Among the Chairs and a Half

My exhaustive search had three criteria: The chair had to be roomy, comfortable, and nontoxic.

- FANNY SINGER

I’M ROUTINELY on the hunt for chimeric pieces of furniture that fulfill more than one function: a couch that's also a bed; a lounge chair that rocks, reclines, and swivels; an armchair that could pass for a love seat. It all began with the recliner-glider chair. Like many people who are, or have been, pregnant, I was fearmongered into believing I would not survive my child’s first year of life if I didn’t invest in a recliner-glider for her nursery. I searched for months before settling on one from West Elm that was somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,200 and not very comfortable. So when my daughter grew out of the rock-and-recline phase, I was eager to evict the eyesore and replace it with something I actually liked.

A new chair was destined for my precious baby’s room and was bound to be endlessly fondled, snuggled in, slept in, climbed on, and used for years to come. It needed to be face-meltingly comfortable—an antidote to the many godawful nights approximating sleep in the recliner. And it needed to be big enough to seat both me and my daughter side by side for activities such as nursing, cuddling, and, most essentially, reading. I was looking for a chair and a half.