Anybody who knows me knows that one of the most exciting things about our surprise matching with an infant was that I got to decorate another nursery.  We would have been more than happy with an older child, but it sure is special to have a teensie bitty baby!  And on top of that I got another excuse to decorate – yay!

My challenge was two fold -

1) This had to get it all out of my system – this is very likely the last nursery I will get to decorate – of course I will get to help decorate as they grow up, but I have learned from the other two that kids start developing opinions very fast.  My oldest’s princess room kinda gave me the heebie jeebies, but she LOVED it because it was ‘SOOO fancy’.  So this is probably the last room I get to decorate without having a kid interject their ideas of what looks good.

2) It had to be CHEAP.  We had planned for a 2 year old to come home and then were immediately matched with a newborn.  We had sold most of our new baby stuff (to put into our adoption fund) – we had planned on a shared room for the girls with a bunk bed.  Now we had a newborn – with very little for a child under 2 available.  This was our third kid, so we weren’t gonna have a shower of any kind, we had just go through the whole adoption process which left us without a whole lot in our savings account, and we don’t do financing.

So my challenge was epically cute (according to my minor OCD driven specifications) and cheap.

I explained this to my friend Heather and Baby Bump & Beyond. (Discount Alert – make sure to read all the way to the bottom!) I showed her a picture of a shabby chic room in a magazine that I thought would be so pretty as a nursery – but I had bought a sensible second hand bumper already in a color that matched the pink already on the walls.  I really didn’t like the idea of it being pink – but I was trying to be sensible and frugal.

The room I saw was teal and white, without a hint of pink – still so feminine, but just different from what I have seen before, and I loved the color scheme.

She encouraged me to go with what I really liked – that paint was cheap and so is fabric (my mom & I sew).

So I sold the ugly pink bumper on ebay and here is what we did instead………..

We went with teal and white with a bird theme.

First we painted over that hideous pink and purple room that my oldest loved so much *barf*.  We painted the whole room slightly off white with a bright teal border along the top.  We popped off that chair rail just as we had done once before and simply swapped out the hot pink ribbon for teal. Paint and ribbon - less than $100

 

Furniture ~

I started with what we had.  We re-purposed big sisters old dresser (switched out the knobs – my mom had taken these vintage white knobs off of another piece of furniture recently – viola – totally free. We also reused the bookshelf, baskets, and display shelf from her sister’s old room.  Grandma gave us an AWESOME vintage lamp that works great!

Then I went to my favorite store…..Craigslist.  I bought a Pottery Barn Crib for $30 – for reals.   It was in great shape, but we did secure the ‘drop down’ feature.  We also bought this changing table on Craigslist – $55.  We did have to repaint it, which was time consuming, but it sure was cheaper than the $300+ brand new one we could have bought!

Total cost of her furniture – $85

 

Bedding ~

Then I used Amazon gift cards I had ‘earned’ using swagbucks to buy sheets and a crib skirt – totally free! (we used ribbon from Wal Mart in the same color of the sheets to decorate the crib skirt – less than a dollar for that embellishment )

My mom and I made the bumpers for the crib – and when I say ‘My mom and I’ what I mean is, I really had every intention of helping, but basically I just bought the fabric and stayed out of the way while she worked her magic.  The total cost of the bumper was under $40 – fabric, ribbon, and stuffing – and if only I had a coupon at the fabric store it would have been under $30 – oh well!  We don’t do baby quilts in our house – just silly in my opinion.

two sheets – free, crib skirt – free, supplies for bumper – $40 – take $40 to a baby store and see how far it gets you………

Adorable accessories – all budget friendly ~

This is really where Baby, Bump, & Beyond came in – she had AWESOME DIY ideas!

Mobile ~

My oldest’s nursery had a $45 mobile – FORTY FIVE DOLLARS?! – but it sure what cute.  My son’s mobile was less than $5 – we made it and it took hours – it had little surfing bears (I literally sewed tiny board shorts and bikinis for tiny bears) and my hubby made a cute little tiki hut as the top.  #thatssevenhourswewillnevergetback – no offense to Baby C, but we weren’t gonna do either of those options again.

She showed me an adorable mobile that matched our theme, but not the colors on Etsy – no problem that it didn’t match though, because it was $150 – then she showed me a pattern for essentially the same birdies on a free pattern website!  We used felt we already had and fabric we bought for the bumper.  We used a combination of hot glue and sewing.  This was a fun project for Heather & I and my oldest had fun stuffing the birds. We just crossed a dowel to hang them from (we used fishing line).

TOTAL cost of this mobile – less than $2.  Total time – maybe an hour or two.

 

Framed up fabric ~

Frames – 99 cents store and fabric was left over from our bumper (already factored in) – total cost $3

Light fixture ~

This is my favorite!  You can buy a fancy bird cage light fixture for over $100 on many sites and boutiques.  Or you can go to Ross and buy a $10 bird cage and about $15 worth of light bulbs and hardware and make it yourself.  (or have your hubby and dad make it that is)

Total cost – $25

 

3-D Wall art ~

When Heather showed me this idea I was SO excited!  We used bird houses from a craft store – they cost between $1 and $5 a piece.  We bought cheap craft paint and let the kids go to town.  They got to paint them all white and then mommy painted the trim in other colors.

Total cost with paint that we will continue to use for other craftiness – $10 (this is way cuter than $10 right?!)

(Even if you don’t plan on decorating a birdie themed nursery – this is a CHEAP thing for kids to do – they could make fun little gifts for family and friends or even sweet party favors/party entertainment!)

 

 

Isn’t it just so darn cute up on the wall?  The hat & book were gifts that we just displayed along with a fluffy birdie we bought at Homegoods!

 

It took us until Baby C was nearly 6 months old to get her nursery up and running (which is totally fine because she didn’t have her heart surgery until she was 5 months old and needed to be closely monitored up until about 6 months anyway!)  We still are putting in a few cute accessories as we find time – it takes time when you find most of your things second hand.  We are working on a cushion for a cute rocking chair that was mine as a kid, a new hamper and trash can that fit her color scheme – and a few other things.  All in all, I think our surprise nursery is really cute and fun!

I am not sure everyone here has the time/desire to do things the way we did – but even if you just apply a couple of these DIY or second hand techniques you could save quite a bit – start to finish this room was less than $500 (including accessories, bedding, furniture, etc! – the crib alone could have cost that much – or more!!)

 

 

And it is princess approved!

I think this is probably my longest post ever – haha! I really do enjoy decorating with reused products and on a budget – I hope you enjoyed this long winded post!

~ Kate

If you aren’t sick of checking out our kid’s rooms – check out these posts too….

“Big Girl” Princess Room

Our first Nursery

Our son’s Tommy Bahama themed Nursery

 EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT ALERT!!!

Also – please visit my talented and knowledgeable friend Heather from Baby, Bump, and Beyond – who encourages women every day to truly enjoy their pregnancies (or in our case adoptions!), and welcoming their baby!  She also offers wonderful resources to be prepared to safely welcome your little one home! Please check out Baby, Bump, and Beyond today!  Thank you so much Heather – I had a lot of fun! Mention San Diego Deals and Steals and get 50% off nursery design from Baby, Bump, and Beyond – everything from consultation to staging!  Check out other rooms on her site – she has great style!  I LOVE to decorate but it could not have been as cute without Heather’s ideas and encouragement – check her out today!