Toddler Furniture- Advice

HI...I had/have furniture from Pottery Barn and have very mixed feelings. I had 2 convertable cribs and still have a chnging table that we now use as just a dresser. The construction of the furniture is not the greatest. Beautiful, yes, but not great. The problem I had with my cribs was that one of them broke. The side rail fell off!! Just completely fell off one day. I called PB the next day expecting to get some help with the very expensive crib I bought from them. Well I was sooooo wrong!! I was put on hold forever, transferred from here to there and got several differnt answers. To make a long story short this went on for a month! My son was without a crib and sleeping in pack and play that he was too big for. NO ONE would help me. I was told that they put an order in for replacemnet parts and when I called a week later I was told there was no order ever put in. Whne I asked to speak to a supervisor I was told sorry we cant so antyhting to help you!!! When I went on lin to try and find replacement parts myself, I found many, many stories similar to my own. Poor service and broken cribs...yes there were other broken cribs with the same problem from PB. After all this the recalls began with other cribs and it was the same problem that happened with ours. Since no one ever helped us, I ended up throwing out my beautiful cribs b/c I feared for my children's lives. They were out of cribs sooner than I had planned but I was left with no choice. The dresser that I have squeeks when you open it and is not very strong. In my own experience I will NEVER EVER buy anything from them again. It is such a shame b/c their things are truly gorgeous but looks arent everything. I would check them out online...just google PB and see all the complaints about them. They are all the same and it's really sad. People say you get what you pay for but not with this company. You pay big bucks to be treated poorly and they just dont care. I hope this helps.

I have bought my two kids convertible cribs (one is a crib, the other now a toddler bed). They are very good quality and more expensive that the plain cribs. When my son moved to his new room, we also got him a new dresser, also very nice that he can grow into and his old dresser went to my daughter because it has a bunch of tiny drawers for socks, bibs, etc. We will probably get her a nice one when we can afford it too. I plan on them having their beds through the time that they live with us, and can even convert it back to a crib for their own kids.

Rooms can be decorated however they want with paint and comforter, etc, without having to buy new furniture each time. It will teach them to respect their furniture and take care of it. Just make sure that it is a timeless piece without characters or anything trendy, including colors, and you should be fine.

Both my kids transitioned into full size beds. I have a double for each of them, which makes reading books in bed at night much easier for both of us. My daughter got a hand-me-down iron bedframe I had previously used before getting married - only thing that concerned me was the space between the bars so my mother and I sewed a cover to use over them until she got a few years older. My son got a bed from Ikea. I also figure they will redo rooms when they are teenagers, but that won't include furniture - just bedding and accessories.

I agree that teenagers (HS) is a good time for a make over... so keeping that in mind.... I would get something less expensive... I have some furniture from JC Penny that I LOVE! Reasonable and actually much better quality than I thought. Check them out on line. My son is 2.5 and we'll keep it until he's at least 12! Good luck

I have 3 girls, now 4, 7, & 17. We bought 2 twin size, pine frame captains beds with book shelf headboard, & drawer storage unit underneath for D1 & D2 when she was about 2 & climbing out of pack n play (her first bed). When D3 was born, she got the second captains bed when she started climbing, & D1 got a metal frame day bed, & now has a captains bed without headboard (works better for her room). The first 2 beds have a high gloss natural stain. We can put removable wall paper or shelf liner on the beds if the kids want to decorate. Otherwise, these beds will be good right through their teens, & any change in room decor, as long as they don't outgrow the length of the bed. No need for transitional beds that you will need to replace as your kids get older. May only need to change mattress at some point, & age appropriate bedding.

We bought my son a twin bed and a trundle drawer from PBK two and a half years ago and it is very solid and holding up well so far. I have two friends with navy blue PBK furniture and they have complained about how noticable any scratches are because it isn't blue all the way through (as with any painted furniture). I did see that PBK now sells touch up pens for their painted furniture, so I'm sure any scratches/dings could be easily fixed.

I bought big girl furniture from JC Penney and it's AWESOME. I got a really good deal about a year ago (I think it was Oct. of last year so you may wait for the sale) and it even included free shipping which saved me $200. The furniture is HEAVY and solid and is holding up very nicely. I read ALL the reviews and everyone commented that it looked like PBK furniture but for half the price. And it's mature enough looking that it could be used in the teen years. We also bought our nursery furniture from JCP and have been extremely happy with it as well.

I don't have any advice about Pottery Barn Kids, but I will tell you from my own experience that most teenagers want to decorate their own rooms, and that picking out my own furniture when I got into high school is one of my favorite memories. I wouldn't get him anything with the intention of him using it through his teenage years, just knowing that. With my son, we picked out something less expensive (we did a lot through Ikea) with the hopes that it will last him at least through elementary school, and then we'll buy him some new furniture.

I would be fine with giving my children older furniture. When he's older, he'll probably need a desk for doing homework, so it really depends on if you want everything to match.

I don't have furniture for the boys yet, (4 and 2) because they would just ruin it (climb on it, bang on it, permanent marker and such), so I would wait till they were older to get the nicer set, but that's just me.

As for furniture being too mature for a 2 year old, I actually prefer it that way, for the same reasons S.M. said below.

Here is a great interior designing post on nurseries:
http://www.thenester.com/2010/08/a-fresh-nursery.html

i have a pottery barn changing table and it is totally sturdy and held up beautifully through 2 kids. I have a pottery barn coffee table that is a piece of junk. I think the answer there is , it depends.

I never bought baby or toddler furniture, other than a crib an dchanging table. My kids always had full size dressers, bookcases, etc. I didn't see the pont of buying furiniture more than once. I got good quality pieces that are classic, traditional, and simple enough to work going forward. I don't mind redoing my children's rooms later in their teens, but the furniture they are probably stuck with and should be pretty flexible. And hopefully they will take it to their first apartments too becaus eit is nice stuff!! And their rooms are totally age appropriate now.

I have bought Pottery Barn Kids furniture and it holds up very well. I am happy with it even though it is on the expensive side.