Nursery Part V: Chair

Thank you for all of the sweet comments on the nursery tour!

Finding a chair for the nursery was the hardest part of putting together this room. I couldn't afford the chairs that I really loved... and didn't like the ones I could afford enough to actually buy them (isn't that the exact opposite of practicing smart consuming?).

I loved this nursery tour on ohdeedoh, and appreciated the mom-behind-it's comment re: chair: "Proving elusive was a reasonably-priced modern glider or an old rocker that was comfortable and narrow enough to fit our tiny space, so we gave in and bought the super-cozy, super-cheap, not-so-handsome big-box-store glider, and tucked it in a corner with pillows and a modern quilt. What it lacks in style, it makes up for in comfort every day."

All set to join her, I got this little pillow for the chair, had a sweet knitted blanket my Granny had made, and found some coordinating fabric for recovering the ottoman. I'd get so close to buying the glider itself...would put it in my online shopping cart, fill out the shipping information...and then just couldn't bring myself to push the PURCHASE button.

Another thriftier option was the wooden rocker-rocker, but I wanted something a little more comfortable, somewhere I'd really look forward to sitting at 3 a.m.

After asking around exhaustively, I too, like the lady quoted above, found the ready-to-go {affordable} stylish nursery chair "elusive" in the marketplace.

During this time of inner conflict (dramatic, yes), my mom had been offering me an upholstered chair of hers. It's actually the chair she used when my sister was a baby, and it had been reupholstered in the past several years.

It was truly a light bulb moment: one day I'm sitting at work right before leaving for the day, and I thought, I wonder if they sell rocker/glider bases that can be attached to the bottom of a stationary chair?

Indeed they do!

My dear friend and interior designer/personal hero Laura R. (who'd previously helped me get the bedding and curtains made) came to the rescue here once again. She found the kit for sale online and enlisted the help of a handy gentleman at our church to affix it to the chair for me (something like this I think?).

Voila! My rocker/swivel upholstered chair for less than $100:



The cat sleeping in the chair was $0.

{Little heart pillow from here.}

I know, I totally lucked out having such a cute upholstered chair given to me for free. But, for those of you out there restless with the nursery chair situation, maybe you can find an upholstered chair you like for cheap and have it converted/convert it yourself too?