apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Just with the prices Sarah quoted, this is close to a $2k bedroom. And that's without the additional little expenses here and there. I do agree that for a lot of people that is considered budget, but for more frugal readers who still wish to remain stylish, that is probably too much money.

I wonder if you have any readers that have been able to outfit a nursery for under $1K?

I just followed that link to the Orchard bed setting. It's now $39!

This is a lovely room. I love blue rooms and this one is just right. The fish make a lovely finishing touch. What a lucky child!

I have one minor criticism about the title. Spending 2000-ish dollars on a baby's room is hardly decorating "on a budget." Sorry, getting a few things on sale or at Wal-Mart does not qualify.

Lovely, yes. Creative, yes. Calming, yes. Beautifully up to date, yes. Budget, no.

mrshekmi: We found a crib on-sale at a baby store for abot $300. It wasn't our first choice but it's neutral and classic. IKEA dresser in bright color for $150, we added a changing pad that secures to the back. We mixed-and-matched bedding from sale items at a local store and also on clearance at baby Gap, total about $30. The decor all came from pieces we already had or that were handed down to us: baby cowboy boots my hubby wore, a vintage rodeo poster found in a cookbook, a hand-made rocking horse that great grandpa made for my mother, and a large painted metal star I purchased for $8. Grand total is WELL under $1k, using things we already had, shopping sale-items, and making a few teensy compromises. I went with the cow-boyishness because we had these little treasures already. You can e-mail me for photos, via my blog sassypiggy.blogspot.com.

I agree that this is a beautiful room.

To address the reader who asked about a less-expensive nursery: We were lucky enough to get a hand-me-down crib, but otherwise our daughter's room cost about $1,000--nearly all of that a rocking chair from Pottery Barn ($800). Our daughter's beautiful old dresser is from a thrift store, repainted ($80), her wooden bookcase was a thrift store find ($10), I made pillows myself, we found a rug on sale at West Elm, and her toys go in canvas bins that are accessible to her--she loves dumping them out, and it's easy to throw them back in. Stores like Pottery Barn specialize in creating furniture that looks vintage; with a little searching, one can find pieces that actually are vintage for a fraction of the cost, and if the wood isn't beautiful, white paint works wonders.

As Sara says, paying a lot for a crib that's only going to be used a couple years is hard to justify. However, that also means that lots of people are selling beautiful cribs on craigslist that have seen only the lightest wear.

It also seems to make sense to wait a little. We bought the Pottery Barn rocker after we discovered that our girl was up for hours a night, every night, and the little antique rocker I'd had for years wasn't comfortable enough for the use it was getting. But other babies don't particularly like rocking--we have a friend whose child needed to be walked back to sleep.

That said, I love this room and I'm sure Baby M will, too.

Gulliver crib from Ikea (got it in as-is for cheaper), plain white sheets from Ikea, baby quilts were baby gifts, sewed some of my bedding and curtains (there are no sew ways of making custom curtains, just use stitch witchery to hem and make a tunnel, using the same or a quick handstitch.) splurged $200 on a rocking chair, bought a great marimekko print (1 yd $40) and stapled it to a wood canvas frame and hung as art... I probably spent about $500 total including paint, lighting, etc...

Congratulations! I think your nursery is beautiful and it looks considerably more expensive than the money you spent on it. Come on people, apart from the rocker and ottoman, the remainder of the pieces are great value compared to other modern offerings from the likes of Ouef/Nurseryworks/David Netto etc.

I used the same BabyMod Furniture, and though I have no experience putting other cribs together, I also have only good things to say. Insert a Poang chair for a super expensive rocker, and my nursery came far closer to $1000 than the above one. I have a few mobiles (IKEA and homemade) and paper lanterns that have yet to be hung, but since we're moving to a cool 1950s home with exposed brick walls soon I'm not sure if they ever will be hung in this home. I also made my own crib skirt and used a commercially-sold crib sheet (MiGi Splash).

