Common requirements and organization of children's storage furniture systems

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Common requirements and organization of children’s
storage furniture systems
Pavlina Vodenova
Faculty of forest industry, Department of Interior&Furniture Design
UNIVERSITY OF FORESTRY
Sofia, Bulgaria
polyvodenova@gmail.com
Abstract— Furniture design for children of preschool age has
always been a true challenge. They are made following a number
of standards demanding specific sturdiness, lightness, ecological
properties of materials and coatings. The user safety criteria
should not be underestimated as well as the aesthetic looks, the
proper dimensions based on the standard dimensions of the
specific age group, the flexibility, the mobility and the
interchanging and upgrading possibility of the furniture system.
Keywords – children, space organization, storage furniture
systems.
I. INTRODUCTION
A child is a true “collector” of toys, clothes and items of all
sorts, all dimensions and quantity. The more the child grows,
the more his possessions become. Their number turns into a
challenge for the volume of the children’s room. There is some
relative amount of peace in the earliest age of the children,
because their baby clothes, toys etc. could be easily stored in a
single piece of furniture such as a small cabinet, a chest or on
the top of several shelves. However, when children begin to
walk, their action ground grows beyond the borders of their
room, taking up the entire residence area. This makes their
necessity of storing items grow bigger. As a matter of fact, 5 to
7 years is the exact age when children become sentient and
they know that every item in their house has its own place.
This is why it is important that parents inculcate the right kind
of habits related to the storage and the order in a room, which
will lead to its proper organization for the future.
II. STORAGE FURNITURE SYSTEMS
Wardrobes are the most logical storage solution for
children’s’ clothes and items. If the living space has an alcove
designed for inserting a wardrobe, then it is possible to store all
the general items together with the clothes hiding them behind
the wall, leaving enough open space utilized for playing or
other every day activities. When such a hidden space is not
available, we don’t have any other choice but to fit the
wardrobe inside the volume of the room. Then we are facing
two options- the first one is to design the wardrobe as an
integral part of the general furniture composition including the
bed and the desk completing them with colors and patterns of
the same style. The second option is the stand-alone wardrobe.
This piece of furniture is never the only storage item in a room-
it should be followed by chests, boxes and other pieces
specialized for keeping toys and accessories in order. It is good
to consider the fact that these products are designed as modular
systems of shelves and cabinets, having the advantage to
manipulate its dimensions according to the child’s specific
needs and desires and of course, its own height as the main
criteria.
Establishing the children’s right type of habits it is
important to consider the “self-dependence” factor, which
would be impossible if the child is not able to reach its own
toys, to play with them and at the end, leave them back in their
own places. This modular principle is used in a large number of
furniture storage systems designed for children’s rooms. Some
of them are the common type; others represent compositions of
hidden volumes that could be used independently from one
another acquiring different functions- chairs, tables, benches-
or construct new systems with various shapes; another type
makes it easy to combine specific number of units such as
bottoms, shelves, tops and side panels in a different manner
following the user’s specific needs and wishes “Fig. 1”,
Another type of modular systems is also present. They are
easily distinguished by their open type - the structural elements
of the furniture form large open areas that fit boxes or other
type of containers intended for storing toys or accessories “Fig.
1”.
There is a general rule for the case - always, no matter the
situation; a child will choose the more exciting and intriguing
way to do something, no matter what it is. This is why open
volumes and chests are very appropriate storage solutions for
those type of items that a child collects or puts in order without
additional help. Drawers on wheels can be positioned under the
bed, making it easy to store shoes, toys and various items with
Figure 1. Differrent types of modular systems
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small and average dimensions. Children get better access to
these items and keep them in order, leaving the room tidy.
Hangers are also a suitable option for organizing a child’s
room, especially the ones with the right height corresponding
to the physical abilities of the children to reach for their clothes
and the ones having the option to “grow” as the child grows.
