Baby Furniture...Really Just Furniture

As many have heard by now we are having a boy! We plan to name him Drake Scott - both are family names - and can't wait for him to arrive.

The due date remains Christmas Day, we'll see if that plays out or not. I think we'd rather he came just before or just after (I mean just after, I'm pretty determined we're spending New Year's Eve at home).

The search has been on for a crib and furniture. Saturday was a frustrating day as we searched Tulsa with little success. The crib part was relatively easy, but what stores are charging arms and legs for as furniture was unacceptable. Why, you ask? Cheap materials and mediocre construction.

The big thing right now is for the crib to be convertible to a toddler bed and ultimately a full-size bed (you just have to buy the rails and the mattress/box spring to get you to the full-size). Great idea, that means I only have to buy 1 bed for this kid until he goes off to college and starts sleeping on a bed purchased by T. Boone Pickens.

The problem comes in when you start inspecting the construction of the dressers and changing tables they're selling with these cribs - particularly the drawers. If a very careful adult uses them, I'm sure they'd last for quite a long time. But if I'm letting the boy keep his bed, shouldn't he be able to keep his dresser? There's no chance that a growing child (boy or girl) isn't going to tear to pieces the light-weight, veneer finished pieces that are being sold along with most beds (unless you get into the really expensive stuff, found one set that met my approval). That's all before we get into the card stock being used as the bottom of the drawers. Yeah, that'll survive a 5 year-old boy!

Like I said, Saturday was frustrating. Sunday was worse as Brittany shopped endlessly and with no success online looking for something we liked, were willing to pay for, and that might survive.

Brilliant woman that she is, she decided to drop in on a place on Rangeline called "Wood You" Furniture. If you're not familiar with this business, it is basically a place that sells new, unfinished furniture. This gives the DIY-inclined a chance to finish it and feel like they did something. Or Wood You is happy to arrange to have it finished any way you want it.

So in we went...

This was my kind of place. Solid wood everywhere you looked. Now most of this wasn't quite as heavy as what I'd build, but it also didn't look like I'd built it (a plus). When I say heavy, we're talking a couple hundred pounds for the dresser. Brittany's first trip confirmed they had some really solid stuff that would serve our needs and the prices were reasonable (at least as good as what we were seeing elsewhere). Thirty minutes and a couple of trips to the catalog and we were in business.

Here's a picture of a piece similar to one that we bought (this one is slightly taller).

I'll have to do a follow-up to this when we actually get the finished product. Looking at everything in the store I'd be shocked if it turned out anything less than great.