A chest of drawers is just as necessary in a child's room as a crib and a container for toys. And that's why. This is one of the few pieces of furniture that subsequently transforms from a changing station filled with wipes and diapers into a spacious place to store a child's belongings in adolescence.
Dressers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can always find one that will suit almost any of your needs. Be it the requirement to save space or the need to properly organize a child’s room.
The retailer offers a variety of chests of drawers in different sizes and styles, such as those from IKEA, to suit your needs. There are chests of drawers made in a traditional style and those that look more modern.
This piece of furniture allows you to organize the storage of numerous children's things, freeing up additional play space. Therefore, finding a good quality chest of drawers suitable for a children's room is an excellent investment in the future of your children.
Brief overview of the article
Functional purpose of the chest of drawers
Probably one of the first things you buy for your baby will be clothes and diapers. As he grows, the number of clothes will also increase. And you will always need a place to store it.
Having a chest of drawers in which to store everything that the child or you consider necessary will help organize order in his room and make it easier to clean.
With many excellent dresser designs available on the market, it's easy to find the perfect solution to suit the unique style of your home and baby's room.
Master class: surface decoupage
Useful:
- napkins with drawings;
- acrylic paints, acrylic paints and brushes;
- scissors;
- iron.
For added strength, place a second, slightly smaller box in a sturdy corrugated cardboard box.
Materials for decorating the finished product: paints, wallpaper, fabric and everything your imagination desires.
Cover the surface of the shelving with several layers of paint, allowing each layer to dry, then apply another. Do not let the last layer dry completely; it should remain sticky. Remove the top layer from the napkin, wipe with an iron and place on the surface of the product. Place a clean sheet of paper on top of the napkin and iron with a low power iron.
Instead of paint, you can use wallpaper or fabric.
The napkin should completely adhere to the surface; if not, add a little paint under it with a brush and let it dry. Do not rush to move on to the next stage; the decoupage must dry completely, otherwise the pattern will be deformed.
It should be understood that the thicker the material, the stronger the furniture will be.
Note: Tracing paper or kraft paper must be torn off and not cut before applying.
When the surface is completely dry, cover it with acrylic paint.
However, do not rush to get rid of the thin material; it will be useful for gluing seams.
By showing your imagination and creativity to the fullest, you will create a unique masterpiece of interior that will be admired by your family and guests at your home. Don’t be afraid to experiment, keep up with the times, because cardboard furniture is not only affordable, but is also an original option for creating comfort and a unique atmosphere.
You can use any type, but Moment glue is the best option.
Kraft paper is used to reinforce the edges of furniture; thin cardboard can be used instead.
Priority chest of drawers design
Today's children's dressers come in a variety of sizes, styles and finishes that can enhance the look of your room. But before you buy it, there are a few things to consider. If your child needs to have a mirror in his room, then dressers with a mirror are needed accordingly.
If you want to use a dresser as a nightstand, a media console, or as a centerpiece, choose wide, low chests of drawers that allow your son or daughter access to their belongings.
Tall chests of drawers are ideal for cases where the children's room is quite compact. These chests of drawers typically have fewer drawers than wide chests of drawers, but they are ideal for storing items.
Selecting a door opening system
There are swing and sliding door opening systems.
The swing system is a classic. Manufacturers equip modern chests of drawers with hinged hinges and automatic closers. They are distinguished by noiselessness and durability of the mechanisms.
The sliding door opening system has its advantages in terms of space saving. It is important to wisely choose the material from which the guides are made. They come in aluminum and steel. Aluminum ones are more expensive, but will last longer.
The choice of children's chests of drawers is so diverse that parents can get confused. You need to familiarize yourself with the catalogs and look at photos of children's chests of drawers. Let's look at a few of the most popular models.
Six drawer chest of drawers
The six-drawer chest of drawers is an ideal convertible for a changing table, which must be purchased separately. Functionally, it is designed specifically for swaddling an infant and storing sets of his first things. In the future, its contents will change as the child grows older.
It is designed for durability and performance. Each crate is equipped with smooth gliders with stops that provide easy, safe access for your baby, as required by ASTM standards. This type of chest of drawers is usually made from natural wood or wood composites.
What materials are used in production?
Children's furniture is made from natural materials, usually solid beech, pine or birch. Some parts of this furniture are made from sheet wood MDF, chipboard or plastic.
Wicker chests of drawers made of willow or rattan are considered lightweight options. Some models may have plastic or fabric drawers.
Five drawer chest of drawers
A universal chest of drawers that is attached to the wall and is intended for daily use up to school age. It has an attractive appearance and easily fits into any children's interior. In terms of functional characteristics, it complies with all international ASTM standards.
Can be used for swaddling, but is not transformable. The boxes are made of polyester. Surfaces are covered with non-toxic materials. All finishing elements are made of durable nickel-plated steel. Weight does not exceed 8 kg.
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As a rule, chests of drawers with five drawers are intended for girls' rooms. The trade offers them in a choice of three colors with the obligatory pink chevron pattern. The drawers are designed for storing diapers, wipes and sanitary towels.
For newborns
The very first chest of drawers that you will need after the mother and baby are discharged from the maternity hospital in the product line should be a children's changing chest. It's good because it's comfortable:
- swaddle the baby;
- changing a diaper;
- do hygiene procedures;
- carry out massage and gymnastics.
There are two types of such chests of drawers: with a folding table and an overhead table. Folding is when the top of the chest of drawers is a folding element with sides. By easily pulling the shelf towards you, you can get a wide enough surface for various procedures.
An overlay is when the table is a separate structure and, if necessary, is applied to the top of the chest of drawers.
