To celebrate our first Christmas, we made this special ‘Hygge’ version of our exclusive Wave children’s chair. It’s upholstered in luxuriously warm and cosy Tibetan Lamb and the frame is maple. My question is: Do you like it and think it works ?
Maiken Utzon Harris Yes I do live in Denmark and the chair retails between USD1100-1500 however trade at Houzz gets 40% discount like shops - It is danish designed and made so premium materials and craftsmanship
Maiken Utzon Harris Sorry let me make it clear as you probably asked to the Tibetan lamb chair which retails at USD 1600 however we do other chairs with various upholstry (leather,wool act) and thoses retail at between 1100-1500
Maiken Utzon Harris olldbobbi sorry did not see your question before now. There is padding underneath its soft and very comfortable - has been made as a reading chair/TV chair
Maiken Utzon Harris I think that perception might be our challenge as natural hair is actually very easy to keep clean and dirt does not stick - It is a one off christmas chair we did for fun and just to make something really cozy and nice our main chairs are the other ones you see (leather and wool) however just thought if there was a market for it we could put it into production
Maiken Utzon Harris I tell you my kids 3 kids Daisy 3,Flora 8 and Fred 10 are fighting over it as well - my oldest boy plays the playstation and the two girls loves watching telly in it and even our dog loves to lie in it...
Maiken Utzon Harris No my question is to find out wether it should be put into production - would people like it and buy it or would they think it to impractical so I am really trying to test waters here
Maiken Utzon Harris No my question is to find out wether it should be put into production - would people like it and buy it or would they think it to impractical so I am really trying to test waters here
designideas4me Maybe in colder climates here or ski areas it may do well. I am in southern california so its hot here. Do your other chairs sell well in the states?
jillef I think as an adult chair it works very well. It's, luxurious, elegant with beautiful curves. When I see it in the scale pictures it loses these qualities. I think the market would be very limited in the type of people who would buy this for their children.
lefty47 HI -- Fair enough Maiken -- Yes, I think there is a good market for it , but that depends on the price . I think the bigger market would be the adult size chair. It has beautiful lines and would fit in any home . I think it is like a mid century modern for today . The adult size maybe could use a lest one arm and sit a little higher off the floor. I would NOT buy the chair for a child if it is exspensive because children grow too fast . Example -- your daughter Flora looks almost too big on the chair now. Love the dog,- Fulham looks very comfortable on it !
Maiken Utzon Harris Hi lefty47 thanks for your feedback, the price def limits our group but it just gets that expensive when in shops - if I went purely online it would half the price immidiately but then of course you lose the sales channels but we will have to revisit the strategy after christmas but yes I have thought of the same myself and maybe that is what we have to do
Darzy I see this only viable in a larger adult size chair. This is too pricey for the size and I would not pay $1500 USD for a chair my child will grow out of quickly. Plus, children don't sit still like that for very long.
Darzy Here is an adult size chaise for less than $700 and other leather ones for about the same. Okay..not the same quality as yours I'm sure. But, eames chairs are ridiculously priced so good luck with your venture.
Maiken Utzon Harris Thanks Darcy, so what would be your limit for a nice piece for your kids that could be in your livingroom and have a good enough quality to be passed down from generation to generation ?
jillef Just wanted to add that I didn't think the chair had lost all its qualities being smaller it just lost those particular ones for me. Still beautiful chair though and I think that version for the adult size would be great!
Maiken Utzon Harris Thanks Jillef, I appreciate all the feedback and think because of this discussion I might put it in shops at pure cost and then hope to make profit when selling online as its about getting it out there and in peoples homes and if that means I work for free for a bit then that is better than no body buying because its to expensive - So very helpful thanks
lhainan It's beautiful and looks comfy. Kids love to lounge and not sit upright! My kids are more the pillow or beanbag type. But they definetly love cozy soft.
