Yeah, the IKEA bed is interesting, but more like an interesting
idea, not interesting enough to get the bed home and assemble it. :)
I knew custom made would come up soon in the discussion. Growing up, we also had most furniture custom made, as labor was quite cheap. I remember my first independent table had decolam on it. On the wall above it, I used to hang posters of Only Vimal, Raymond Suitings or Bombay Dyeing ad., cut out from Illustrated Weekly and other magazines.
Karan Kapoor (son of Shashi Kapoor) used to be the Bombay Dyeing model. One ad had him in a towel. Yeah, Bombay Dyeing was known for fluffy towels too. Deepak Malhotra used to be the face of Vimal. He later went and acted in Lamhe with Sreedevi. Aiyo! That was a big mishtake. Because he needed to speak, and he spoke, so pathetically, calling her "Pallo" (short for Pallavi).
Hmm, ceiling fan... No... disconnecting might not be a good idea, as it is actually needed if kid is sleeping in top bunk, as air from floor fan won't get that high, and A/C, if any, might not be on all night. Give up on the idea of bunk bed... : ) Another thing is it really crowds the room from a visual perspective... See, I am trying to make you feel better about not buying such a fun thing : )
The desk or table thing - buying any furniture gives me lot of tension, as we both have specific tastes or opinions. Color, real wood or particle board/wood, night stand or no night stand and so on. So, I always go for buying in one shot - bed of full size for future growth, and desk to go with it that kid can use till high school.
After a lot of research on different kinds of beds, including trundle bed, day bed etc etc, we settled for Captain's bed with bookcase headboard and two draws under it that are huge and go till half the depth of the bed. There is a small door at the base of the bed to access the space behind the draws. That is my favorite part - all that space (half the size of the bed) to store stuff, and not visible at all to moms who come to pickup their kids after playdate. Got a matching desk with hutch from same catalog, as tough to later go search for similar color desk. Desk should be at least 24 inch deep. In retrospect, hutch is actually not a good idea.
The headboard is the best part - can put a night lamp on it, kleenex, books, and all the precious possessions kids just cannot sleep without.
This is the
picture. It is available in more colors. Better to go for only two draws, rather than four draws, as four make the bed too high.
Do kids use the table or desk in their room - not much till 2nd grade. If kids room is upstairs, then even more so. My older one started using her room desk in 3rd grade. My younger one still does his homework wherever I am. It hardly takes him 20 min, so it is OK. Around end of 2nd grade, I try to be involved in homework only to briefly check at the end and sign it if needed. I actually find school homework to be mostly a waste of home time. Different topic.
Hey, got a bit carried away with ads from my youth... : )
