Solid Hardwood Baby Furniture

[JenM02]

Hi! We are starting to look for nursery furniture. Can anyone recommend a quality made brand that is free of particle board, MDF, etc? Thanks! Jennifer

[drcollie]

You might not like the price! You will find that - by far - the bulk of nursery furniture is made of plywood, particle board and MDF, because typically its not used that long as kids grow up fast. When my first daughter was born, I couldn't find it anywhere - so I made it myself in my workshop out of solid maple. I over-engineered it a bit, and it was so heavy it it was a real chore to move it. But it did last - so much so that 22 years later its still floating around my county somewhere, being passed down and passed around (I gave it to one of my customers when my kids were grown out of it) to who knows where.

Here's where you start though, for commercially available, high quality nursery product:

http://www.allergybuyersclub.com/woo...furniture.html

[JenM02]

Hi! Thanks for the site. I also found these two: http://www.countrysideamishfurniture...-nursery-cribs and http://www.greencradle.com/baby-orga...sery-a/273.htm. They look like they are basically the same furniture. Does anyone have experience with just rubbing in three coats of linseed oil as green cradle does? Thanks in advance!

BTW Duane, almost one year later, we are still loving our H&M couches that we purchased from you. Thank you for helping us with that purchase!

[drcollie]

Linseed oil comes in two flavors, 'Boiled' which means it adds chemicals to harded that are toxic to children, and natural which means it takes FOREVER to dry (like two months). So if you're really into the craft of oil, you take 1/3 raw lindseed oil, 1/3 beeswax and 1/3 odorless turpentine heat the wax to make a witches brew of a finish. That works, but you'll rarely find anyone going to go to all that trouble that is selling commercially.

Shellac is probably the least non-toxic finish of anything on the market, but it has its own issues. First off, its not waterproof and will 'stain' and turn white if it gets wet, and it can't take excessive heat (above 120 degrees or so it starts to degrade). Realistically however, most finishes on the market are safe (Unless they have lead in them) once cured. If you're having your first baby, the challenge will be to keep them out of the dog's dishes more so than mouthing the crib!

Glad the H&M sofas are doing well for you - they should be good to go until that new addition to your family is going off to college.

[JenM02]

To be honest, I'm really not that worried about the toxicity aspect. I really am concerned about how durable it is. Green Cradle says that they just use the linseed but no stain or varnish. I have never really seen that before. I'm having trouble when looking at these two sites deciding if these are really the quality furniture that I am looking for. What are red flags that I would need to look for? Thanks!

[drcollie]

Well, looking at the build on them, they appear to be from the same maker. Don't get caught up in all that "Amish" nonsense, either...that's the most oversold phrase in the business. What I see immediately on both pieces is construction is screw-together, there are no dowel joints much less mortise and tenon ones. Some screw-joinery pieces do well and others don't. If I'm paying top dollar for a piece, I don't want the verticals and sides held on with two screws per side. However finding a hardwood mortise and tenon unit might be difficult and costly to boot. What you have to look at is performance over time used. If you have two kids, then a crib is going to be used for four years total and never have more than 20 lb in it. Even screw joinery can tolerate that well. Now if you're going to have six kids, then that's twelve years of use and the demands on the piece are more harsh.

When I built mine for my kids, I did mortise and tenon, and it not only did it never move, it never even creaked. But as I said, I over-engineered it to last for 300 years or so, and we got four years used out of it.

[JenM02]

Duane, do you know of anyone that could build me one, and ship it to Texas?

[JenM02]

Never mind Duane! My husband just gave me a reality check. . He said that I don't need to spend thousands of dollars on a piece of furniture that we will use for a max of two children. So now, I've got to find a $400-500 crib that I can live with. Oh the horror, if I end up with Pottery Barn.....

If anyone knows of a crib that is safe and will get me through two kids without looking completely cheap, I'm all ears!

[Judyg951]

My daughter ended up with a Pottery Barn Kids crib. Baby has not arrived yet though so I have no idea how well it will hold up. I'm not saying anything to her about it either.

[graymar]

Romina furniture is made in Europe - all hardwood, no harmful chemicals on the wood. Can't be so sure about the cribs made in China. Got a good deal on a floor sample convertible crib......