How to Design Furniture for Children

Determine the purpose of the furniture. Find out it this furniture is going to be used for sleeping, sitting or writing.

Determine the size. It is a good idea to consider the size of the room where the furniture will be used. Measure the size of the room, making sure to keep in mind how the new furniture will fit into this room and where it will be placed. Measure the width, height and length of the room to get the total dimension. Jot down the measurement in a piece of paper.

Start designing. You can use the computer to design the kid's furniture (see Resources below). You can also use a conventional way of designing a furniture by using pen and paper. Use a paper that is used by interior designers and architects in order to put the measurements by grids. This way you can be sure that the size of furniture will fit in the location it is intended to be placed in.

Consider what type of style to use. It is advisable to design something that would match the other furniture in the house, and to go with the overall design of the room and the entire house, if need be. This way the furniture can easily blend in. For example, a contemporary or ultra-modern piece of furniture will not go well with Victorian interior decor filled with Victorian furnishings.

Keep in mind the age of the child you are designing the furniture for. Add safety features on a bed for children who tend to roll-over when sleeping. You may also need to design furniture that would not be too high for the child to reach. Adding an adjustable platform to make beds easily accessible for younger kids is a great idea.

Avoid designing for the "ages." As much as possible, do not design furniture that the child will outgrow in a couple of years. If you are designing a toddler's bed, for example, design it in a way that it can be easily converted into a teenager's bed. If you want to add embellishments like wheels for a sports car theme, make sure that it is easily removable. Avoiding too many juvenile details can help in making the furniture mature as the child does. There are some cribs that can be converted into a toddler's bed, then into an older child's bed and all the way to college years, by adjusting or loosening some of the pieces. The crib will lose the side railings, the legs will go lower to become a toddler's bed and the bed frame will then be removed to yield a single bed headboard as the child grows older.

Consider what type of material to use. There are numerous materials that can be used in making kid's furniture, such as wood, metal, stone, and glass. Be careful in choosing materials with glass, use a tempered glass or flexi-glass if you need to use them as accents, so that they will not be easily breakable. There are durable products such as plastics and vinyls that you can employ in your design. If you are designing a couch, a chair or a bed, you may want to use upholstery made of fabric or leather materials.

Choose the finish to use. If choosing wood as a material, decide which paint or varnish finish to use. For metals, decide if it will be made of brass, aluminum or steel. If you are designing for a client, make sure to consult with them first.

Add decorative details. Use carvings, embossing or engraving. Add removable decorations such as flowers, bugs, bumblebees and butterflies. Even though you are designing a furniture that will grow with the child, you can still add some embellishments that a young child can appreciate and enjoy, but which can be removed should the child outgrow those designs.

Create at least 3 renderings of your design. Doing this will give you options to choose from. If you are doing this for a client, you can have the client choose which one to go for.

Save your work. If you are using paper, put it in a nice folder and make several copies and keep them in a safe place, so that if you lose the original you still have another copy to refer to. In the case of using a computer software, save your work and file it in a file folder on your PC and then make a copy onto a CD or USB flash drive. Label your copies accordingly.

Present your final drawing or design and then have a carpenter or furniture maker build it for you. Ensure that you have a drawing for each piece that would go into the finished piece, and have clear instructions on what they are intended for. Collaborating with the furniture maker to make improvements on the design and functionality, if need be. Then make it a point to keep the client updated, and ask for an approval for any changes to the design so that the end product would be something that would work better for the child.