asdfsdfnursery series | the glider
Emily Oster
Another overdue post, written while I was pregnant with Jane...
This might be an exaggeration but I honestly thought that picking out a glider might be the death of me. Ok so it is an exaggeration but when you are in a hormonal nesting phase it can be a little hard to take a breath and gather perspective.
Let's start at the beginning. As a designer, I have aided clients and friends in selecting gliders before so I knew that it wasn't going to be an easy search. That being said I thought that if I was super patient and dug really hard I would be able to find just the one for us. The glider criteria was: an upholstered chair in a neutral linen like fabric (no wood frame), a high back where both Jeff and I could rest our heads, chair arms (armless gliders really seem ridiculous to me), hidden glider mechanism and not something that costs a fortune (more on that later). A decent amount of wants but nothing too crazy - I thought....
As I have mentioned before, I started planning the nursery last November - right at the beginning of our second trimester. I did some light searching on the web and found the Colton Swivel Glider from Room & Board and decided that over Thanksgiving while in Chicago we should go check it out.
colton swivel glider chair by Room & Board
At the time, I wasn't very committed to the search thinking it was early and the price seemed sort of high - $799. I also didn't like that you could see the glider mechanics. In person, we discovered that we didn't find the chair that comfortable - it was just too deep for both Jeff and I. We did, however, really like the Ellery model.
ellerly swivel glider chair by Room & Board
Looking at the chair online, I thought the no cushion back would not be comfortable but in reality it was super cozy while still being easy to get in and out of. It also met our all our other criteria points (upholstery color, high back etc.) EXCEPT the price - $999! Plus shipping and tax so I knew it would be more like $1200! Now as a designer, I knew that fully upholstered chairs come in right around $1000. Yes, its true - gasp, process, look around to verify - but it is indeed the case. But still - $1200 for a chair that wasn't even going to be in our main living space and with so many other things to purchase!
Leaving Room & Board that day, I became highly motivated to find our glider thinking that surely I could find something we liked just as much at a lower cost OR I could figure out a way to get the cost down on the Ellery (designer discount, holiday sale etc.).
Over that break, I also went to Land of Nod and checked out their gliders and didn't really see anything I liked and/or thought was a good purchase. This further fueled my motivation which was quickly turning into an obsession.
Once home from Thanksgiving and our two shopping trips, I amped up my search. I went and looked at our local Buy Buy Baby store, spent hours combing Pinterest and the blogosphere for recommendations and basically came up with little to no results.
In mid-December, we traveled to San Francisco to visit my sister and brother-in-law. While there we had the opportunity to check out a Giggle store. For those of you unfamiliar, Giggle is a boutique baby store that seeks to limit the selection for new parents by carefully evaluating and only carrying items that they have found to be the best. We got to speak to a very knowledgable sales associate that confirmed what we had already been hearing/reading - that the glider was one of the most important items for a new parent and that it would get LOTS and LOTS of use. We also got to sit in the Monte Design Como Glider as well as the Monte Design Theo Glider.
monte design como glider via Giggle
monte design theo glider via Giggle
Both I found to just be ok aesthetically and too deep. Plus at the price of $1195 for the Como and $995 for Theo, it was no steal and really no competition for the Ellery.
On the Monday we returned from San Francisco, we found out that we were having a little girl! We were already in the process of painting the nursery walls Benjamin Moore's Caldwell Green but armed with the idea of having a little girl, I put myself to work with finishing the overall design and details of the nursery. I pretty much knew what I wanted for either sex so it didn't take much time to set the general course. Over the Christmas holiday, I did a lot of sourcing and was able to get a lot of the pieces (the full sized bedding, rug etc.) on sale. And still the glider eluded me....The Ellery never went on sale (Room & Board doesn't really run sales) and I could not find any others online that were even potentials.
In early January, my motivation to find a glider turned into a fully blown crazy pregnant woman obsession. I considered foregoing all of my criteria and just getting the IKEA Poang Rocker Chair.
poang rocking chair by IKEA
At $179, the price can't be beat and I did/do like the design of the chair. But I read reviews that it didn't make for a great nursing chair and Jeff was pretty opposed to it.
My other big hope was at the Restoration Hardware Outlet. They had their Wingback Swivel Glider for sale which was the model I was most interested in as it was the only one with a high back. But, and of course there is a but, the upholstery was very sloppy in person and the deal really wasn't much of a deal as it was around $900 - a discount of $400 or so from the base price of the chair.
wingback swivel glider by RH Baby & Child
After the defeat at RH Outlet, I retraced my search and discovered the Toby Glider from Land of Nod. I couldn't remember if I sat in it back in November but it was on sale for $699 and came in a nice neutral fabric. It didn't have a high back and the glider mechanics were a little visible but overall I thought it looked pretty good. Land of Nod was offering free shipping and has free returns so I figured why not try it. The reviews were good and it was a savings of roughly $500 from the Ellerly.
toby glider by Land of Nod
As a last effort, Jeff suggested that we see if the chair was available to sit in at the store near his parents. So we sent his parents and the feedback I got from his Mom "its wrong in just about all ways". She said it was too low, too wide and too deep. She called to give set comments from the Room & Board store while sitting in the Ellerly which she said was just the opposite of the Toby or pretty much perfect. Working with the sales associate, we discovered that the floor model of the matching ottoman was on sale for $169 which was a huge savings of $400 from full price.
With the ottoman sale and Jeff's parents full endorsement, we decided to purchase.
The chair arrived roughly a month later and I have to say is quite beautiful and very comfy. I still can't believe how much we spent on it but I do really love it.
UPDATE: I LOVE THIS GLIDER! Around 2 months of age, Jane went through a phase in which she would only nap on me while nursing on and off... Yes the joys of motherhood... This glider proved to be a life saver as I am not exaggerating when I say I would spend 4+ hours in it a day! So comfortable, has not shown signs of wear and tear and looks great too!
Want to read more? Check out one or all of these related posts.
room & board
july 1, 2014
land of nod for grown up spaces
july 29, 2014
tips for shopping at ikea
february 23, 2015
