Posted on Leave a comment

Just4kidz Loose Cover Chair – don’t accept cheap imitations

Just4kidz have been manufacturing and selling children’s loose cover chairs for over 10 years. In that time we have sold literally thousands of chairs to schools and to customers homes. One of the most satisfying things about selling an item so successfully is when we are regularly contacted by customers who have had our chairs for years and have passed them from one child to another.

Inevitably when you have a success story, like the loose cover chair, people will try to copy and imitate your product. However with a product of this quality you simply cannot cut corners. So what is it that sets the loose cover chair apart?

Firstly we make every chair ourselves right here in the UK in our own factories. We manufacture the solid wooden frame, upholster the frame, blow the fibre for the cushions, cut the fabric , sew the fabric covers and despatch the finished item. So with Just4kidz you know that you are getting a quality British made product.

Next is the fact that all our furniture meets the latest UK Fire Regulations so you know that your child is perfectly safe. We also design and print all our own fabrics so when you buy a loose cover chair from us you know it is only available through Just4kidz.

Finally and most importantly the covers of the loose cover chair can be removed, washed and put back on good as new. Many cheep imitation chairs have fixed covers that once they are dirty cannot be cleaned. With the Just4kidz loose cover chair the flame retardancy treatment is applied to the internal body rather than the cover. This means that the cotton covers can be removed, washed on a low temperature, ironed and replaced. This makes them perfect for messy young hands. A further benefit is that new replacement covers can be bought. So should you wish to pass the chair onto another child or simply redecorate the bedroom with a set of new covers the loose cover chair is as good as new.

The loose cover chair in Ponies Fabric
The cover being removed
The rear of the chair with the cover being removed
The loose cover chair without its covers
Posted on

The Story Behind Our Animal Camp Fabric

Our Animal Camp fabric is one of our most popular designs, with the contrast of neutral and bright colours paired with the cute woodland animal drawings, it is perfect for both little boys and girls. It is available on all of our furniture, including our headboards, loose-cover chairs and sofas. It fits in perfectly with any bedroom or playroom decor. But how exactly did we come up with this fantastic fabric? Read on to learn the story behind our Animal Camp fabric and the main points of inspiration behind the design.

Kids stories

When designing this fabric, we had to think about what children love. After all, what we design is for them, and if we want them to love what we create, we have to keep them in mind at all times. During our extensive research into what children like, we found that cute woodland animals were still incredibly popular. The Winnie the Pooh books are still well-loved amongst little ones, with film and TV productions dedicated to this lovable yellow bear. And the book ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt‘ is such a classic that even some parents will remember having this book read to them when they were younger. With these in mind, we wanted to create something based around woodland animals like bears, foxes, raccoons and rabbits, and so we looked for a way to bring these creatures to life on our fabric.

Family camping trips

Once we decided that woodland animals were the way forward, we tried to settle on a theme for the fabric. Thinking about woods, we considered what we did during our childhoods and came up with the perfect idea: camping! Summer camping trips with roasted marshmallows, late night stories and days spent exploring were the best, and we wanted to replicate this feeling in our fabric. Kids are explorers by nature, always looking for something to discover, play with or investigate. In forests they’ll be turning over bark, running through trees and searching for furry little animals to point out to their parents. To try to bring this to life, we include small tree designs and even have the rabbits roasting marshmallows over a fire! We want kids who have furniture in this design to be reminded of their own camping holidays and have fun looking over the fabric and pointing out their favourite woodland animals.

Stuffed animals

When it came to designing the fabric and picking a style for the illustrations of the animals, we had to look again at kids for inspiration. Children’s books, TV shows and films are filled with various forms of animation and drawing, so we knew settling on one would be hard. So instead, we turned elsewhere for inspiration and looked at the cuddly, stuffed animals that all kids adore. We can all remember having that special cuddly toy as a child, the one that we were constantly attached to and that we took everywhere with us. Their cute features and furry appearance is what drew us in, so we wanted to replicate this in the design of our animals. In the Animal Camp fabric, the bears, raccoons, foxes and rabbits all have small, cute expressions that make them warm and adorable as well as realistically drawn features to make them appear furry and soft just like a toy!

Coordinating colours

The last thing that needed to be decided on this Animal Camp journey was the colours that we would use. Colour plays a huge role in a child’s life, not only their play but their education. With this motivating us, we wanted to choose colours that would stand out to kids as well as be stylish in their room. We decided that grey would be the perfect background colour for this fabric as it easily blends in with most colours and not only matches bedrooms and playrooms but also looks stylish in living rooms, making the Animal Camp fabric perfect for any room.

As for the animals, we wanted them to stand out against the grey fabric and draw the children’s eye to them. So, we settled on black, orange and blue as these are bright colours that complement the grey and help to create a colourful but stylish appearance to the fabric. By making the other various, smaller designs on the fabric fit in with this colour scheme, it creates an overall appealing look that is ‘gender neutral’ and ideal for boys and girls.

