Good looks aren't enough -- construction and materials count too. Is the crib made of MDF or solid hardwood? Is it held together with nails and screws or superior mortise and tenon joinery? Before you plunk down a pile of money on your child's new furniture, make sure you know what you're paying for.

Solid Wood - Cheaper solid woods include poplar, birch, beech, pine and alder. Often these woods are painted or stained to look like more expensive woods. Maple, ash and oak are found on nicer cribs. Walnut, cherry, teak and mahogany are the most expensive, luxurious woods. Be careful - I've seen some nursery furniture companies advertise their products as being made from "solid hardwood," when, in fact, they use plywood.

Plywood - Made from thin sheets of hardwood that are stacked and glued together to form thicker planks.

MDF - Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is essentially composed of wood fibers and particles held together by heat, pressure and a lot of glue. A lot of nursery furniture is made from MDF.

HDF - High-density fiberboard (HDF) is harder and denser than MDF.

Wood Veneers - Veneers are very thin strips of wood (usually better woods such as mahogany, cherry, etc) that are glued onto the surface of cheaper woods (pine, etc). Veneers give the illusion that an entire piece is made of a better wood, but because they tend to be so thin, veneers are sometimes suseptible to cracking and chipping.

Wood Finishes - Beware of real wood "finishes." Furniture that is advertised as having a "cherry finish" or a "mahogany finish" isn't necessarily made of cherry or mahogany. Usually this means that a piece is constructed from a cheaper wood which is then stained to look like cherry or mahogany.

Joinery - Most furniture is simply nailed or screwed together at the joints. A sign of a better piece of furniture is if it features "dovetailed" or "mortise & tenon" joints. These all-wood joints are stronger and less prone to coming apart than the nail/screw variety.