Could it hold several potted plants in a sunny corner? You'd have to protect the wood...

Hold a quilt?

I have the highchair my husband was put in when eating at his grandmother's house...not sure what I will do with that either...

Dolls or toys for the grandchildren(or visiting little guests), large floor pillows, throws for comfort, magazines, etc. I use my daughters in the bedroom for a throw and books.

I have a friend who has her grandmothers cradle in her very elegant living room. It has a couple of quilts, a fluffy throw, and some big pillows in it. It's meant to store those items so that when you want one when lounging on the sofa, they're at hand, and at other time they're out of the way. So much prettier and easier than tucking the things in a trunk, and it shows off the pretty cradle.

I plan on doing the same with DS's cradle in our family room.

They could easily be used in a guest room for extra pillows and linnens as well, or if you have a very large bathroom it would be an excellent towel holder for pretty folded towels.

You could also put a cookie sheet in the bottom and use it for plants, but you really do want to protect it if you do that.

Personally...I would find a place for it in my nursery if my mother had one. In my family these are traditional items to pass down. I had one but it was loaned to a cousin who's home burnt down with my cradle in it. It had been my grandmothers and it was a heartbreaking loss.

I would use it as it's intended if I had a baby, and did so with DS with the cradle I did find for him (an antique). At that age, if the paint isn't peeling, there's really no danger since they aren't moving (ie squirming and sticking their heads in between the bars). Even this can be prevented with a cradle bumper pad. Once the bay is moving, a cradle isn't safe anyhoo, but again, I'd incorporate it in the nursery to store blankets and stuffed toys in as a decor item. I say all of this because I wouldn't want you to totally dismiss the original intended use for it with your grandchildren if that's a possability :) To a mom with a heart and love of traditions it would be an amazingly special thing :) Even if only on loan while baby is tiny.

When I was born my great-grandfather made a lovely cradle for me. Once I grew out of it, my grandmother used it to display (and corral) a collection of antique dolls and stuffed animals in a corner of her bedroom. She wasn't a collector of those items, they had sentimental value as family items.

Your cradle sounds very much like one I bought at an auction this summer. I had no idea what I would do with it then ... just got caught up in the fun. It is now in my DGD's room filled with her dolls and stuffed animals. But I'm taking notes on all the ideas that you are getting, one day she will not want it in her room and then I will be ready to have it back. :)

I had one too and repurposed it over 20 years ago while my kids were still little. At the time it was just another place to put their toys and then I had a brilliant idea. I put record albums in it, I was so proud, it looked grown-up!

Then one day I realized I couldn't hear my son who was, I'm guessing, about one year old and was in the next room. I looked in and he was having a ball on his hands and knees flinging the albums out, causing the record to slip out of the jacket and then sliding the record around on the hard wood floor.

I wish you better luck!

Those make great cat beds.

I use mine to store table cloths, doilies and other antique linens. It sits in the corner of my DR.

Sentimental reasons aside, there are times we have to part with things that don't make sense anymore. We have the rocker (strong wood but not beautiful, from Sears, Early American style) we rocked all three of our babies in...they are all in their 20's, grown and married, one has kids but none of them want it. And I DON'T EITHER!

It hogs a corner of the master and catches clothes, and we never sit in it to read, it's not comfortable. I want a nice cozy chair there for us...I'm probably going to get rid of it. I know, perish the thought. But I am. I will use the cash to buy something useful that brings me pleasure at this time of my life. ; )

Susan