Man, I could've used this post about two months ago.... I'm in the process of decorating our first borns nursery and I've just been completely disgusted with the glut of FUGLY gliders out there. And even though I hated the idea of spending nearly a grand on a "nice" glider/ottoman, I did. Cause I hated the more moderately priced gliders even more.

Love the black with leaves.....

The third one is my favorite :)

Even the new gliders can be ugly. On top of that, they tend to fall apart. It is a DIY regardless of whether you want to DIY.

These look good but I must warn anyone considering a glider, they take up a huge amount of room - especially if you want to actually glide (and watch your walls if you have plaster). In my area there are a ton for resale on kajiji etc and in hindsight I would definitely go that route. They are just too expensive new for something you will only "need" for a few years. We can't get rid of ours now, it has no ongoing place in our small house, and it is too wide to even fit down the basement stairs for storage.

Wow, #9 where you buy a glider/rocker unit and attach it to an upholstered chair, is AWESOME. I clicked through to the seller's page and they are quite reasonably priced!

Also, that would take care of something that worries me - if you have small children, or when the baby becomes mobile, aren't the glider mechanisms terribly dangerous for little hands?

I got a glider from my parents' house after they died and though I loved the comfort, ended up having to just give it away, it was SO darn ugly. No amount of nice upholstery fabric would have satisfactorily hidden that wood frame.

Amazing, that no one seems to have come up with a design that's not fug-fug-fugly!

We were given a glider for our nursery, totally free, which was about what we could afford. It's cushion covers? STONEWASHED DENIM. Holy mother of god. Our reupholstery project can't come soon enough to save our burning eyes. Thanks for the inspiration!

@JULIEJULIETTE: Thank you for mentioning the space! I've been trying to explain that to my mother and mother-in-law but they think I'm crazy for not wanting a glider.

@Annie-o: I don't know for other gliders, but for my DuTaillier glider, there is no way for a little hand to get stuck in the mecanism.

They do take up a lot of space, more so then a regular rocker, but I like the movement of the glider way more then a rocker.

Regarding pinching little hands, my oldest pinched her finger in the glider when she was cruising around it and I immediately ditched it after that. I don't know what kind it was but a typical style from Babies R Us. Here is what I use today (link below). I ended up getting a second fuzzy pillow though for behind my back so that it could be really comfy! http://craftycanine.blogspot.com/2011/08/chair-makeover.html

The upholsterer wanted $800 to do this. Mother in law did it free and we couldn't be happier.
https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/579501_10150963806716412_1012550416_n.jpg

You're so lucky, Rich! The upholstery is beautiful, as well as the rest of the room.