Photos of a nursery in progress here, including detailed photos of the BabyMod Furniture set-up process.
www.flickr.com/photos/newcreation/sets/72157602673787181/

Awesome room. Great great job!

It's a very nice room, both peaceful and fresh. However, I do not think it is a very good example of putting together a nursery "without spending a fortune".

shoot, we did a nursery for our triplets for less than that! waaaaay less than that!

love it!! love the look of the walmart crib and bedding.

I really love the room, and find it quite inspiring. Thanks so much for sharing!

The point is not if you can pull together a nursery for less than $2000-the point is pulling together a well-appointed, modern nursery with quality furniture for less than $2000. I love how this one looks. And if you price most modern baby sets, the crib and changing table will be way over $2000 before you add anything!!

I think it's understated, subtle, and calm. Everyone who is griping about the cost-remember the big-ticket chair can move into any room in the house later. And unless you have a friend/sibling to give you hand-me-downs, outfitting a specialized room for a new human being is expensive, period.
As a veteran mama I have one bit of advice-you're going to wish you had black-out shades for those gorgeous, light-filled windows!!! Enjoy your baby!

Beautiful. And the Baby Bjorn Babysitter is such an amazing thing. Great for babies too big to be always lying on their backs, big enough to want to be where you are, but too small to sit down on their own. It saved us.

Lovely.

But the very best feature, to my eye, is those huge, light-filled windows!

Hell yes that's a deal for $2000!! All of that cute furniture, plus art, and bedding. Some spend way more than $2k just on the crib (then the silly parents let the baby sleep in THEIR bed for for the next 18 months...oh don't get me started)
I love ALL of it--very well done!

fine, it's not on a shoestring budget, but that 2k nursery looks like one that costs 3 times that... very nice job...

We just bought the same crib and changing table... although we will have to share our one bedroom with our little one.... I also was checking out that mobile last week..... I really like the way it looks in your room! we have quite similar tastes :-D

the bedding we selected was a different budget mod line... dwell studio for target circles(http://www.target.com/DwellStudio-Target-3-pc-Crib-Set/dp/B000VPE5SM/qid=1208011892/ref=br_1_1/601-3225160-9776139?ie=UTF8&node=401647011&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1)

I love how style is no longer cost prohibitive to the middle class........

I really really like it! but I think some cream shag carpet would really pull it all together and make it super baby cozy!

$2k, not a budget room.
Very nice, I really like it.

Completely charming nursery! I'm going to be doing something similar with our new nursery: ParkLane changer/dresser for $250, IKEA Expedit shelves for $150, and the Baby Mod Olivia for $300 instead of the Baby Mod ParkLane crib. We're also thinking of splurging on a really nice chair that we can move to our study after it isn't needed in the nursery any more, but I think we'll likely end up going with the $100 Poang knock-off that Amazon sells (with ottoman). So not including tax, we'll be spending around $800 for crib, dresser/changer, shelving, nursing chair, and ottoman. I think that's reasonable.

I loved this room so much that I ordered the Orchard Park bedding from Walmart; they marked it down again from $49 to $39 (free shipping). Best deal on modern crib bedding I've come across so far.

Here's another great room with a fab mobile but done in mauve rather than blue: http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2008/08/colour-story-ellas-mauve-bedroom/

We have some modern nursery ideas over at ParentZing! that readers may be interested in. Just like your wardrobe, we recommend mixing expensive & inexpensive, handmade & mass-produced, new & old, etc. We're also doing follow-up posts on toddler & big kids' rooms.

www.parentzing.net

ParentZing!
... is urban. style. parenting.

