The Gracie Toy Box

Nice job Kiersten…it looks good. Great idea about the slow closing hinges.

Thanks for sharing it.

I hope your website does well.

-- Martin, Kansas

I agree, you’ve got to protect those little fingers!... You’ve done a great job here, you really have some talent. Great post! Looking forward to seeing some more of your work.

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17) †

Very well thought out project. It has an antique feel to it.

Thanks for the post.

-- Kip Northern Illinois ( If you don't know where your goin any road will take you there) George Harrison

Very nice looking! Gotta use slow closing hinges for something like that.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the support. I’ve sold roughly 20 of these in the past six months and find I’m getting better each time. Gary mentioned the slow-closing hinges. I use a slow-closing lid support from Rocker (manufactured by sugatsune) that is very popular in the high end modern kids furniture world. It works like a CHARM! And it’s easy to install.

-- Kiersten, Los Angeles, www.modmomfurniture.com

it’s a nice design, no wonder you have been able to sell so many!
I like the slow closing hinges also. I’ll have to keep those in mind for projects for my daughters.

-- www.darrylmasterson.com ~ www.darrylmasterson.etsy.com

This is a very nice piece of furniture. It would compliment the decor in any home.

Well done.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Nice design, and well bnuilt. I can see why you sell a lot of them.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Hi Kiersten

Great looking toy chest. You did a nice job on it.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

Great job Kiersten.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Hi Kiersten

Very nice I also like the idea about the slow closing hinges,especially with kids they are accidents waiting to hapen so nice touch. Just courious and if I’m being to nosey just say so but I was wondering how much you get for one of these? Selling them like you do I can only figure you are a heck of a salewoman or you are selling them dirt cheap to sell so many. I must not be much of a sales person {or do crappy work, L.O.L.} cause I can’t seem to get rid of most of my stuff with out giving it away. Just courious.

Thanks for sharing and once again great job, I hope I can get my camera going so I can post some of my work,, ought to at least bring a laugh to all you fellow LJ’S L.O.L.

Hi Gary! Thanks for your message. :) As for the retail price, it normally goes for $500-$550 on retail sites like Modern Nursery and Design Public. I can tell you that when I started Mod Mom Furniture in 2006, I did a lot of research in modern style furniture for kids and discovered there was only one other company making modern, mid-century style toy storage. With that knowledge, I decided to try my hand at building a few pieces since I knew that market was untapped. I then priced them according to the competition and targeted specific demographics (upperclass, modern furniture loving parents—mostly in NYC, LA, Chicago, San Fran, etc.) I think my background in marketing helped a ton as I designed my own logo, website, etc. Once a few blogs/design sites in NYC wrote articles about my furniture, it took off like wildfire within that niche market. I’m very lucky!! I think the best thing I did was target a very small, upscale market and created a product I knew wasn’t being sold by everyone.

Hope that helps explain, Gary. The rest of it has mostly been word of mouth or internet press that turned into magazine and book press. Again, a very lucky girl.

-- Kiersten, Los Angeles, www.modmomfurniture.com

Hey Kiersten
Great upscale toy box I like the fact you made the lid so you can still sit on it and look in the toy box.
In addition to marketing your design skills shine. I wish you continued great success.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Thanks for the response and answering my questions, You do great work and I hope for continued sucess I’ll be watching you, can’t waite for your next post. Thanks again