Nursery Furniture...you get what you pay for?

gingin024 · August 2012

Obviously nursery furniture runs the gamut of quality and price and we realize a $200 crib isn't going to get you what say $400 would. However, I have always had a love of quality wood furniture (thanks Dad) and we are fairly close to Amish areas so we furnished most of our house with handmade solid wood pieces...while it was a big splurge when we got married, we both decided we'd rather spend a little more on things that will last than on veneer and haven?t been disappointed.

Now shopping for the baby's room, we find ourselves in the same dilemma. We want quality furniture that can grow with the baby and hopefully last for years but want to be mindful of what we are spending. We?re finding that most well made cribs are running in the $450-600 range, but are mostly pine/covered in veneer that seems to scratch easily (given the display models at Babies R Us). We have found solid oak cribs in the $600-800 range that we know are much more sturdy and well made, but it seems you sacrifice some style for the quality. Needless to say, we?re struggling with whether or not the different between $450 and $700 is worth the price/selection?especially when the cost continues to compound as you purchase dressers, etc.

Any suggestions for those who are still using convertible cribs/furniture for your toddlers/young children? Good brands, suggestions on good pieces to buy or not buy, etc?

HopeNotLost · August 2012

While I love the idea of a convertible crib, I have just seen to many cribs get ruined by teething babies, etc, even if they are solid wood. When baby is old enough for a bedroom set, that is where I will spend more money to have a NICE set that will get her through hopefully til when she leaves the house. Or possibly get a cheaper bedroom set until she is older and knows how to take care of nice things, then she can take it with her after she graduates high school/college.

6fsn · August 2012

We get nice dresser and chest of drawers and cheap (cheaper than $400) cribs. No way would I spend $800 for a crib. Not that others shouldn't we just have limited funds and I rather have a scratched crib and a nicer carseat or college fund.

lmb5109 · August 2012

We paid just under $400 for a convertible crib and a dresser/changer combo. We got a good quality crib with great reviews but I'm too cheap to spend a lot on something that will probably get ruined in a few years.

gingin024 · August 2012

Great points - that's why I'm asking We're totally over thinking this I know, but it's just hard to know if more money spent up front saves you in the long term, or if it makes sense to be frugal now and spend later (i.e. after the child is older).

They advertise these convertible cribs as "lifetime" solutions and I was curious to know if others are buying into that (or have successfully used them for years) or chose to go the other route.

ilenegrace · August 2012

I worked at BRU in the furniture dept for a few years in my early 20's. Having built and worked with all different price ranges of furniture you def saw a difference in quality that correlated with the price. I was a big fan of the brand Babi Italia while working there and knew if I ever had kids that would be the brand I purchased. I for sure did with DS and we are using his convertible crib as a full size bed now. His dresser and Armoire are still also in perfect condition. We spent about 2K on his furniture including Shermag glider and ottoman. Very happy with that choice and will be purchasing Babi Italia furniture again for this LO. Good luck!

paprika28 · August 2012

I bought a $200 lifetime crib for DD, which is solid wood, and she ruined the top rail finish when she was teething. (and hitting it with her toys.) We agreed that we could refinish it for her, but now with baby number 2 coming, rather than buy a new crib for him, plus, the bed frame, mattress and boxspring for dd, we would just give him the crib, cover the rails with a teething cover, and buy her an inexpensive twin bed from Ikea. ($29, anyone? Booyah.) She's still in that phase where she falls out of bed occasionally, but not enough to need rails that it makes sense to have her on a low bed. She also beats the heck out of it.