It's been a little while since I decorated my son's room, and we were lucky enough to get a hand-me-down crib, but we went with the Leksvik set from Ikea...picked up the change-table/dresser combination ($99.00) and the toy box in the As Is section already assembled for $69.00. Textiles I've gotten from second hand stores or on deep discount (managed to find a comforter, fitted sheet, flat sheet and two pillowcases for the Leksvik toddler bed we later picked up for $25.00 at The Disney Store). I used a rug we already had, a hanging chair from my husband, and a spare bookshelf.
I also used teddy bears to decorate with, and between what we got as gifts, and already had, didn't have to purchase any additional. I used half a can of Behr eggshell finish in a smoky blue on the walls, and a set of curtains from Ikea ($45.00) in dark blue faux velvet.
In total I think the room came in around $700 or $800 (Canadian currency), but he is 3 and we haven't had to redecorate to make it more 'big boy' friendly.

The room is very zen, a little plain for my taste, I think you can do more with $2000, but everyone has different styles. If your really on a budget, I suggest buying your nursery furniture on craigslist. We sold my sons (very expensive) crib and changing dresser for $300 for the set. It looked brand new, babies don't really beat up their furniture like toddlers and older kids do. I have a friend who spent a fortune on her nursery furniture and her son never spent one night in it! He has been in their bed since the day he came home(he is now 4!). Anyways, you can find some great stuff on craigslist, just get the word "used" out of your head and look for great quality. Also, we had both of our kids rooms painted by a friend who used to work for Disney. Yes, they are little out of control. He spent everyday for around 4 months painting! We tried to go with a little bit older themes so we could get as many years as possible out of them. I realized not everyone had this luxury to have Brandon come paint their nusery, so I found an artist who was willing to put his own artwork on removeable paper. I now sell these murals on my own site www.shopexclusivebaby.com. If you would like to see the pictures of my own kids rooms, email me through the site. Happy decorating!

I have been searching for this baby bedding since your post and although I can link to it through your blog - it is no longer listed directly on the walmart site. Do you know if there is any way I can get this bedding? I am desperate for modern baby bedding that is different than the norm but I can not afford to have it hand made or pay a lot on the modern bedding sites....any help would be greatly appreciated!

I have been looking for the Nurseryworks Sleepytime rocker, but its not listed on modern tots for $540, did Sara get the sample at the store for $540 or the website had it listed for 40%? Please help!!!!

I got it online at Modern Tots, we got lucky and they were running a sale at the time.

As far as where you can get the bedding, if Wal-Mart no longer carries it I think you are probably out of luck. Target also has some adorable sets now under their Dwell line that are also very affordable.

Sara - I've had W-marts Baby Mod crib, dresser and sheet set (different style) for over a year, and they've held up beautifully! Great room - love the mobile!

I love what you did with Baby M's room! Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of space and am on a very limited budget. The one item I would like to splurge on is a crib. The problem is that I live in Hawaii and no one will ship, if they do, it increases the cost of the item by at least $100. I found the Babi Italia Scandi crib abd the Babymod Olivia crib online and thought that ToysRUs or Walmart could bring them in, but unfortunately they will not if it is not an item they regularly stock. I was just wondering if any of you experienced bargain hunters have any ideas?
I have had great luck on craigs list and ebay for other items. I recently purchased a brand new, still in package global baby Lions, Tigers and Bears crib bedding set from ebay for $49. It retails for over $150 and is 100% cotton and washable! I plan to purchase some fun contemporary sheets to play it up. They also had some of the Dwell for Target crib bedding sets for less than retail, still int eh package. I have also found pack and plays, strollers and crib mobiles, brand new or barely used on craigslist. If you have the time to search, it can be a goldmine when on a budget.
Thanks for reading.
knine

Good lord, some of the commenters here apparently don't live in the real world. It's nearly impossible to do a baby room for less than a couple thousand? Really? Try talking to families whose yearly income isn't much more than that.

I would love to see the rest of your house!

Thank you to all those who complimented the room. To address the budget issue, I concede that this is not the cheapest nursery possible by any means. Compared to the our inspiration pieces though, we saved quite a bit of money and are still incredibly happy with all of our purchases. The one big-ticket item (the chair) will move into our office once its no longer needed for middle of the night rockings, and the furniture has all held up quite well as has the bedding.

Hi, can you please tell me the paint color for this beautiful nursery?
thanks!