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I am purchasing a highchair soon and have been mainly researching the Tripp Trapp and the Svan because I love the idea that the baby can eat with the family. What are your experiences? I like the Tripp Trapp, but the idea of never having a tray option worries me. I like that the Svan has the tray option for those times when it's not possible or practical to have the baby sit at the table. I'd love to hear any thoughts or other potential suggestions. Boon and Bloom also make chairs that look intriguing, but those prices seem a bit steeper.

There are a lot of other options if you want the baby to eat with the family, but it gets trickier if you also want something that your friends will ooh and ahh over...

I high chair such as this one - http://www.highchairs.com/Lipper-Natural-Wood-High-Chair.pro - may not look like much, but a nice, new one will look MUCH nicer in person than the ones you've seen in restaurants. My MIL has one for when the grandchildren visit her house, and it's in the cherry color. It is, in my opinion, very good-looking.

I don't know if you can opt out of using the trays with these others, but they are somewhat in keeping with the Tripp Trapp and Svan in that they are wooden, modern, and simple:

http://www.highchairs.com/Geuther-Family-Chair.pro - It looks as if the tray can be adjusted to slide beneath the table so baby is right at the table)

http://www.highchairs.com/Geuther-Filou.pro - You can remove the tray, but I don't know if you can strap the baby in without the tray.

http://www.highchairs.com/Argington-Babylon-Toddler.pro

Also check out the Fusion high chair by Pali.

Now here is one (not wood) by Bloom that isn't as expensive as their others:
http://www.highchairs.com/Bloom-Nano-Urban-High-Chair.pro

Here's one by Inglesina, and it seems like a bargain:
http://www.highchairs.com/Inglesina-Club-high-chair.pro

Does anyone know where I could find little flags or similar decorations to hang around my baby's ceiling? Some like in this picture would be nice, but anything at all reminiscent is something I'd consider:

http://loulouaddictshop.canalblog.com/albums/a_la_boutique/photos/17658576-fabulous_garlands.html

Thanks, hyacinthine. I had seen a few of these, but didn't really realize some were up to the table options. I'm glad there are more choices now.

Land of Nod sells some cute banners:
http://www.landofnod.com/spill.aspx?c=1133&p=1&pc=113

I actually made a banner for my son's first birthday with felt, rubbon and glue--super-easy and I'm not so great at the DIY stuff. It looked great.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollyp/2212653527/in/set-72157603780615083/

Hyacinthe - Paper Source sells a flag kit that I used in my boys' nursery. I made it a lot longer by cutting more flags out of scrapbook paper and using a long ribbon as the string.

flag kit:
http://www.paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/399920.html?cm_id=2950.340
photos of the nursery:
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/nursery-tours/nursery-tour-linus-miles-and-olivers-make-room-for-three-room-050723

for the banners---for Hyacinthe---www.etsy.com is a great resource. Try visiting Kelly McCaleb's shop on etsy. I know she makes some darling flags/banners/bunting and will even do custom work.

Schnappycat,
We have the Guenther Family high chair and love it. Be sure your table doesn't have an apron...none of these will likely fit if it does.

Thank you so much for the tips, everyone!

Schnappycat -

We have the Tripp Trapp, and it has worked very well for us so far. My son eats with us at the table, which he seems to like. We've only been using it for a little while, though, because my son is only 6 and 1/2 months old. He doesn't feed himself yet, and I am a bit worried about how it will work, without a tray, when he's more in control of the feeding. I'm thinking that I will try getting a big plastic/melamine tray and clamping it to the table when he's eating to contain the mess as much as possible. We'll have to see how that works.

We have the Tripp Trapp, too, and maybe it's because our little guy wasn't inclined to hurl his food around or play the "drop things off the table" game, but we rarely had problems with egregious messiness. When he was old enough to have his own bowl/plate, we used ones that have a suction base.

Hyacinthine, you have lots of great suggestions for banners here, but I'm going to throw out one more. I posted a tutorial on my blog a couple days ago for making your own. It was really quite easy and cheap. If you don't sew, you could use paper instead.
Here's a link:
http://pennycarnival.typepad.com/penny_carnival/2008/07/cmon-everybodys.html