One of the general problems, the parents face in the 21st
century is the lack of space. Housing’s higher prices caused the
shrinking of the apartments to such an extent that it is
nowadays common to see three or four-member families living
over an area of 60 to 100 m2.
Modular shelves and cabinets are the best logical solution
for satisfying children’s storage necessities. As the child grows,
more and more containers can be added to the main
composition while interchanging the position of the old ones.
There is a tendency in children’s interiors regarding
furniture combinations. Children have the ability to combine
not only pieces of furniture similar in shape or color, but also
others that have different functions.
There are two popular tendencies in children’s furniture
storage systems. One of them is purely geometrical and
practical. It is based on the shape of a square and it makes it
easier to put possessions in order and store them independently.
The other tendency is based on geometrical principles but is
structured around several levels. The central shape here is the
arc or its own variables.
As an integral part of children’s lives, play is also applied
to the various furniture systems. They are the ones shaping the
specific atmosphere and interior style, important for children’s
sense of confidence and security. Often, children seek
protection in the surrounding environment.
This century’s advance of technology, materials and
structural solutions allow the existence of new type of
environments, leaving the stereotypes of the existing children
spaces behind while still being in line with the contemporary
exploitation requirements.
Taking in account the high child’s security requirements,
the most popular materials used in children’s spaces are solid
wood, plywood, laminated plywood, polycarbonate,
polymethylethacrylate and metal. Corrugated cardboard has
recently become a fashion in the national market, proving its
high quality and properties- ecological, non-toxic, soundproof,
light and low-cost material that in spite of the gentle
appearance is able to carry substantial loads. Existing furniture
systems of that kind are usually designed around combination
of boxes, suitable not only for storage but also for a means of
education and play “Fig. 2”.
Years ago, physiologists came to the conclusion that the
most effective way to educate children is to put them into a
cognitive-amusement play. Children discover the world easily,
getting involved into series of experiments. Fortunately, more
and more designers acquire this specific creative direction-
how to transform duties into pleasures. A good example is the
amusing collection called “Little helpers” “Little helpers”. The
project represents her bachelor thesis at London University of
Arts. The focus point of the furniture system is to both educate
and engage children’s minds into useful activities. The author
claims that “Little helpers” analyzes the contemporary families
and their member’s relationship with one another “Fig. 3”.
A great respect is given to the Bulgarian design group
Cherga, namely the competitions it organizes. It is a joyful fact
that Bulgarian designers are provoked in a way that puts their
professional skills and inspiration to the test and sometimes
makes them famous in Europe and around the world. Most of
these projects are purely conceptual- they do not go into mass
production, but for every effort- from creating a single product
to transforming a working collaboration into an institution-
Figure 2. Cardboard furniture
Figure 3. “Little helpers”, “Little helpers”
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there is a long and hard road. During one of Cherga’s
competitions, the designer Krasimir Savchev developed the
products “The small Pan Ku” and “The Big Pan Ku” . They are
inspired by a tree branch and a hook and are produced with
plywood. The shelves can be used together or independently.
The small piece is an appropriate addition for a desk or used
after hanging on a wall. “The Big Pan Ku” is a stand-alone
design “Fig. 4”.
Furniture design for children of preschool age has always
been a true challenge. They are made following a number of
standards demanding specific sturdiness, lightness, ecological
properties of materials and coatings. The user safety criteria
should not be underestimated as well as the aesthetic looks, the
proper dimensions based on the standard dimensions of the
specific age group, the flexibility, the mobility and the
interchanging and upgrading possibility of the furniture system.
One simple fact should always be taken into consideration- the
child’s room should be its own intimate world giving great
opportunity to play or spend its time in the best considerable
way.
