The NY Rocking Chair is indeed a gorgeous piece of furniture -- but only at first glance. The design is terrific and the chair is incredibly practical, especially for my tiny New York City studio apartment, where every piece of furniture needs to be multi-functional and easy to move.

The construction of the chair is another matter. The materials are all very inexpensive -- a tubular metal frame, a couple of pieces of wood, four screws and a piece of very cheap-looking canvas in an Army-issue looking drab brown color.

Also, the chair is advertised as gray but it's really a chalky brown color (no matter what light in which you are looking at it). The brown actually works better for me, but buyer beware of you really want gray.

The canvas also is not sewn completely together in the front, which makes for a tacky, unfinished looked. And there are a couple of tiny wear spots on the canvas as well -- probably from the way the chair was packed and shipped. Not really a big deal but for $500, you would think the manufacturer would be more careful.

The chair sits very low (like a beach chair) so you might want to beware of who sits down in it (not good for grandma). The rocking motion is minimal. It is not really something you want to settle down into to listen to music or read. It's "overflow seating", not a lounge chair.

I have a lot of guests in my apartment and within days of unpacking this chair, several different visitors all said the exact same thing -- "nice chair! Is it from Ikea?"

I asked one Ikea-minded friend what he thought I paid for it. After examining it and trying it out, he said "$39?"

Nuff said.

PS I kept the chair because it would have been way too much hassle to re-pack and return it. The box (but not the chair) was badly broken up when it arrived -- not re-usable -- so I would have had to take the chair someplace like a UPS store to re-pack it and send it back. I also have a busy schedule and did not have time within the very limited time period that YLiving allows for returns.

I generally like the look of the chair and -- once in a blue moon -- I can afford to be really stupid with $500, so I'll suffer my buyer's remorse and save myself any further hassle.

If you have a Design Within Reach store near you, I recommend you check out the NY Rocking Chair there before you buy it. I wish I'd done that. I usually have good experiences with online shopping so I skipped that wise move.

YLiving's price (which includes tax and shipping) is cheaper than DWR.

By: David H., Renter  ( New York, NY )

Free Shipping. No Tax. Easy Returns. It's good to shop at YLiving.

At YLiving, we are so certain that the NY Rocking Chair will make you happy that we offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and our 100% Price Guarantee . What's more, we also offer Free Shipping on orders over $50.

Order your NY Rocking Chair today.