Zahid Sardar, Chronicle Design Editor
For those who aren’t satisfied with a spoon and a friendly lap to feed baby,
well-designed children’s furniture is readily available from several Bay Area retailers, including a host of fancy high chairs that have appeared in the past few years.
The latest, by Marin’s Fleurville, is Calla, the sports car of high chairs, which was introduced at this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York.
We’ve looked at it and two others, ranging in price, longevity and must-have amenities.
Mozzee’s Nest, first shown three years ago by its Australian designer, Sally Dominguez, tops our list not just because it has sturdy good looks: It fits babies from 6 months to 6 years and that justifies its price tag of $575.
It has an uncomplicated, demi-globe shape of washable black, white or orange polyethylene plastic, a large removable tray with two release clasps for easy cleaning, safety straps and a conversion kit comprising several pedestals that allow nesters to sit high or low to the ground, even though it lacks push-button adjustments. (Available through www.modernseed.com.)
For those who expect much more from their high chairs, Boon, the Arizona company that produced the irresistible Frog Pod to consolidate bath toys, showed prototypes of Flair at the furniture fair. It is a pedestal high chair with a push-button pneumatic lift. Its seamless seat is virtually hoseable (yet food could get trapped in its crevices), and its relatively conventional shape is simplified and rounded to look more modern, yet friendly. Its simple proportionate base, fixed footrest and chemical-resistant materials make it easy to pull up to the table and impervious to stains.
Its five-point harness, adjustable tray and cushion are removable when you want to convert the high chair into a regular chair for children up to age 5, said Rebecca Finell, a designer at the company. It will be sold, starting in January, at Lullaby Lane in San Bruno and at www.moderntots.com. ($200-$400 for plain or luxe.)
The Calla chair leaves nothing out. By San Francisco industrial designer Yves Behar, whose company, Fuseproject, is involved in making accessories for the Mini Cooper as well the new Birkenstock shoe, it usurps the trend for ecoproducts and econames; Calla looks like a flower but, like the other chairs reviewed, is not made of earth-friendly materials, and it can only be used for a child up to 2 years old.
Its features include push-button adjustable height, a molded acrylic washable cushion that can be thrown in the sink, an adjustable footrest and a ringed cast-aluminum base on ball-bearing wheels that allow mom or dad to slide baby around wherever, including closer to the table. The prototype plastic tray table has only one release, but two will be standard on actual pieces.
Its prominent ring is for strapping on holders for feeding utensils that can be ever ready. The chair’s friendly colors — red, yellow or white — match most home interiors, according to Fleurville owners Steve and Catherine Granville. We asked two mothers at the fair who were examining Calla if they would use this design in their kitchens and they said, “Absolutely.”
Would you? It will retail for about $900, starting in the fall, through Friend in San Francisco and at www.fleurville.com.
E-mail Zahid Sardar at zsardar@sfchronicle.com.
