The contents of any nursery furniture set will vary according to the manufacturer. Some only come with a cot/cot bed, wardrobe and changing table whilst others offer all kinds of other options including bookcases, toy chests, bedside cabinets, seats, storage units and dressers, for example. The biggest decision here is probably what kind of furniture design to choose -- nowadays it's becoming more and popular to look at buying furniture with character designs on them. So, what are the options here?
Character nursery furniture
Bookcase Toy Storage
A lot of parents want to make their nursery a bright and fun place for their child so choose character nursery furniture. Some feel that standard wooden furniture is a little boring and that the furniture in a child's room should be child-like and accessible for their child.
Buying character furniture is one way to do this. There are all kinds of options open to parents here. They can choose from classic characters such as Winnie the Pooh and Disney favourites or they can choose TV characters that their children do already (or may in the future) like such as Bob the Builder, Barbie and Thomas the Tank Engine. Other options include more generic character designs -- these could be animals, space scenes or fairies and so on but they won't necessarily be linked to a TV series or film.
One of the issues to consider here is how long the furniture will last. This isn't about whether it will be useful for years to come but about how the child will view the character as they get older. A Winnie the Pooh themed nursery set can be great fun for a toddler and young child but, once they reach a certain age, they may find it babyish and may start demanding something different. They may also decide at any stage that they just don't like a specific character any more. This isn't always an issue as nursery furniture may well need replacing in any case as the child grows older but it is worth considering before coming to any decision.
Conclusion
It doesn't matter whether parents are buying character furniture or plain furniture, they also need to look at safety and construction quality when buying furniture for their kids. All nursery furniture should be well made and sturdily constructed. This should also include flat-pack construction where care should be taken to make sure that the furniture is put together as carefully as possible. Look for some form of safety accreditation such as CE or Kite Marks as well -- these show that the furniture has been tested and assessed and has been passed as safe for use in a child's room.