I may have done this room 1 year 6 months ago, but I feel there's a lot of tips when it comes to decorating on a budget.
Plan your room in advance. You will not get carried away and end up with extra unnecessary expenses. Decide what is important to you - where you are willing to spend and where you need to save. A new cot, compactum and rocking chair were of utmost importance to me. With my first baby boy's room, 10 years ago, I had to be happy with hand me downs as old as I am. This time, it was not negotiable and I would rather save on other items.
Believe it or not, the only new items in this room were the rug and baskets from MRPHome and the cot and compactum from Baby Roomz.
The rest were gifts, decor I already had in other rooms, renovated or up-cycled items and one thing I bought at a closing down sale.
With a subtle theme of bohemian and woodlands in mind, I created a mood board and worked from there. I tried to stick to a monotone colour scheme, making the whole process easier. I chose greys, woods, naturals, black and white with touches of gold. These were colours used in other areas of my home, so I could easily re-purpose items from other rooms.
Here are some ideas you might like to consider when creating your baby's room on a budget:
1. Refurbishing
This rocking chair my husband inherited. The white was Imbuia wood and the fabric a red velvet... (eeeeek). We decided not to invest in a new rocker because of the chair's sentimental value, and re-upholstering the chair would cost slightly less than buying a new one. The chair also had no use in the rest of our house. The scatter cover I bought from Superbalist.com for our main bedroom, but re-purposed in the baby room. The bunny rabbit was a gift at my baby shower.
2. Buying Bargains
I bought this dream catcher at a closing down sale from a shop in Big Bay. So glad I stumbled upon it! Keep your eyes open for sales and do not be afraid to check out Gumtree.com and Facebook Marketplace. I have seen some treasures there.
3. Gifts
Put those baby shower gifts to good use! I received this paper bag from a dear friend at my shower and still uses it today. Great for storage or extra blankets and soft toys. Feel free to put together a mood board of what you are planning for your little one's room and send it to your guests with your gift suggestions. This way you will be sure to receive decor items you can actually use and love!
4. Re-purpose other things from your house
Curtains can be an expensive affair. I had these, thank goodness. I often play musical chairs with curtains and scatter cushions in my home. This provides a fresh look monthly, without spending a cent. The baskets I bought from MRPHome and the compactum from Baby Roomz.
5. Upcycling
I have a lot of left over paint in various colours from previous projects. Paint and spraypaint can go a looooong way. I have repainted these nesting tables' tops and fixed the legs. Previously they were clutter in my garage. I covered the lamp's base and head in newspaper and masking tape and spray painted its neck gold to better fit the rest of the room's theme.
6. Do-It-Youself
I got this mobile made at a lasercutter company for less than R100. I gave it a light coat of gold spraypaint and assembled it myself with ribbon I already had. A baby mobile is an easy fun DIY project. Look on www.pinterest.com for ideas and instructions! You can basically hang anything from a mobile!
I also made and painted this watch myself. The owl on the shelf I spraypainted gold (it was a gift from a friend long ago and used to be orange!). The wooden arrow was a baby shower gift. The ampersand and ceramic skull I had. The shelf I bought from MRPHome and they still have a lot of different sizes in black and white (and other selected colours).
7. Prints and Re-usable Frames
Such an easy and affordable way to introduce a theme! It is also easily update-able.
The 2 frames I already had, but changed the prints. You can basically print anything on your home printer and add it to frames. Super cheap, but it makes such a big difference in a room.
The over-sized A3 clipper board I bought from PNA a while back, and rounded it off with a design my friend did a while back.
8. Fix it up!
This closet was in a seriously bad condition. It had broken glass windows. I replaced it with pegboard I re-used from my office and gave it a fresh coat of white paint. This resulted into a total new look. I replaced the knobs with crystal glass knobs I bought a while back for another DIY project. I am very proud of this quick 30 minute renovation!
9. Wall Paint
Paint makes the biggest impact. And it won't break the bank. I chose Fired Earth Suedette (Colour: Light Flannel) from Builders Warehouse for the wall colours. Unfortunately, because of its texture, I ended up needing a lot more paint than anticipated, and we went totally over budget here. Alternatively, I can recommend Plascon Cashmere (Colour Bovine) as another beautiful dark grey option.
I hope this post sparked some ideas of your own with what you have! I truly believe if that a beautiful room does not have to cost thousands.
Feel free to leave comments about YOUR room make-over ideas, I would love to hear them! If you need some advice, you are welcome to DM me on my Instagram account.