designs by finding pillows, toys and other accessories that are handmade or antique.
Both say they have searched as far as Europe and as close as their own back yards for just the right ribbons to tie on a cradle, a vintage toy shovel to hang on a wall, or a hand-crocheted blanket to fold at the foot of a bed.
After falling in love with the displays at the Hilary Thatz storefront in the Stanford Shopping Center, Judy Hobbes hired Ms. Driver to design a bedroom for her then-unborn daughter, Brook. Ms. Hobbes said Ms. Driver, who had a 2-year-old daughter at the time, was "immediately inspiring" in her vision of what little girls would enjoy.
"I definitely wanted a really feminine room," Ms. Hobbes said. "I wasn't trying to have a unisex look at all, but I did want it beautiful and sophisticated in a way that would allow her to grow into it as well, and not have it become outdated."
Ms. Driver tied the room together using shades of moss green, peach and white for the pillows, furniture, rug and artwork to create what she described as "a dreamy, storybook feel."
One of the key pieces in the room was a large overstuffed chair and ottoman that soon became a family favorite.
"The charming part of the story is that the husband is a pretty big guy -- about 6-foot-2 -- and his favorite thing to do is to rock the kids and read to them," Ms. Driver said. "So, we designed a chair just for him, and had rockers hidden underneath, so every night he could sit in that chair and rock and feed his baby."
To make sure the family could continue to use the chair after the baby was grown, Ms. Driver designed it with removable rockers.
Ms. Driver also helped bring new life to furniture the family already owned. Ms. Hobbes kept a child's rocking chair that both she and her mother had used as girls, hoping to pass it on to her own daughter. Ms. Driver tied the chair in with the rest of the room by adding brushes of white and green paint, which also gave the rocker an antique look.
Turning a crib the Hobbeses already owned into a bed fit for a princess, Ms. Driver hung a ruffled canopy overhead and tied the ends of the fabric to the head and footboards. She also added peach bows on the rungs and a skirt around the base.
For a wall decoration, Ms. Driver found an antique hat in Italy, and hired a milliner in New York to decorate it with vintage flowers and ribbons.
Ms. Hobbes said their daughter's bedroom became the favorite room in the house.
"It looked like a princess living with her subjects," she said.
Ms. Driver said there is a good deal of latitude on how much parents can expect to spend on a child's room if they hope to count on help from an interior decorator. Depending upon how much furniture they already own and the amount of renovations made to the room itself, prices can range -- on average -- from about $5,000 to $15,000.
Redesigning the room yourself may save you some cash. Ms. Henry of Planet Kids said new furniture, wallpaper and accessories purchased at stores like hers will cost from $2,500 on up. But finding stylish and durable children's furniture can sometimes be difficult.
It was her own struggle finding good-quality furniture for her daughter's bedroom that inspired Cathy Smith to open The Goodnight Room in Oakland with her brother Stephen Swinhart.
Their store on College Avenue is devoted entirely to children's furniture and accessories, and is set up like a showroom, giving customers creative ideas for mixing and matching different pieces.
In one corner, Ms. Smith has set up a red Van Gogh bed (named for the arced head and footboard) with a yellow nightstand and a blue bookshelf. The underside of a reversible bedspread is lined with denim-colored fabric, while on the upside, '40s-style cowboys and Indians ride horseback across a pale green background. A bandanna pillow rests on top, and a cowboy hat swings from a child-size coat rack hanging on the wall.
While Ms. Smith maintains the store and searches locally and abroad for bedding, toys, and knickknacks that will appeal to children and their parents, Mr. Swinhart runs the workshop in Alameda, handmaking wooden beds, dressers, desks and cabinets.
All the furniture is made from "eco-wood," cut from sustainably harvested forests, Ms. Smith said. The pieces come in 15 softened colors, like cherry red and French blue, meant to reflect a '30s and '40s feel. A nightstand costs about $360, an art cupboard with a chalkboard front costs $460, and a bed will cost up to about $900.
Ms. Smith said they prefer to use unisex colors and classic designs for their furniture, so families can more easily pass the items down to younger children or even future generations. Like Ms. Driver and Ms. Henry, she also recommends choosing styles that can grow with the child. "You don't want (designs) to be so frilly and whimsical that when the child gets older, (he or she) won't enjoy it."
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