When it came to designing the fabric and picking a style for the illustrations of the animals, we had to look again at kids for inspiration. Children’s books, TV shows and films are filled with various forms of animation and drawing, so we knew settling on one would be hard. So instead, we turned elsewhere for inspiration and looked at the cuddly, stuffed animals that all kids adore. We can all remember having that special cuddly toy as a child, the one that we were constantly attached to and that we took everywhere with us. Their cute features and furry appearance is what drew us in, so we wanted to replicate this in the design of our animals. In the Animal Camp fabric, the bears, raccoons, foxes and rabbits all have small, cute expressions that make them warm and adorable as well as realistically drawn features to make them appear furry and soft just like a toy!

Posted on

3 ways to encourage our children to keep their rooms tidy

3 ways to encourage our children to keep their rooms tidy

Anyone with children will know the never-ending struggle it can be to encourage them to keep their bedrooms and playrooms tidy. Replies of “I’ll do it in a minute” resound around the house and, when they eventually get around to it, their version of tidying might not quite match up to yours. Toys were thrown into a pile in the corner or piled up under the bed instead of neatly away as you’d like them might be a regular occurrence.

While there is no perfect ‘fix’ for turning your children into cleaning fairies, there are ways to make tidying seem like less of a chore to them and something that they can start to enjoy. It is important we teach our children from a young age the importance of looking after their belongings and taking pride in keeping their room tidy to help create good lifelong habits. This, in turn, should mean less nagging from you, a happier environment and a nice clean house.

So, how can we encourage our children to keep their rooms tidy?

Make it into a game

Children love playing games and they are generally much more receptive to getting involved if something is going to be fun. If you tidy together and set up little races to see who can put the most books back on the shelf most neatly you can encourage your child to enjoy tidying up.

You could ring a bell or play a song when they finish a certain task like making their bed and have something fun you do together at that moment – like a funny dance or a high-five. You could even set a timer for a particular chore and see if they can beat their last time at doing it. Anything that makes tidying a fun experience for them will help them form positive habits.

Make it fun for them

Children love playing games and they are generally much more receptive to getting involved if something is going to be fun. If you tidy together and set up little races to see who can put the most books back on the shelf most neatly you can encourage your child to enjoy tidying up.

You could ring a bell or play a song when they finish a certain task like making their bed and have something fun you do together at that moment – like a funny dance or a high-five. You could even set a timer for a particular chore and see if they can beat their last time at doing it. Anything that makes tidying a fun experience for them will help them form positive habits.

Make clear rewards and consequences

All the way through our lives we respond to rewards and consequences. This is something our little ones will have to get used to at school and in later life so it’s a great idea to have clear rules and boundaries laid out at home too.

Making a colourful checklist with a list of their individual chores is a great idea. You could draw little stick men or illustrations to remind them what each task means if they can’t yet read properly.

That way, they know that they have to make their bed, tidy their clothes away and put their books back on the shelf each morning or evening. If you can have a reward chart where they get a sticker or a star each time they complete a ‘tidy’ day and reward them at appropriate times, say each weekend, then it will help them to associate tidiness with rewards.

Similarly, if they refuse to tidy or haven’t done something, they don’t get the reward. It might be that for every toy you have to put back in the box, or every item of clothing left on the floor they lose a little bit of their playtime. Whatever the consequence and reward you choose, just make sure you stick with it.

Make them proud of their room

Most of us don’t love to clean. It’s probably not at the very top of our list of things we enjoy doing, but we just know that we have to do it. It always makes it easier to keep our homes tidy when we are proud of them.

Have you ever noticed that when you re-decorate a room, or even just get some new accessories you are much more keen to clean and keep that space tidy? Being proud of a space makes us want to look after it. It’s exactly the same for our children. If they love their bedrooms and playrooms they will be much more likely to want to look after them.
Letting our children have some choice in the design of their bedroom can be a great place to start. Giving them furniture they love and baskets, bookshelves and boxes to display their belongings and look after them will also encourage them to want to keep their bedroom looking its best.

If your little one has a mountain of toys, a Just4Kidz toy box might be just the thing you’re looking for. Not only can your child pick out their favourite colour and fabric from our unique designs and prints, but they will have a brand new space to put their toys and keep their bedroom looking ship shape.

The most important thing is to stay persistent and start small. At first, they may just clean their bookshelf, or half of their room well. If you keep on top of these 3 tips you will eventually have a little helper around the house who knows how to keep their things tidy!
Good luck! To browse our gorgeous range of toy boxes and children’s furniture just follow the link to our website here.


Posted on

How to create a cosy space to foster better reading habits for your child.

Children reading on Just4Kidz sofa

It can be a somewhat confusing concept thinking of our little ones starting to need their own space. From being tiny, they have been heavily reliant on us and have wanted to be in our company all the time – although we may love this and enjoy spending as much time as possible with our babies, as our children grow, it is natural for them to want to explore a little on their own too.