For the rest of her furniture, we have a hand-me-down set from my sister that she's had since she was 12. Laminate over mdf, but it's lasted almost 10 years. I just recently painted and sealed it for DD, and it looks like a completely different set. This kiddo's dresser is one of ours that we had in the garage that I repainted and sealed for him. Laminate top, and the rest is oak. It was my husband's from when he first moved out of his parents house, 15 years ago. It's in wonderful condition, and saved us a ton of money.

chicagobridelibby · August 2012

HopeNotLost:

While I love the idea of a convertible crib, I have just seen to many cribs get ruined by teething babies, etc, even if they are solid wood. When baby is old enough for a bedroom set, that is where I will spend more money to have a NICE set that will get her through hopefully til when she leaves the house. Or possibly get a cheaper bedroom set until she is older and knows how to take care of nice things, then she can take it with her after she graduates high school/college.

This-

We are getting a crib that is inexpnsive for the year or 2 the baby will be in there, and then, when the baby is old enough that furnature will not have such "hard use" we can revist the issue.

JEN1974 · August 2012

I wanted quality furniture that would last and we have bought Young America, the kids Stanley Furniture Line for both kids. The crib is convertible and has been through 2 kids and will be DS #1's bed once he's out of a crib. When DD was 2.5, we bought her a bedroom set from the same brand, but white and girly and I think it was about 1500 for bed, dresser, nightstand. It's timeless furniture and we bought her a full size bed, so I really do envision her using it for a long time to come. We've been extremely pleased with quality and durability. Another brand is Munire...we saw them at the furniture store we looked at, but I liked the selection/options/look of the young america line.

ZooCrewMom · August 2012

I think the cheapest of the cheap is probably worth avoiding, but we didn't spend a ton on DS's crib or other furniture and its still in great condition. As soon as he started teething we purchased the teething guard wrap for the front and sides and its totally saved the crib. I would spend some time online reading reviews - you can find great sales and values. There isn't any reason to spend a ton! Our crib and changing table were under $300 together and my comfy glider was under $200. Both are 100% for baby #2.

(https://www.amazon.com/Trend-Lab-Crib-Guard-White-Fleece/dp/B00208RTX6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344624407&sr=8-2&keywords=teething+crib+guard)

Sprite2012 · August 2012

I'm totally with you. I walked through the nursery furniture selection at BRU, and continued walking. It all looked cheap to me - plastic bolts holding pieces together, veneer coated particle board, no thank you. Scan Craigslist or a consignment store and see what those cheap cribs are going for, compared to what the quality furniture goes for second hand. You get what you pay for with all furniture, and nursery furniture is no different.

Many of the higher quality brands sell rail protectors for their cribs so your kid isn't chewing on wood (or veneer, if you buy the cheap version). We bought our nursery furniture at PBK, and the crib came with a removable rail protector. We went with PBK after seeing countless second hand pieces in excellent condition with a strong resale value. Plus, our bedroom furniture is PB and I'm still enamored with it 7 years later. Our crib was $799, and a 4 year old version of the same model was on sale at a local consignment shop for $600.

The only exception to the cheap factor I can think of is Ikea. Though cheap, the quality is rarely jeopardized. Their cribs get great safety and user ratings, and they're so affordable, it isn't even funny. And you can buy them used on Craigslist for a little over half of the price they were new.

That's my 2 cents :-)

dandlelyon · August 2012

We purchased 2 Graco cribs for our twins last year and have no complaints. Since we had to buy two cribs we were looking for a combo of safe and inexpensive. The cribs are holding up well and would be handed down to Baby 3.0, but the girls will not be in big girls beds when this baby arrives.

Depending on your family sitatuion / plan, whatever crib you buy will likely be handed down to the next baby and not converted. For us, our plan was to sell the cribs if we only had the girls) and then buy twins (likely bunk beds).

We are cheap, so we are hoping for a hand me down since we don't want to buy a third crib...

As for the dresser / changing table, we put a changing pad on a dress and called it good. More furniture just clutters the room. We were thankful to get the dresser as a handmedown. It's a very solid peice of furtniture that just needed some paint.

I have to brag, we spend under $600 for 2 new cribs, a dresser, new rocker/recliner (instead of a glider) and two new mattresses. They are all still in wonderful condition 14 mo later.

