In todays guest post, BC reader and Wisconsin mom Michaela shows us how careful shopping and a bit of improvisation helped her create a fun nursery for her son:
I’m a planner by nature, so even before we found out we’d be having a boy, I started visualizing the nursery. I wanted it to be modern, unique, but yet still warm and fuzzy. It was currently our guest bedroom, and when we moved into the house we had painted the room a light blue. I am an “earthy” tone kind of gal, so I vowed it would stay blue if we were having either a boy or girl. I also did not want a theme, but we ended up decorating the room with monkeys in a more modern way.
When it was our guest bedroom, I had purchased some really neat paisley print drapes on clearance from JCPenney’s website. I wanted to keep those for the nursery and play with greens, browns, and blues from the drapes. I immediately fell in love with a neutral organic bed set from Walmart.com for under $120. I loved the feel of this soft velour set – it was the perfect find. The crib was a bargain, since it used to be mine when I was a baby. I had no idea my parents kept it in storage for me after all these years hoping I’d be able to use it again. I love the antique detail on the sides, my teeth marks on the rails, and of course – the price; zero dollars!
The monkey picture with frame above the crib was purchased on Ebay for $2o. The highly rated rocker and glider also came from Walmart for $125 with free shipping to the store. I purchased the heavy duty wool rug, ladder bookshelf, and the dresser/changer from JCPenney’s online outlet all for under $400 with free shipping. It gave me pride that I didn’t need my husband’s help – just a Philips screwdriver – to assemble all of the furniture.
Through the course of planning the nursery, I found inspiration by looking online and vowed to get crafty and creative and to not succumb to the pricey baby décor. Heck, I thought, I could make most of this stuff myself! Above the changing table, I stained scrap wood with stain we already had in our basement and painted the wording and monkey outlines myself with some paint we also already had. The green print pictures above and below the wood are placemats I purchased at Walmart on clearance for a dollar. The monkey paintings were free – courtesy of my talented uncle.
The letters on the book shelf I traced and cut out on puffy stick paper I found in the craft section at Walmart. I already had the picture board, but changed up the ribbon. With the leftover ribbon (also purchased from Walmart), I coordinated and played up a frame I found at a garage sale for a quarter.
The closet was small, so I bought a hanging storage organizer from Target, and a hanging storage bar for $10 from The Home Depot. The bar was too long, but I had a friend saw some of it down to fit perfectly between the closet wall and hanging storage. Voila!
Note: If you’re planning to use a hand-me-down or antique crib, be sure to make sure it meets current safety standards like Michaela did. Michaela also purchased a new mattress to go with the crib.
This post is part of BC’s Nursery on a Budget Series. See more posts in the series.
This artist has some great sock monkey prints.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/mgenomgeno?section_id=5014275
We're using my husband's crib and changing table for our two boys and are so blessed to have saved that money. It's not a color I'd like but the price was right and even though it went through my spouse and his two siblings, it's in flawless condition. I've read some negative comments about drop side cribs (which the older ones tend to be) but you could just NOT raise and lower the side! I just bought a new mattress. This furniture moves on to my brother-in-law next for his progeny so it will be well used for the investment made over 30 years ago.
i was thinking just that: make sure the crib meets safety standards. we are using the same crib that my in laws purchased for my sister in law…it went through three of her kids and out son, now we will use it for our daughter. of course the 4 boys hardly ever slept in their crib, which means it still looks like new! and no teeth marks!!
great idea on the nursery decorating posts! i loovvee them all!
You see that decorative moulding on either end of the crib? How it has bumps I guess you could describe it? Well, that's a safety hazard. Too easy for little ones to try and climb out, then get their clothes stuck on those bumps and end up dangling there (or worse). If you're going to keep that crib, please take a power tool and make the sides uniform. It'll take no time at all to saw that down and restain it.
Cute nursery!
Great monkey nursery!
I love the monkey art with the red & white striped shirt. Too cute!
I love this idea and how crafty you got to get on your own! Very well done!
I really love how you made more space in the closet, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how you've managed to get the lower/second clothes bar to hold steady. I know that most of the storage organizers are just cloth, and I don't see how it'd be sturdy enough to hold up a bar full of clothes. Can anybody tell me if it really is this simple or there's more to it?
We're trying to design a nursery now, and we have a smaller room with a tiny closet to work with, and need to make the most of the space as possible. Thanks!
Hey Marissa-
The lower bar is supported by two metal hooks that hang on the top closet bar. Once you saw down the lower bar to the correct size, you'll have to re-drill the hole for the metal bar…it's very simple to do if you have a friend with some shop tools. Good luck!