Without giving our children the space to be independent and play by themselves occasionally, we might actually be stifling their imaginations and their ability to grow and develop socially.

So, why do kids need their own space, and how can we foster and facilitate this for them inside our homes?

Create a space they can call their own

Children need a space to call their own within the family home. If you have a larger family, it may be difficult to give every one of your children their own bedroom, but the great news is that they don’t need to have their own bedroom to have their own space. While a private bedroom is ideal, a playroom, conservatory or just a part of the house they can go to with their toys alone to imaginatively play will work just as well.

Having a room or place of their own will give your child the ability to keep their precious belongings safe. Whether this is keeping a lego creation mid-build safe from the prying hands of a younger sibling or just looking after an object because it is loved, having space means that our children get used to their own company. This can help them develop listening skills and often make them more relaxed as they are comfortable managing their thoughts and feelings.

Privacy becomes more important the older our children get. When we facilitate time and space for our little ones, they can better express themselves without being constantly watched and monitored. When children are allowed to be alone, their imaginations can flourish, and all kinds of fascinating products can emerge.

Getting used to playing alone and being imaginative is essential for our children’s personal development, learning, self-discovery and cultivating a natural curiosity for exploration. So, try to create your child their own little sanctuary with their very own belongings can help to make the space really feel like theirs and theirs alone.

Give them a place to feel proud of

We’ve looked at why it’s important that children have space and privacy, but it’s also important that this place is one they can feel proud of.

When we are considering children’s bedroom ideas, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to colours and prints. It’s a brilliant idea to include your child in this process to give them some independence and to make them feel like the room really belongs to them. At Just4kidz we have a huge range of gorgeous designs your little one will love, and you can come to a decision about their bedroom decor together!

When our children love their bedrooms or personal space, it helps to foster good habits of cleaning up and keeping their area tidy. If you want to teach your child what responsibility is, one of the best ways is to give them their room and make sure that they take care of it, keep it tidy and help to clean it too.

Letting your children invite their friends round and allowing them some unsupervised play in this safe space is a great idea. Of course, we can be within a close distance in case of emergencies, but this time alone with their peers helps them learn how to be a good ‘host’ and to be courteous and kind and to share. Giving our children space they love to be in, and one they feel proud to have their friends around to play in will help to ensure that your child gets on with their peers – not just with you.  

Allow your child quiet time

If you have a child under 10, it’s fair to say you’ve probably lived through your fair share of temper-tantrums. While this behaviour is a totally normal phase for our children to go through, having a quiet place for them to retreat to is an excellent way of helping them to manage their behaviours. Especially if fights or arguments break out between siblings, a room to retreat to is a big benefit for your child to process their anger and calm down.

It’s not just important to have quiet time when our children are feeling angry or upset though. Invisible supervision and a more passive parental presence in the home gives our children the opportunity to enjoy some peace, quiet and alone time. This can be a brilliant way to foster healthy play and reading habits as our children enjoy their own company and are used to finding ways to keep themselves busy.

The reality is, growing up isn’t always easy for our children. No matter their age, our children are continually encountering new challenges. This might be at nursery, at school, or in the home. It’s a lot to take on when they are learning about the world around them and so having a quiet place to go to can be really helpful for them to process everything they are learning.

Giving our children a cosy space to relax in alone can really help too. We have a range of quality, handmade furniture that is designed specially, just for kids (as our name implies). From soft, comfy sofas, to bean bags, tub chairs and more you can give your child the gift of choosing their very own favourite print and furniture item to relax on when they are enjoying some much-needed space of their own.
To see our full range of unique prints, children’s furniture and children’s reading chairs, please visit our website.

Posted on Leave a comment

When “Made in Britain” really is “Made in Britain”

Many websites, shops and manufacturers state that the products they sell are British made. They buy from UK based companies and pass on their suppliers products and promises, but do they know everything about the product and its component parts?

Here at Just4kidz when we say our products are British Made it’s a claim that we can make with 100% certainty. This is because every item that we sell on the Just4kidz website is made by us in our 2 UK factories. Based in Staffordshire and Cheshire our factories design and manufacture the Just4kidz range from start to finish.

We make the frame, cut, sew and upholster and finally despatch your new piece of furniture.  We source our raw materials, such as wood, fibre and foam from Britain and have our own range of exclusively designed fabrics.

So when you buy from Just4kidz you can be confident that the lovely new piece of furniture you have invested in will be built with British quality that will last.

Posted on Leave a comment

4 Brand New Fabric Ranges

Just4kidz are pleased to announce the introduction of 4 brand new fabric ranges – Fairies, Ponies, Woodland Grey and Forest Friends Purple.  All of the new fabric designs  are exclusive to Just4kidz and can only be bought direct from us.  So whether you are after one of our beautiful pieces of children’s furniture or wish to buy some fabric we have the perfect fabric for you.