College Woodwork is focusing on growing its Kidz Decoeur line; as a result, we don’t see nursery furniture being marketed under the College Woodwork brand at this moment. We’ll leave this review online as an archive, as some of the furniture is still being sold in stores.

Web: collegewoodwork.org

Started by a Seventh-day Adventist high school in a suburb of Toronto, College Woodwork began as a wood working class in 1921. The goal was to provide students of the bible school experience at furniture building. Still owned by the school (now called Kingsway College), College Woodwork employs students who turn out bedroom furniture, both adult and nursery. FYI: College Woodwork does all the manufacturing for the Kidz Decoeur line, reviewed later in this section.

The non-profit’s eight nursery collections feature traditionally styled furniture—cribs are made of solid beech, imported from Europe but assembled and finished in Canada. All the cribs convert into toddler and then double beds. Dressers are made of solid wood (no MDF or particle board)—each collection features a choice of four-drawer, five-drawer or armoire. Quality touches include dovetail joints, customizable hardware and metal drawer glides.

Of course, all this solid wood goodness comes at a price: cribs are $1000 to $1200 and dressers top $1000—yes, that is similar to lines like Romina. But the quality is excellent (with one exception: dresser backs are stapled on; they should be screwed in at this price point) and the customization options (15 finishes are available) may make it worth the expense. We also like the wide variety of accessories (about two dozen options such as night stands, toy chests, etc.) in each collection.

One caveat: College Woodwork’s distribution is rather limited with few dealers in the U.S. (and no online sales, as of this writing).

Bottom line: great quality but the high prices drag down this brand’s overall rating. At this price, we’d expect more styling pizzazz and no staples on the dresser backs. Rating: B