If you are hoping to have 6+ kids then buying the Amish furniture might be worth the money...

Sorry... this got long.

SingleMom31 · August 2012

We started off looking at the $700 crib at the local baby store and REALLY loved it. My SO was sold on it being a "lifetime solution" too. The problem that we eventually saw was that it converts to a full size bed -- That would make her room pretty tight and there definitely wouldn't be enough room for her to play in there. That convinced us to get the less expensive crib and to eventually buy her another one.

amazing22324 · August 2012

You could do what we did and pick out a beautiful crib, dresser, armoire combo at BRU, then find it on craigslist for half the price! Obviously, we got extremely lucky to find the exact set, gently used for such a great price, but its definetly possible! The one we got was Baby Cache heritage ediition, amazing steal!

Good luck! Oh, i will say, my hubby did pick out a beautiful crib,dresser set for about $2000, but i just couldnt justify spending so much money on furniture when there is so much else to buy. But seriously, you do whatever you feel is right for your baby!

Rebecca2024 · August 2012

I'm a December 2011 mom; I clicked 2012 by accident.

Since I'm here, however, I'll give you my opinion.

We bought the "best" crib per "Baby Bargains 9th Edition."
(It's a really good book to have for most things - just fyi.)

Specifically I would stay away from Munire. It's a brand that you won't find in Babies R Us/Buy Buy Baby. It's sold in specialty baby stores.

Horrible, horrible brand...
Uneven sanding, stain drips, uneven staining... probably more that I'm forgetting.

While I can't talk to the long term use of the furniture as my baby hasn't yet chewed the "foot board" and her bedroom has plenty of space to turn it into a full size bed, as newborn furniture, it's trash.

I was so disappointed when it was delivered. I know I had my dose of pregnancy hormones, but I CRIED (a lot) over the horrible quality of this very expensive furniture.
We had paid for it to be delivered and set up and I didn't want to spend more money (& time) sending it back.
Horrible furniture...

So just as a warning, you don't always get what you paid for either...
Live & learn.

I would never buy Munire again for what it's worth.

Good luck on all y'all's pregnancies! Congratulations!

MissGOP · August 2012

JEN1974:
I wanted quality furniture that would last and we have bought Young America, the kids Stanley Furniture Line for both kids. The crib is convertible and has been through 2 kids and will be DS #1's bed once he's out of a crib. When DD was 2.5, we bought her a bedroom set from the same brand, but white and girly and I think it was about 1500 for bed, dresser, nightstand. It's timeless furniture and we bought her a full size bed, so I really do envision her using it for a long time to come. We've been extremely pleased with quality and durability. Another brand is Munire...we saw them at the furniture store we looked at, but I liked the selection/options/look of the young america line.

We're also heavily considering a set by Young America (which is on super clearance at our local baby furniture clearance outlet). We wanted to save money at first and then buy nicer furniture down the line but DH really cares about quality, as well. The crib is pricier than I'd like but I like knowing that the rest of the set should last for many, many years.

I second the rec. to get the Baby Bargains book. I use it all the time to research furniture brands, car seats, etc. Good luck to you!

TiaS16 · August 2012

We are spending the money. My hubby is a bit of a brat when it comes to wood and wanted the quality. I think our crib is about $700...We haven't ordered just yet, we are doing some simple renovations (retexture & paint) in the nursery and I don't want to furniture sitting around the house until we finish (meaning he takes a Saturday and retextures so I can paint).

The crib we are getting goes from crib to toddler bed to day-bed to twin bed. I'm not at all worried about him not taking care of it, because real wood is much harder to ruin and if he's taught young to take care of things he will. I've watched my sisters teach there children like that, just as we were taught. I don't expect it to be flawless in 10 years. But I don't want to be buying him new furniture every time he has a grown spurt or hits a milestone in the first several years either. For us, it's worth the investment.

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