Gearhead Mom

Thursday, February 19, 2009

You Really Can Put It Anywhere Chair

Posted by Missy W. @ 9:49 AM

Reader Kate asked me if I had an opinion about the Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chair. Of course I have an opinion! I always have an opinion!

I purchased our chair about two years ago and since then, PBK has renamed it the “Hybrid Anywhere” chair. Ummm…What? You plug it in and fill ‘er up? In further reading, I learned that the Hybrid has “extra durable with eco-friendly inserts made with recyclable foam that contains 25% soy based materials.” Oh Pottery Barn, you eco-warriors, you! I’ve had ours for a few years, so clearly I just have the regular ol’ garden variety poisonous foam.

One of Kate’s questions was whether or not the chair would grow with her child.

Absolutely. We have the over-sized version (32 x 26 x 24.5” h.) versus the regular (28 x 24 x 22” h.) and Sy definitely fits in it with room to groove, as does her seven year old cousin. It’s not diminutive in scale - it’s just short, but the little tote handle on the top makes it easy for me to move it around if guests older than five are coming over. It’s way too big for Sy to move around on her own. I can’t speak to the original sized chair since we don’t own one of those.

You have to order the slip cover and the insert separately. We got ours in red and after two years of washing it (that damn dust mite allergy! Wash, wash, wash!), it’s still pretty vibrant. It certainly doesn’t look new, but I’m not embarrassed to keep it in the living room. Probably because it goes so well with our circa 2001 Ikea sofa and chair. The slip cover easy enough to clean and only a mild pain in the arse to put back together. The price includes personalization if you want it. We skipped that step since I figured we’d have another kiddo at some point and I wanted to try to avoid the Mine! Mine! Mines!

OK, so does my kid use the chair?
We got it for her when she was about 18 month old and she LOVED IT. She crawled in and out, rolled in it, tried to sleep in it, watched a DVD in it, fought her friends for it, loved it. Then a few months after that, she just flat out ignored it. Her friends still enjoyed it when they came over, but she was all about the sofa at that point. I put it in the corner of the living room and just hoped she’d like it again some day. By the time she was two and a half, she was in love with it all over again. She and her pal Kara like to sit in it together and “read” each other books, and if we have a crew of kiddos around there’s always one or two of ‘em in it. The main problem is that it topples quite easily since it does not have a solid frame (just foam inserts). In our house that means toppling right into the brick fireplace surround that eschews all babyproofing materials. If Sy and her pals start rough-housing (inevitable), I either move the chair or put pillows on the hearth. Even my mom likes to sit in it. I don’t know why since any adult-sized person can heave the whole thing backwards with one hearty guffaw.

So to answer your question, reader Kate: Yes, I like it. It’s not cheap, but it has held up well and is very well loved by my girl and her comrades. The oversized chair is too big for my girl’s bedroom, but it’s generic design allows it to co-exist in an adult space without screaming KIDS RULE THIS SPACE. Which of course, they do. Always have, always will.

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