Maiken Utzon Harris Dear Ihainan, thanks so much I think so to and my kids love it to but of course it is not for everybody. Appreciate your kinds words as its my first piece and have just launched so thats always nice to be told
Darzy Maiken..I personally would not pay $1,500 for a child's chair. They grow up fast and will be on "hold" until they have children of their own. I do love the style..for an adult chair.
jagood At that price, I think your market will be limited to very wealthy people who like modern and appreciate the esthetics of your beautiful design. I personally like your regular chairs better than the one with the shaggy fur because I think the fur hides the curves which I find so appealing. Your regular children's chair would be great in a high-end modern apartment that is short on space, such as some in NYC, where sale prices are astronomical compared to other parts of the USA. That may be the market you should seek.
jagood Have you thought about marketing this chair to very small adults? I know that it would be a limited group, but I imagine they have a very difficult time finding furniture that is comfortable for them and may really appreciate this chair since it doesn't look like a typical children's chiar.
Maiken Utzon Harris Jagood, I think you are spot on and that is the market I am hoping for - But the challenge of getting to those people who dont look at the price is def one of the problems as the stores who have designer furniture only really like established brands I think or maybe it just takes longer to build up than I had anticipated
ct design studio Yes I see this in select markets where the clientele spends this kind of money on furniture: NYC, LA, Aspen, Lake Tahoe etc. I also agree an adult sized chair would be more appealing. There is always plenty of competition so it will take time to break into the market. You will need to connect with not only showrooms, but the designers themselves through marketing, tradeshows etc.
For my midwest market, this would be out of reach financially and not deemed practical by most. But there is always a market for everything, good luck!
Maiken Utzon Harris So many have said adult size now why is that ? is it because it is more commercial or is it the pair (small and big one together) that is the catch ? The reason I went for kids furniture was because I thought ther is so much nice quality adult furniture but not the same for kids but so many says do an adult why is that ? what is your initial thought when you say do an adult ? as there is already loads of nice adult furniture
jagood At least here in the US, we are not accustomed to considering the size of children when we furnish our living rooms, since children can sit in adult chairs but adults cannot sit in children's chairs. Except for babies who obviously cannot be left alone in adult furniture, we expect children to use adult sized furnishings, and children don't seem to mind doing it. Even in their bedrooms, children are often quickly moved out of cribs and into regular sized beds which they are expected to use until they leave home. Most people simply can't afford to spend a lot of money on furniture for children that will be outgrown before they reach their teens. But they like your chairs, so they think you might have better luck selling them if you made them in adult size.
If your chairs were priced lower, I think some private schools and libraries that cater to young children would love to have them for children to use while reading. It looks like it would be easy to move them around and children love to rearrange.
Have you considered working on a design that would convert from a chair for a child to a larger size, and thus make it more "practical" as an investment piece?
feeny I love furniture that is sized for children, but I'm not interested in buying it if it isn't affordable. We have two lovely little antique mission rocking chairs that we used in our son's room and our living room when he was small, but they were about $35/each at an antique fair. Kids grow out of miniature furnishings too fast for them to be practical at high prices. Whereas your beautiful chair in an adult size, though still on the expensive side for most people, would at least be usable for many, many years.
Maiken Utzon Harris Ahh I see, here in Europe we tend to get childrens furniture for children but it is of course much cheaper than my chair and tend to be in plastic (practical and cheap) that is why I thought I would go the other end as I cant compete with IKEA - have not got capital and muscle enough. I think I will try and be in shops for cost that way I immidiately half the price and then hope for profit online.
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For my midwest market, this would be out of reach financially and not deemed practical by most. But there is always a market for everything, good luck!
If your chairs were priced lower, I think some private schools and libraries that cater to young children would love to have them for children to use while reading. It looks like it would be easy to move them around and children love to rearrange.
Have you considered working on a design that would convert from a chair for a child to a larger size, and thus make it more "practical" as an investment piece?