The nursery is full of books, toys, boxes and other little things that need to be stored somewhere. The option with drawers and chests of drawers is not always suitable, since you don’t want to clutter up the small size of the room, and finding your favorite doll can take a long time.
The optimal solution is a compact and stylish rack.
Advantages
This type of children's furniture is loved by many. Depending on the purpose and configuration, the furniture market offers many different options for shelving for a children's room.
Their advantages are:
- compact size. Their height can vary from the floor to almost the ceiling, but the most common models are of medium height up to 1.0-1.5 m in the form of open shelves. This design does not burden the space, but rather gives it airiness.
- capacity. On the shelves you can place a sufficient number of child’s things and other household items, it all depends on the dimensions of the rack, the number of shelves, baskets or drawers.
- strength. Standard shelving options have a durable body and stable shelves, without back walls, drawers or a glass front. To enhance stability, the structure must be securely fastened to the wall and floor, and possibly to the ceiling.
- bright and colorful appearance. Unusual configurations and colors can decorate any interior of a children's room, providing its owner with a great mood.
Ways to zone space in a nursery using shelving
Did you know that modern children's wardrobes and shelving are ideal for zoning a room? Among all other existing types of zoning, this is the most competent and practical. If a second child is growing up in the family, then it’s time to turn one children’s room into two so that each child has his own personal space. And it doesn’t matter whether children are same-sex or different-sex, everyone needs personal space, even a tiny corner - but personal and closed.
The shelving allows you to easily divide the room into functional areas
So, you can build a wall from plasterboard - this is expensive and problematic. You can hang a curtain, but it is unreliable, looks poor and does not create a feeling of isolation and privacy in the room. Or you can use a rack!
The semi-open design will provide zoning of space, while slightly shading the far part of the room
For such purposes, you can choose a double-sided rack, you can even order individual production. This way, the “wall” will be functional on both sides, and each room will have a useful cabinet and shelves. Or you can use two shelves (necessarily with a back wall) and place them side by side. Place one in one room, the other in the next room. It is ideal if the shelving is high enough to maximize the feeling of enclosed space.
It is quite possible to curtain the upper space with a curtain or place large tall decor on top of the cabinets: soft toys, indoor plants.
Modification methods
Shelving is a fairly versatile piece of furniture that can easily be transformed according to your wishes.
Everyone knows that children love to play with small objects and construction sets, after which the entire floor is strewn with them and parents have to put everything back in its place. For convenient storage of small items, it is better to use drawers, plastic or cardboard boxes.
Drawers are convenient for storing children's things, stationery and other things that need to be hidden from view. They can be single-sided or double-sided; the second option is suitable for a rack that zones space.
The shelves of the rack can be used to display books, especially those with beautiful bindings. From childhood, a child should know that books must be handled with care and precision. You can give your child the right to independently determine the place for books on the shelf so that it is convenient for him to take them.
To prevent dust from collecting on the books, you can glaze these shelves, but always from unbreakable glass.
If the dimensions of the shelves allow, then you can provide pipes as hangers. Thus, this will enable the child to learn to take care of his clothes.
The dimensions of such racks and the number of shelves are determined by the needs of the family. For a large family, it is better to give preference to shelves up to the ceiling. As a rule, bed linen and warm clothes are stored at the top, and the middle and lower shelves are given to children so that they can fill them themselves.
To refresh the interior, you can use non-standard ways of arranging objects. For example, on shelves for books and toys you can arrange them in a checkerboard pattern.
Choosing a color palette for shelving
As for color, there is plenty to roam around here. Modern manufacturers offer cabinets and shelves in a variety of colors, regardless of the material. It can be plastic, natural wood with painting or coating, and so on.
The color of furniture is important, especially when decorating a girl's room.
Bright shades are good if you have a bright room. You can and should select the color of the cabinet to match the overall scheme of the room, but not “color to color”, but with a slight difference. For example, if the whole room is made in yellow, then the cabinet should be made yellow, but a little darker than the walls.
The bright color palette can decorate any interior of a children's room, providing the child with a great mood.
The second option is to match it with other furniture, say a sofa. And here you just need to get the color exactly right, then you will create a harmonious ensemble. Example: if you have pale blue walls and a purple sofa in your nursery, then choose the same purple shelving unit. And if the curtains have stripes or a pattern of the same shade, then the result will be very stylish and correct in terms of color design.
The purple shelving looks good against the background of light wall decoration
Natural shades are also good. But in this case, the rack must be exactly the same material as the child’s desk. And if there are also cabinets, cabinets or shelves in the room, then they should also be made of the same material, the same color. It can be light or dark wood, it will look very good. The main thing is that there is no “discord”.
Wooden racks are the most environmentally friendly and safe for children’s health
White shelving in the nursery interior
Why not? White color looks fresh and gives the room a light, clean and airy feeling. A white shelving unit is suitable for a room made in soft, light colors. Especially for a girl’s room, where there are a lot of pastel shades. It is advisable that the table or other piece of furniture be white: so that the white cabinet is not the only bright spot in the room.
White wicker boxes in open shelving
A white cabinet will also look good in contrast with dark walls, for example blue. If this is a boy's room, then you can decorate the walls in blue, the curtains in blue and white stripes, and the shelving in white. Nautical theme and very stylish!
