Nursery on a Budget

I’m trying my best to do my nursery without spending a ton of money. Since I learned how to sew this year and have A LOT of time on my hands, there is no excuse for me not to do a lot of the work on my own. I’ll be posting updates these next 4 months about some of my ideas and the deals I find.

To give you a background, we have a 2-bedroom bungalow so the only room for the nursery is the office. See how messy it usually is – quite embarrassing!

We have an additional room upstairs to move the "office" to, which is fine by me since it really ends up being a place where we through our junk downstairs, and now we can just throw that kind of stuff upstairs with other junk we tend to store up there. (Maybe one day I'll get motivated and make the upstairs room organized and cute.)

I decided to keep two of the black bookshelves to save money and put them to use. This one I’m going to turn into a wardrobe.

My plan is to take the top shelf out, add a bar across the top, and hang some fabric in front to cover the hanging clothes. I am then going to find some baskets to store clothes in that I won’t be hanging on these next two shelves. The bottom shelf will probably be used to store all the books I’ve collected on pregnancy and how to take care of Miss Emery when she arrives.

On the small shelf my plan is to find two baskets to store items in and then use the bottle shelf to store books. (I saved lots of my picture books from teaching for when I had children and was delighted to see them again as I pulled them out of storage the other week. Of course it was the box in the back corner on the bottom, which my husband wasn’t happy about, but they were recovered!)

Task #1 – Find baskets!

Last week I went all around Charlotte looking for good deals on baskets. I went to one Michaels and saw that a lot of baskets were 50% off, but I didn’t see any I loved. I then went to World Market and Pier One. No luck. It was difficult to find baskets that would fit well, were inexpensive, and that didn’t look too cheap. On my way home the other day I decided to pop into a different Michael’s in Charlotte and when I went to the basket section I spotted these first and just KNEW they would work.

I measured them to make sure and then saw they were on sale for $10 (originally $20). I was excited because they already had a liner in them so I knew I could use those as patterns to make my own liners to match the bedding I’m planning to make. Then, to my amazement, I went to the register and they rung up at $3.99! I couldn’t believe my eyes -these are NICE baskets! I eagerly went home and they fit perfectly on my shelves.

I now just need to decide on the fabric I will use to make my own liners and I have one task down, several more to conquer.

Task #2: Find a rocker without spending a lot of money

Everyone has told me you need to spend the money and get a rocker, but I’m determined not to spend $700 on a chair! So…this past week I have been looking intently for a rocker chair. I know I want an upholstered one because I think they look less “nursery” and can be put in a playroom or guest room ten years down the road from now when I no longer need a nursery. My friend Cecelia, who is also pregnant and a great bargain finder, has been helping me call around and find a chair that’s not too expensive. We found one with an ottoman that was going to cost just under $500 with tax, but I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted to go ahead and order it. I had to go to Home Depot and then spotted the Habitat for Humanity ReStore across the street and thought maybe I could find a pendant light I’m thinking about for a good price there. As I walked in I noticed a lot of furniture and thought, “hmmm, I wonder if they have rockers.” Well, they did! I found this one that comes with a rocking ottoman for only $45! I called my mom and sent her a picture to get her advice – would I be able to re-upholster this on my own? Should I buy it? She assured me it could be done so I bought it!

Yes, I know, it looks disgusting right now, but with a little (well, it might take a lot) of TLC, it’s going to turn into a fabulous and unique chair. My next goal is to research on the web how to upholster a chair and see if I can do this on my own. I really want a couple of different fabrics on the chair that will match my bedding and liners.

We’ll see….I’ll keep you posted.

Task #3: The bedding

This was a tough decision for me. If you've read some of my previous posts, you already know I love the Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner fabrics. I finally settled the other week on the Lotus fabrics by Amy Butler. I’ve been eyeing this quilt pattern for some time now and have decided to start with this and then see which 3-4 fabrics I fall in love with to do for my bed skirt, basket liners, perhaps a window valance, and maybe some other things.

See the quilt pattern by clicking here.

Task #4: The crib

I have been going back and forth on whether to get a crib that goes up against a wall, or a stationary one that can be angled and stick out or put in the middle of a room. Looking at the size of our office, I decided to go with a stationary crib. One challenge I've had is finding a black crib to match the bookshelves. There are a million cribs out there, but not so many that come in black. After lots of looking, calling around for pricing, etc. I settled on a Young America crib. Click here to see my crib. It should arrive in about 6 weeks!

Well, that's all I have planned so far. I'll keep you posted as I start to put things together these next few months. I think I'd better get on it sooner rather than later. I don't know how much I'm going to want to do when I'm 8-9 months pregnant!