Youth furniture looks beyond bedroom
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, October 13, 2003
High Point — Youth furniture manufacturers are seeking to extend their reach by designing and marketing product for several rooms in the house.
Kids spend time in more places than their bedrooms, so families want attractive furniture that meets kids' needs in other areas of the home, say juvenile furniture makers, who are featuring those products at this week's market.
"Youth furniture can and should be found in other rooms," said Glenn Prillaman, vice president and product manager for Young America, Stanley's youth division.
One trend evident over the past year or so has been the styling up of juvenile bedroom sets so they can be used in second bedrooms and summer homes.
That has been a natural development for Vermont Precision, which focuses on solid-wood bedroom sets. Clear finishes and light stains allow the beauty of the solid maple and ash to show through, giving the pieces a stylish look that works in many settings. The company has been selling more full beds in the last year, said President Geoffrey Jackson.
Lea Inds. showed five new groups at premarket, with most of the pieces designed for older kids and adults.
Over the years, Lea has thrived on furniture for younger kids, through grade school, but hasn't focused on kids in the 11-to-14 age range, said Earl Wang, vice president of product development.
Lea's new Miss Laura collection has a country French design to appeal to girls. However, Wang said, the pieces aren't skimpy. The bed has heavy posts, and the mirror has a thick wooden frame.
The gender-neutral Apex collection from Lea offers three different sizes for a dresser to allow for the age and needs of the child, or for the available space in the room. A simple four-drawer dresser measures 44-inches wide and 30-inches tall. An eight-drawer dresser is 54-inches wide and 32-inches tall, while the nine-drawer dresser is 64-inches wide and 42-inches tall.
Because of space constrictions in a child's room, second bedroom or summer home, it's important that larger pieces grow vertically to maximize space. "You've got a 10-by-12 'closet' that you've got to pack bedroom, home office and home entertainment into," said Wang.
When designing for older kids, multiple bed options are important. Parents are a bit fearful of letting small children sleep in a bunk or loft bed, but as the child get older, there are many ways to use these bed systems for more storage and function, he said.
Vermont Precision's Jackson said his company wants to reach consumers before the child reaches school age, with children in its cribs, or with a bed and dresser, at a young age. Then, as the kids grow, parents can add desks, hutches, bookcases and larger dressers.
Waiting until kids are in middle school or high school to sell them furniture can backfire, Jackson said, as parents may prefer to save that money for college.
Spreading beyond the bedroom, Lea and Young America are introducing this market computer desks that look good enough to be placed in the den or family room.
The Internet and television can expose children to unsavory images and information, so many parents want to keep the computer and TV where they can supervise their kids, said Young America's Prillaman. While the furniture is going into a family setting, the pieces still need to be scaled for a child's use, he said.
Broyhill offers some home office pieces that coordinate with its case goods lines, but the company keeps scale in mind. "If you can sit at a kitchen table without a booster seat, you can use our furniture," said Don Essenberg, merchandising manager for import case goods.
The latest youth offering at Broyhill was a "no-brainer," as some retailers already were showing a couple of pieces in their youth galleries, Essenberg said.
In April, Broyhill introduced Charlestowne Square, a 19th century master bedroom group that offered a twin bed option for second bedrooms. Retailers have shown the bed with a bachelor's chest, he said, inspiring the company to develop a dozen youth pieces offered in three finishes: black cherry, brown cherry and whitewash cherry.
One room typically forgotten by youth manufacturers is the bathroom. Many homes have bathrooms designed mainly for kids, said Young America's Prillaman, so an opportunity exists so long as the furniture doesn't take up much floor space.
Youth vendors can more easily provide these types of products because they understand dimensions and safety, he said. His company's new Starlight line includes a storage cabinet for the bathroom, which has drawer stops just like the dresser but also comes with a tip kit — the hardware and instructions for attaching case pieces to a wall so they won't fall if Junior tries to climb on the piece. All Young America cases 40-inches or taller have a tip kit, Prillaman said.
Another bathroom piece in Starlight is a bench with storage drawer. The small bench has a terrycloth cover that can be removed and washed.
The Starlight collection has more than 30 pieces in a white painted finish; the same silhouettes are offered in a clear maple finish as the 2nd Nature collection. Also part of the introduction is a wicker bed, the first time Stanley has offered wicker in Young America.
Also on tap for the first time in Young America are nursery items such as a crib and a dresser with changing station.
Young America has joined the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Assn., and all the pieces are JPMA-certified for safety.
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