Land of Nod furniture review
I wanted to post about my experience with Land of Nod furniture because I feel like when I bought it I didn't understand what I was buying. I really love the styles of their furniture, but the quality isn't what I was expecting. Almost all their furniture is made of "engineered wood". I'm not an expert on what this means, but it's basically particle board with a wood-look paper finish. The furniture in my son's room is from the Oak Park collection which is no longer on the website, but it's very similar to the Cargo collection. I looked all over the dresser we have and as far as I can tell, the only real wood on it is the drawer pulls. In the US, there are very few regulations when it comes to truth in advertising in furniture. They can say it is made of solid hardwood and engineered wood if there is even a tiny bit of hardwood and the rest is particle board. I bought it about 5 years ago, and the bed has been used for about 3 1/2 years.
The dresser:
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...42/oakpark.jpg
You can see how the wood grain runs in two directions, not something that occurs in nature.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...ssercorner.jpg
In contrast, on the drawer pulls you can see the cut end of real wood.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...erhardware.jpg
The drawers are sturdy, including the bottoms and backs. They are, however, particle board screwed together like Ikea.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...sserdrawer.jpg
Within 6 months of my son moving into his big boy bed, the headboard started to look like this. He wasn't doing anything unusual, or anything like scratching it on purpose, but the paper finish just couldn't hold up to touching a 2 year old's head and hands. The top of the dresser also was scratched pretty soon after we started using it. That was my fault, but unlike with real wood, it can't be repaired or at least become part of the patina. I suppose I could color it in with a marker, but I pretty much just have to live with it.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n.../headboard.jpg
This isn't something that can one day be refinished or passed down. It doesn't even have real wood veneer. I wasn't expecting top quality for what I paid, but I also wasn't expecting it to be made entirely of particle board. The only difference I can see between this and Ikea is that it was put together for me. I am not saying Land of Nod is a bad company exactly, but I just wanted to let people know what they're buying. A solid wood dresser is going to cost very much more than Land of Nod. If you're fine buying something that will get your kid through childhood, looks great (for now), and isn't going to fall apart, then Land of Nod is fine. If you really think the piece you're looking at on their website is made of solid wood, email them asking which parts are real wood so you have it in writing. If you really want wood furniture that you will be able to use through the decades, I think you're going to have to look elsewhere.
