Having a baby is expensive! You don't have a lot of money to spend, but with a baby on the way, you do need a nursery. You're trying to decide on some Nursery Ideas on a Budget, but you don't want to skimp on anything your baby needs. Try some of these ideas to create a beautiful and functional nursery without breaking the bank.
1) 3 In 1 Changing Table
While some ideas will save you money now, others will save you money later. Babies are expensive, but so are young children and teenagers, and so on. Since a lot of baby furniture will need to be replaced in only a couple of years, try getting a 3-in-1 changing table like this one from Walmart. This way, you can turn it into a bed when they get older. This way, you won't have the expense of buying a new bed frame, which can cost a lot.
2) Refinish Old Furniture
The first rule of doing something on a budget is not to buy things new, or if you do, to buy them cheap. Instead of buying brand new furniture, see if you can find old furniture from tag sales, flea markets, or even hand-me-downs from friends or your parents. It'll probably need a pick-me-up, but that's okay. Use the information in this article by femme frugality to learn how to refinish wood furniture for a nursery.
3) Paint Old Furniture
If you can't afford to buy new furniture, there are plenty of baby furniture hand-me-downs around. Get an old piece of furniture from your parents, friends, or flea markets or tag sales. It may not look like much, but as long as it's safe, all it'll need is a coat of paint to be worthy of your baby's nursery. Use the directions in this video by Loveli Channel to learn how to paint old baby furniture safely so that you can put it in your like-new nursery!
4) Bedside Crib
If you don't have a lot of room, think about this; do you really need a separate nursery? We're not talking about cosleeping, which can be controversial, but simply having your baby in the same room as you. Some people believe this reduces the chances of crib death; plus, it means you won't need to buy as much furniture. Instead, get a smaller bedside crib like the one in this picture and use your own closet or dresser for some of the baby's things. This saves the expense of buying baby-specific furniture that they'll grow out of in a year.
5) DIY Wood Letters
You'll want some decorations to make the room cozy and stimulating for your baby and give a sense of individuality as the baby grows older and begins to develop their sense of self. One great way to accomplish both these things is to make wood letters. You can find letters like these on Amazon or go to your local dollar store and see if they have them there. Then, paint them to make them look good and spell your baby's name or a cute message like "dream" or "love."
6) Twister
When you decorate your nursery, try to find decorations with other uses, so you're not spending a lot of money on purely decorative things. For example, you could get a game of Twister like the one in this picture to lay on the floor, or paint the floor in Twister polka dots. That way, your baby will have plenty of exciting colors and get to look at these patterns when they're crawling around the room, and when they get older, they'll have a cool game built into their room!
7) DIY Crib
Building things yourself is often cheaper than buying them in stores. Instead of buying an expensive crib, think about building one yourself. This may seem like an intimidating task, but if you have a little woodworking experience and the right tools, you can use a plan like this one to make your baby's crib for much cheaper than buying one in a store. Since the plans are free, all you need to pay for is the wood and materials to make them a reality!
8) Polka Dots
Babies need a stimulating environment to keep their minds active and teach them about the world around them. This means that when it comes to designing the cheapest nursery you can, decorations are a necessity, not a luxury. Polka dots are a great way to introduce patterns and color to your baby's nursery, and you can use this video tutorial to learn how to do it yourself, so it'll only cost the price of a few small cans of paint.
9) DIY Changing Table and Dresser Combo
Combining two pieces of furniture into one space seems like an obvious choice to save space, but it also works for saving money. Combine two pieces of furniture into one so that you only have to pay for one piece or for the materials to build one piece. Generally, these combo pieces will cost less than buying two separate pieces of furniture. You can even build furniture like this changing table and dresser combination to save more money. This way, you only have to pay for the materials to build a single piece of furniture for hanging and storing clothes.
10) Chalkboard Contact Paper
If you don't want your baby's room to be stuck with one pattern and set of decorations, but you can't afford to keep changing things every month or every year, get chalkboard contact paper like this from Amazon. With this, you can cover walls and draw decorations or patterns on them so that your baby gets to look at something different each time, plus you can use it to jot notes if you need to. Then, when they're older, they'll have walls they can draw on.
