Latest trends on kids furniture

Modern style for children has been in the backgroundFor Conaway, as for many parents, it was important
for decades. Even after venerated design duo Charlesthat the baby’s room fit in well with the rest
and Ray Eames made a mini plywood chair for totsof the home. Since hers is a modern mix of vintage
and Isamu Noguchi made modern history with hisand new with a French modern flare, Conaway had to
Bakelite Radio Nurse baby monitor, areally shop around, hitting LA boutiques, thrift stores,
home’s modern style never really made iteven Ikea, to pull the look together. Tatikika
past the nursery room door. And that’s aFor other parents though, melding their modern style
pretty strange phenomenon, especially because littlewith their babies' needs is as easy as picking up a
ones are the most modern-minded people out there.pencil.
“Kids are great barometers of good modernPazit Kagel designed packaging for consumer
design,” says Eric Pfieffer, an award winningproducts and medical devices, but when she had her
designer creating pieces both big and little kids canfirst child, she turned her creative talent toward
appreciate. “They don’t know onecontemporary baby furniture. Now, she owns
style from another, and they don’t reallyModernMini.com and its counterpart 300 square foot
care if a table is red or blue or green. Kids look at howshowroom in Menlo Park, CA. where she sells her
they can interact with a piece of furniture. They wantwork along with items from other designers.
a different and interesting experience that fitsMelissa Pfieffer’s quest to find the perfect
them,” he says.modern baby dress led her to stitch her own. So
And lately, furniture designers and manufacturers areit’s no surprise that when she
listening closely to what kids and their parents want.couldn’t find many choices for a modern
For Pfieffer, that means two things: usability andbaby nursery, she started Modernseed.com. Like
durability. His Woody Chalkboard Table for Offi givesModernMini, Modernseed sells a range of furniture and
kids a surface they can draw on and a handy storageaccessories for newborns, toddlers, kids and their
container in the center. He just finished a newparents, including pieces designed by
children’s chair, inspired by the shape of aMelissa’s husband, Eric Pfieffer.
potato chip, that’s stackable and hasThe range of modern designs available to kids and
handles on all four corners for easy dragging by kidsparents goes beyond style and provides extreme
on the move.ease of use, the hallmark of something
Pfeiffer often works with strong Birch plywoodthat’s truly, loveably modern. For many
because kids abuse furniture when they’recompanies, like Oeuf, Stokke, Miguel, and others,
young, but when they grow up, Pfeiffer wants hisdesigning for babies means designing for kids, and their
work to grow with them. “I had furniture as afurniture literally grows with the little ones. The Oeuf
kid that I still remember now. It’s one ofCrib converts into a modern white toddler bed.
those little things that sticks with me. So I want toMiguel’s cribs come with soft, stain, odor and
create a fun experience that a kid hasn’tbacteria resistant fabrics that will remain clean even as
been around before, but also pieces that will be therethe child grows and the crib becomes a bed. Stokke
for 40 or 50 years to be passed to the nexttakes the trend well past toddler-hood with conversion
generation.”kits that let their Sleepi basinet become two sizes of a
And more and more, parents design theircrib and toddler bed, and then two great looking chairs.
babies’ rooms with an eye toward what theThe growth philosophy guides Stokke’s
kids will want when they’re older. The Davidother designs as well, from the KinderZeat, that
Netto Collection mixes white lacquer with light oak andsupports kids from 18 months to well past 18 years, to
ash veneers in three modern groups, Case Goods,the StokkeCare system, a changing table that
Moderne, and Loft. Instead of the sentimentalbecomes a table for two and then a media and book
slushiness kids dislike as they grow older,shelf.
Netto’s collections take their cues fromDwrjax_2
clean contemporary, restrained European, andWith such straightforward solutions in cutting-edge
American Mid-Century styles. Looks fromstyle, it’s no wonder that modern is
Kid’s Supply Co. give youngsters a crashbecoming a major category for children’s
course in modern design history. Take a look at theirdesigners. Even DWR, that other great barometer of
Bauhaus Bunk Beds and Prouve Desk for pieces thatmodern design, has joined the movement. It launched
kids will take to well into adulthood.DWRjax with high-end designs for children from the
When actress, model and owner of Suedebox.comlikes of Magis, Blu Dot, and DucDuc.
Cristi Conaway was expecting her daughter, she said,But as much as modern style and its functional
“I wanted the energy of her room to beapproach flood the marketplace, parents still seek the
peaceful and something that would grow with her asfamiliar and nostalgic. So DWRjax redesigned the
she became a little girl.” Conaway chosemost classic of classic children’s toys, the
sophisticated trappings in soft colors. A customcardboard box. Now made of 100% recycled
mirrored changing table sits against a wall covered inmaterials, pre-fab, with a fresh white surface and
blue Rose wallpaper, a hand-printed design frompre-cut windows and doors, the Cardboard Activity
Knowles & Christou, and reflects an image of KimHouse puts a stake in the ground for modern children's
Parker’s Mums and Asters Tibetan wooldesign. This is a category that will continue to grow.
rug from The Rug Company.