Whether a glider in the nursery is essential or not is a personal choice. What is well settled is that good looking gliders can often blow your nursery budget. Take matters into your own hands and convert a chair you already own.
That's right, you can make your own glider by converting an upholstered chair. Dina of Honey and Fitz converted her vintage upholstered chair into a functional glider wtih great success. The key is to buy a swivel/rock unit like this one Dina used. Not only do you end up with a great looking glider, your choices are almost limitless. For complete step-by-step directions on how Dina pulled this off, check out Honey & Fitz.
(Image: Honey & Fitz)
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This makes the chair a swivel rocker. A glider has a different and more lateral motion. Both are nice, but they aren't the same.
i really like this chair!
Actually this company carries a swivel glider mechanism as well.
http://www.swivel-chair-parts.com/GliderandSwivelGlider.html
I purchased the swivel glider mechanism for an existing chair that I owned that needed upholstering anyway. My husband could have installed the mechanism, but I asked the upholsterer to do it for us. Our baby isn't here yet, but it works great! If your chair sags onto the mechanism when you glide, just have a board cut to the depth you need to prevent it from rubbing. We used a 3/4" board and it worked like a charm.
That's a great idea - I had a chair lose its whole foot assembly a couple years ago, and it's been sitting, dejected, in my Mom's garage since. Perhaps it's time to fix it up and pass it on to my cousins.
Thanks so much for featuring my tutorial! AliceM is totally right - technically my chair is a swivel rocker but not a glider. BUT, as was already mentioned, you can absolutely get a mechanism that makes your chair a proper glider if that's what you prefer.