11) DIY Shiplap
If you're looking for a cheap way to redecorate a nursery, you're probably thinking about adding a new coat of paint since it's fairly inexpensive, and you can save money by doing it yourself. Instead of settling for paint because it seems cheap and easy, use the instructions in this video to make shiplap walls for less than $100. This will make a much nicer looking nursery without costing incredible amounts of money that fancy walls often do, and you can use the video to do it yourself just like you would if you were painting.
12) DIY Cardboard
While cardboard probably doesn't seem like a viable nursery decoration or furniture idea, it's actually a great material for a lot of things you'll want in the nursery. When you start furnishing your nursery, one of the best things to get are cloth cubes for storing clothes, toys, and more, but they can be expensive. Instead of paying a lot, save up some cardboard, and use these directions from The DIY Nuts to make the free cardboard into storage, saving you money and the trouble of disposing of it.
13) Child-Made
Do you have more than one child? If so, you can actually save money and time by having them help you decorate. Give them a few cheap crafts supplies, such as letters like the ones in this picture, and have them decorate them for the baby. This will be a cheap way to get decorations, and your older child will feel more connected to your new baby since they helper design the nursery. Make sure to give your child plenty of bright colors, and they're sure to make things that will excite and interest an infant.
14) Chalkboard Paint
One way to create a lot of decorations and make the furniture look unique for little cost is to get a jar of chalkboard paint like this from Amazon and paint some items and furniture around the nursery with it. This way, you can have a simple wall color like white that you can keep as your child gets older, and decorate the room by drawing on the chalkboards. Use white chalk at first, since newborns can't see color initially. When they get older, they can make their own decorations with colored chalk!
15) Scrabble Letters
How do scrabble letters fit into a nursery? For one thing, they're cheap to buy or make, and you might have some sitting around from an old and beat-up game you don't use. Letters are great nursery decor since you can spell your baby's name and use them to teach them letters as they grow older. Think about using old scrabble letters or buying ones like this, then using them to make decorations and spell things on the walls or furniture.
16) Baby Clothes
If you don't want to spend a lot of money on decorations, it's time to think outside the box. Whether you like it or not, your baby will grow fast, and you'll need to get bigger and bigger baby clothes often. Instead of throwing away old clothes, use them as decorations! You can put them on walls or cut out patterns to create all kinds of textured and patterned decorations and create a baby clothes theme for the nursery. Display bright, patterned, new baby or doll clothes while you're waiting for the baby to grow into them.
17) Whiteboard Wallpaper
You want a colorful nursery that will have plenty of things to interest your baby, but brand new paint seems like a waste of money when your child will probably want a new color when they get older. Instead, get them something that will last for their whole childhood and into their teen years by putting up whiteboard wallpaper like this. Draw patterns on it for them to look at when they're a baby, then let them decorate it as they get older.
18) Dollar Store Baskets
The dollar store may be the best resource for somebody planning a nursery on a budget. Take a trip to the nearest one and keep an eye out for cheap baskets. While they may not seem impressive, you can take dollar store baskets and use pieces of cloth to make them cute and baby-friendly, as Kelsey Escoriaza does in this video from Kelsey and Atlas. With a few changes, they look like professionally made decorations and storage containers, but they'll have cost you much less.
19) DIY Animal Wall Art
Children love animals, and babies like to see cute pictures of giraffes and other unique animals that they've never seen before. Your nursery should have some animals and plenty of patterns to interest your baby and keep them occupied. These animal art pieces by Eileen from Just Measuring Up have interesting patterns and animals, and you can make them cheaply using Eileen's instructions. Make sure to check out your local dollar store for some of the materials.
20) Wall Decals
People love to paint and decorate a nursery with pastel colors and cute images and letters that are perfect for babies and toddlers, but the problem with these things is that they aren't very good for older children. The question becomes, what can you put in your nursery that doesn't cost much and won't have this problem? Get temporary decorations like these wall decals, because you can use them while your baby is young, then remove them when they're no longer appropriate.
21) DIY Clouds
Clouds are amazing nursery decorations because they make you think of imagination and thought, they have a lot of texture for your baby to look at, and they teach your baby a bit about the outside world. The other great thing about clouds is that you can make them as nursery decorations for little money. Use the information in this article to learn how you can make a cloud mobile yourself and save the cost of buying an expensive one from the store.
What's your nursery budget, and how are you staying within it? Did any of these ideas help? Let us know in the comments below!