A children's chest of drawers has standard dimensions: height - 90-110 cm, width - 50 cm or more, length - 60-90 cm. There are changing chests with other table sizes, but these standard parameters are considered the most optimal.
Recently, unusual chests of drawers have appeared, complemented by a bathtub for bathing the baby. But their service life is short, because after 2-3 months the child grows up and no longer fits in this bath.
“Children’s” and “adult” models of chests of drawers
“Children’s” chests of drawers are no different from standard chests of drawers for adults. Their dimensions mainly depend on the preferences of buyers. In fact, there are no chests of drawers designed just for toddlers. At least when it comes to size. In furniture stores you can find standard models for adults with bright colors, made of plastic materials or multi-layer plywood.
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Models made of natural wood or metal are usually smaller in size than standard models made of plastic. The only purpose of chests of drawers is that a high-quality model remains with the child from infancy to adulthood.
A “children’s” chest of drawers is most often the same in design as for adults, only it is always higher so that the child cannot reach objects on its surface, but does not have difficulty opening the drawers.
In addition, a chest of drawers for children is often included in a set of children's furniture. For example, a set that also includes a crib, a toy box and a rocking chair for mothers.
Safety first
It is desirable that the furniture in the children's room be made from natural materials and meet the required quality standards. The corners must be rounded to avoid injury. Furniture items must be designed to withstand mechanical damage.
A children's chest of drawers is one of the main attributes in a baby's room. When purchasing, you need to take into account that the baby will grow up and toys and cubes will replace them in those drawers where rompers and diapers were recently stored. And it will be great!
The child will become accustomed to strict order, knowing that he has a children's chest of drawers for toys, and not baskets and containers, where there is certainly no order.
Dimensions and free space
The required dimensions of the chest of drawers are determined by its purpose and the age of the child. If you plan to use its surface as a changing table, you will need a platform large enough to accommodate your baby until he or she is about three years old.
If you plan to keep clothes and diapers in a bag attached to the side of your dresser, you'll need some extra space on one side of the dresser.
Let's start the lesson
The master class “How to make a chest of drawers” will help you cope with this task without any problems.
To make a chest of drawers from cardboard, you will need the following materials:
- Cardboard boxes or cardboard sheets;
- Vinyl glue;
- Brushes;
- Acrylic paints (shades depend on your imagination and desire);
- Various decorative elements for your choice.
- Awl;
- Stapler;
- Stationery tape;
- Scissors;
First of all, draw the so-called desired result on a piece of paper.
If you are planning to make a chest of drawers for the first time, we highly recommend making a “mini version” from regular paper. This way you can protect yourself from damage to the collected materials. Based on the completed sketch, you can proceed to further steps to create a chest of drawers.
We create the basis of the future chest of drawers. Based on its size, we will check the boxes. For boxes, you will need six boxes of the same size (for example, cereal or baby cereal). You can also assemble and glue boxes from a single sheet of cardboard. In our case, we will use ready-made oatmeal boxes.
Use scissors or a utility knife to cut the box cross to cross as shown in the photos. The cut out parts of the box must be bent inward to strengthen the walls of future boxes. You can secure the folded pieces of cardboard using vinyl glue or a stapler. Similar actions must be done with the remaining five fields. Thus, all six drawers are ready for the future chest of drawers.
Showing your imagination, you can cover the boxes with self-adhesive film, decorative or gift paper, craft paper and even fabric. Or you can simply paint it with paints, for example acrylic. In this case, the method of pasting boxes with decorative paper is used. After this, the parts must be allowed to dry.
To make shelves for drawers, you will need thick corrugated cardboard. It is necessary to cut strips from it so that you can wrap two adjacent boxes, namely:
- the width of the strip must match the length of the boxes;
- strip length = two heights and four widths.
To make the fold more accurate and even, you must first mark the strip with a light pressure of the scissors. Since the cardboard is quite dense and thick, it would be advisable to draw parallel strips at a distance of 2 millimeters from each other.
After the work is done, you can begin to cover the insides of the resulting shelf with the same decorative film that was used to decorate the drawers. To hide the edges of the shelf and the cut, be sure to fold the edges. By gluing the edges and thus forming a complete shelf, you can first check the operation of the future chest of drawers. To do this, you need to insert two drawers into the shelf. They should come out smoothly, after which you need to make two more such shelves. There should be three shelves with six drawers in total.
- The next step is to connect the three prepared shelves together. To do this, you need to put them on top of each other and grease them well with PVA glue. Then, using some weight, you need to press it and let it dry completely.
After the glue has completely dried and the shelves are securely attached, you need to use glue to cover the back of the chest of drawers with a solid sheet of cardboard. Glue should be applied to the bottom of the chest, its lid, and also on the sides. Next, you need to carefully cut out the back, top of the chest, bottom and side parts from corrugated cardboard, securing them with glue to the resulting chest of drawers. Next we cover everything with paper.
How much does a chest of drawers cost?
Decide: you are buying this piece of furniture so that it will serve your child throughout childhood until adulthood, or it will temporarily take place in his room until the next purchase of a new model.
The answer to this question should help determine the price and material of the dresser you ultimately purchase.
An oak chest of drawers may cost more than a model made from a less expensive material. But in the long run, consider the amount you'll spend if you plan on buying a new dresser every couple of years.
Which style of chest of drawers should you choose?
A classic style chest of drawers that will be used as a console table or changing table is a good choice. Also, don’t forget that a chest of drawers is needed not only for storing clothes. Consider a dresser design with an open drawer or shelving above it to store your son's books, toys and collections.
As an alternative design, it is worth considering the daughter’s need for a large frame mirror on the chest of drawers. In addition to storing things and toys, it is also advisable to decorate the chest of drawers as a decorative accent for the entire bedroom.
