Nursery on a Budget

When we found out we were pregnant, I immediately started mentally planning the nursery.  I didn't really have a budget, but I knew I wanted to do it as inexpensively as possible, because I'm kind of cheap.  I ended up spending under $400.  What?!  Yes, I seriously decorated our nursery for less than $400.  And I think it's pretty darn cute.

So, how did I do it?  Well, lots of bargain hunting, lots of DIYing, and a pinch of resourcefulness.  Here's the details.  Well, except without the exact sources, because well, new baby = not much blogging time.  So, if I can't do it in ten minutes while my husband finishes watching Justified or with one hand on my phone, it's not going to happen.

Let's start with the crib.  I did what every single book tells you not to do.  I bought a used crib.  From someone I knew and trusted.  Someone I knew had kept up with all recall information.  That allowed me to score a gorgeous crib for a fraction of the price.  Now I feel like you could go buy a new crib from somewhere around the same price from Ikea.  Definitely functional.  Cost:  $125 (including mattress)

Crib skirt.  Oh, this was a doozie.  My mom sewed it for me.  It turned out to be a gigantic pain of a project.  My sewing skills are definitely not this good.  But it turned out amazingly!  We picked up the fabric on sale at JoAnn's and my poor mom spent hours upon hours sewing it.  Fun fact, the base is made out of table cloths from my wedding.  Cost: $30 (and countless hours my mother will never get back.)

Mobile.  This bad boy took a couple hours of crafting but I think was well worth it.  It's a wire wreath form that I painted gold.  And a ton of coral and gold dots I punched out using two different sizes of circle punch.  The dots are stuck onto thread with glue dots.  And then the mobile is hung with ribbon I already had on hand.  Cost:  $6 (or so)

Chevron art.  I already had all the paint on hand for this.  It just required buying a canvas, taping it off and then painting.  Easy peasy.  Cost:  $8

Tall bookshelf.  This bad boy was free.  My dad built it for me back when I was in college.  It stayed in the nursery for a bit of extra storage space.  I'm envisioning diaper storage and some pretty folded baby blankets.  Cost:  Free

Tree decal.  I picked up this up at Target on clearance upon suggestion from a friend.  I wasn't really sure I wanted it.  Even as I was putting it up, I wasn't too sure.  But now I'm in love.  So glad I ponied up the six bucks and change.  It's the perfect little detail.  Cost:  $7

Gallery wall.  This was super cheap to put together.  The mint canvas with the heart, I made.  The big frame came from Ikea and the name decal came from PolkaDot Wall stickers.  That's probably the most expensive decoration I bought.  The two small pictures were my mom and aunt's when they were little girls and were the inspiration for my color scheme.  The 8x10 frames are also from Ikea.  The small scalloped frame, you guessed it, Ikea.  And still needs a picture put in it...  The 11x13 frame is from Walmart but it doesn't count because I already had it.  Cost:  $60

My changing table/dresser was a gift from my parents.  This project started out as a total disaster.  I found a dresser on Facebook that was $30.  I was going to refinish it.  Well, my dad went to pick it up and it was a total piece of crap.  My mom felt so bad about it that she went on a mission to find me a different one.  Mission complete.  They found a gorgeous dresser and my dad refinished it for me.  And then wouldn't let me pay them for it.  I picked up the drawer knobs on a 50% off sale at Hobby Lobby  Cost:  Gift/Drawer Knobs $18

Rocking chair.  I got it last summer at a garage sale.  I think it barely even counts.  Just to be fair though, I'll count the measley amount I spent on it.  It rode home in the trunk of my car.  I'm classy like that.  Cost:  $8

Curtains.  I picked these up at Ikea for less than $20 for the pair.  They're the perfect layer of texture.  I love them so much!  I got the gold curtain rod at Walmart for about $8.  Not too shabby.  Cost:  $28

Blinds.  Okay, these are from Ikea too.  Are you noticing a trend?  Like maybe a big Ikea shopping trip to complete our nursery?  It may have happened.  So these curtains are amazing.  I just measured my window and then cut the blinds with SCISSORS, yes scissors.  All at once.  Pretty amazing.  And even better....  Cost:  $6 (for both blinds!)

Lamps.  This is another example of me being cheap.  There was a light fixture that I looooved.  But I felt like it was silly to spend that much on a light fixture that I might not use that much.  And silly to pay an electrician to come run wiring for an overhead light when lamps would do just fine.  See, cheap.  So, I pulled an old "Work with what you've got" and just had my dad spray paint lamp bases that I already had.  Then I grabbed a bottle of gold craft paint I already had and a Q-tip and just painted those cute little dots on my lamp shades.  Cost:  Free

The small bookshelf I've had for years.  Either my dad or my grandpa built it.  All the books came from my baby showers.  It's great to have lots of teacher friends!  And the adorable elephant was a Christmas present from my sister-in-law.

 

 Since I like spreadsheets, here's a breakdown of the costs and where everything came from.

Item	Cost	Source
Crib/Mattress	$125.00	Garage Sale
Dresser/Knobs	$18.00	Hobby Lobby
Rocker	$8.00	Garage Sale
Curtains/Rod	$28.00	Ikea/Walmart
Blinds	$6.00	Ikea
Lamps	0	Repurposed
Bookshelves	0	Repurposed
Gallery Wall	$60	Walmart, Ikea, heirloom
Tree Decal	$7	Target
Mobile	$6.00	DIY
Paint	$70	Sherwin Williams, Amour
Chevron Art	$8	DIY
Crib Skirt	$30.00	DIY
Total	$366.00

 And there you have it.  A nursery for under four hundred bucks.  Not too bad.