CONCLUSIONS
The right functional zone organization of the space-limited
children’s room is more important than the type of the
furnishing. During the years when play is the children’s most
important activity, parents should provide enough open space
for action and creativity. In the earliest of age, chairs in a
child’s room are often useless. In preschool age they are
already needed but it is advisable to use the adjustable types
that change their height and width. In order to avoid the
crowding of furniture in a room, it is good to consider modular
systems and multifunctional and transformable products.A
great amount of their time, children spend in their own rooms –
this is where they play, study or sleep. They have direct contact
to their surrounding items. Not all of the housing in Bulgaria is
designed with a separate children’s room, namely for each of
the children in the family. In fact, it is often the case that all of
the children live together. In such situations, common space
should be divided with cabinets, wardrobes, grids or temporary
separators. One should never forget that every child has its own
personality and a necessity of an own, usually a small, little
corner.
Greater attention should be given to the beds and their
proper positioning in the space of the room. They are usually
situated in a parallel manner, perpendicular to one another or
on two levels, far from the outside walls. Children often prefer
the two-level designs because the upper bed always seems to
be “romantic”, “magical nest” or a type of “transportation
device”. At the same time the open space in the room grows
bigger leaving enough room to play or work. It is advisable to
position the sleeping area near a window for the necessity of
more air and sunlight.
Finding the right place to store the clothes is also an
important factor for the right organization of the room. It is
good to know that every children’s room needs to have its own
wardrobe as a stand-alone piece or as a part of a larger
furniture set. An important parenting issue is the storage of
toys. Children need to learn how to take care of their own
room’s order. This is why the following specialized type of
furniture should always be present- baskets, boxes, cabinets or
other variations of volumes having the same function.
Furnishing a room for a preschool age is simple, with
minimal number of elements: a bed, a small cabinet for clothes
and underwear, one or two mobile boxes for toys, a chair that
can be combined with the boxes and thus integrated into the
playing process. In their school age, children tend to have
bigger necessity of storage furniture so their volume changes,
and the same room needs to change accordingly, acquiring
other functions for the studying user. The new problems are
related to the choice of proper lighting and a comfortable
working space. The desk should have simple structure and the
chair should have adjustable height. The working area also
needs a special place for storing books and studying
accessories.
The cabinets in children’s rooms should correspond to the
specific needs of the current age, this is why it is best to invest
in adjustable type of furniture that grow together with the child
from infantry to university life.
What type of requirements should this furniture correspond
to so that they’re suitable for all ages?
 they should be open systems, giving the opportunity to
add, upgrade and widen the number of the separate
items;
 they should give an opportunity to interchange,
combine and move and have the proper construction so
that they can be play items or parts of them should be
used for play. It should never be forgotten that
children’s necessity for action and moving is big so
that climbing and lifting volumes around shouldn’t be
banned. It is best if this possibility is integrated into the
design of the furniture systems;
 they should have clean, pure shapes, but also hold their
specific “character”;
 they should have a durable construction;
 they should not have sharp edges and hard edges that
hurt;
 their surface should be easily cleaned and should bear
scratches or other mechanical damage;
The combination of different functional containers situated
in a complex composition is often applied in the design of
children’s furniture. It is unreasonable to build a big volume.
The mobility of the compositions is achieved in various ways:
Figure 4. “The Big Pan Ku”, designed by Krasimir Savchev
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 through the application of shelving systems from
wood, metal or even plastic;
 through combinations of elements that give the
opportunity to hang shelves, containers, work tops etc.;
 through a structure of wood-based panels and boards;
Creating a harmonious living environment for the children
is one of the most noble and paramount tasks for our society
which is important goal for a large number of specialists-
architects, designers, artists, furniture manufacturers,
sociologists, doctors and teachers. The design process of
children’s furniture starting from concept to mass production is
a serious problem, where the necessary synchronization of
functional dimensions and anthropological data of the users is
always applied. The furniture systems for the youngest of age
should be different in structure and appearance from the
furniture, the adults use. It is crucial to design objects that do
not copy the shape, composition and color combinations of the
adult furniture blindly.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This document was supported by the grant No
BG051PO001-3.3.06-0056, financed by the Human Resources
Development Operational Programme (2007 – 2013) and co-
financed jointly by the European Social Fund of the European
Union and the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science.
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