Materials used in the production of children's furniture must be certified and have a supporting document
Use your imagination and remember that harmony, simplicity and lack of frills are the best assistants for a beginning interior designer and anyone who independently designs their cozy home!
To finally choose the perfect idea and get inspired, look at the numerous photographs. They show what modern children's shelves are like, how they fit into the interior of a children's room and how best to decorate them.
Room zoning ability
A child's room with shelving can be used to easily divide the room into zones. A product of medium height can be used as a screen. For example, if you need to protect the play area from the study area, or the sleeping area from the work area.
For convenient operation, racks can be of different heights, double-row or multi-row. Corner or vertical racks are perfect for educational supplies, while larger ones are ideal for storing sports or creative equipment. In addition, corner models perfectly fill the empty space of the corner zone.
Materials for making toy storage cabinets
When choosing a shelving unit or any other type of wardrobe for a nursery, you need to look not only at the shape and color, but also at the material. It depends on him how long it will last and how easy it will be to care for it.
Tree
A classic option for a closet that is still used today. The main advantages of wood are beauty and durability. If you take care of it carefully, update the varnish from time to time, and don’t put hot stuff on top, then the wood can last for decades.
On the other hand, it does not tolerate humidity and temperature changes well, it is a haven for bugs and other parasites, it will burn in a fire, and swell in a flood. The advantage is that wood is quite expensive (for example, rare species are not inferior in price to natural stone).
MDF
They are made from sawdust, thoroughly mixed with resin and pressed into thin tiles. In terms of quality, it is almost similar to wood: it lasts a long time, does not break easily, looks good, and has difficulty coping with moisture.
The only significant difference is the price: MDF is noticeably cheaper and allows you to save money. It is only important to buy it from trusted furniture suppliers, otherwise the material may turn out to be of poor quality. And such MDF emits substances harmful to humans.
Plastic
Often used to make simple shelving. This is due to the advantages:
- inexpensive. Plastic is the cheapest of materials;
- universal. It comes in a variety of colors and is easy to shape into different shapes and textures. You can often find patterns on such cabinets.
Still, there are not enough advantages to outweigh the disadvantages:
- lack of reliability. Plastic fades in the sun, deforms from mechanical stress, suffers from temperature changes and melts slightly if you put something hot on it;
- short service life. A rare cabinet made of plastic will last more than ten years.
It makes sense to take a plastic shelf as a temporary option in the hope that the child will grow up, he will no longer need a place to store a toy army, and the rack can be replaced with something more durable and beautiful. Or they buy plastic models if the budget is very limited and there is not much choice.
Metal
Metal furniture that will be placed in the nursery is rarely used. The pros don't help:
- reliability. It serves for a long time, is not afraid of anything: no humidity, no temperature changes, no shocks, no fire, no parasites;
- specific beauty. The metal rack looks very impressive and fits perfectly into abstract modern styles.
But it is expensive, and also heavy and hard. If a child crashes into a metal cabinet, he will be injured, and if it falls on him, the consequences can be dire.
It is important to consider that children are rarely neat and constantly run around the apartment, so placing metal furniture in the room is too risky.
Design ideas
Ordinary shelves can be made original and colorful by covering them with colorful wallpaper scraps with various images or gift wrapping paper.
Alternatively, you can consider the idea of attaching used boxes to the wall. Or play around with arranging a rack in the form of a tree or a cloud.
Children's table rack for placing toys
This design combines two furniture elements: a table and a shelving unit. Suitable for children of various age categories. Convenient for storing office supplies, toys, books, sports equipment, etc.
Designs with a step
In this model, the role of a step is played by the lower step extended forward, with the help of which the baby can easily rise up to take the necessary thing.
This design is quite high, so it is necessary to firmly fix it to the wall, ensuring complete immobility for safe use by the child.
Design with drawers or baskets
Very roomy and hides the contents. But the child is not always able to independently place the filled basket back into the cell. To avoid confusion about what is where, you can label the baskets or attach signed labels.
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DIY rack
Shelving can be purchased ready-made or built independently from cardboard boxes. You don't even need special tools. To do this, you need to prepare boxes of various sizes, then cover them with bright multi-colored paper.
If the child is small, then a couple of rows of boxes in which you can put children's toys or small softcover books will be enough for him. As the baby grows, boxes can be added. In addition to cardboard, wooden materials, MDF or chipboard are used for their production.
Massive cabinets look rather rude in a children's room and steal precious centimeters of space. But the use of shelving in the interior of a children's room is an excellent design solution. This is a great space saver and teaches children order while playing. Give children happiness! We hope our article will help you in decorating your children's room.
How to do it yourself
No one forbids making a rack with your own hands, especially since it is not difficult to do: you will need the necessary materials, tools and the ability to handle them.
The best option would be to build a frame from wood, furniture panels or laminated chipboard (connecting longitudinal and transverse boards) and supplement it with bright store-bought drawers and baskets.
Bulky and massive cabinets have been replaced by lightweight shelving structures, which, among other things, are compact and portable. Shelving can add style, brightness and organization to a room, especially if you experiment with shapes, colors and designs.
