5 ways to decorate a nursery on a budget

I am allll about budgets. Budget design, budget interiors, and basically how you can make something look beautiful on the cheap. That’s why I thought we can get creative with decorating a nursery on a budget.

We’re currently in the process of decorating our nursery in our own home because I’m 5 months pregnant, and baby number one is due in October! It’s a super exciting but also really expensive time. What do you mean I need to spend £1,000 on a pram and also buy a cot, a next-to-me bed, a ton of clothes, a brand new car seat?

Okay, so we didn’t actually spend £1,000 on a pram. I got ours secondhand for £250! But this is my point. You can do practically anything on a small budget if you want to, including your baby’s nursery.

So let’s find out how we’re budgeting to decorate and how much money we think we can save.

 

Tip #1: Buy secondhand

I’m an absolute lover of secondhand items. They usually have plenty of life left in them, they’re significantly cheaper than buying new AND they’re so much better for the environment, reducing carbon emissions.

We picked up the Mamas and Papas cot bed for £150, which sells new for £270. It didn’t have a single mark on it and looked brand new, so that was a decent saving of £120. Just remember, if you’re buying items secondhand, they need to be safe. We disposed of the cot mattress that came with the bed and bought new to reduce the risk of SIDs.

We also picked up a Laura Ashley rocking chair (for feeding in) for £80 and a toybox secondhand for £20.

The final way we saved money was with the chest of drawers. Can you believe these were my chest of drawers from when I was a child? They’re solid wood, which made them the ideal thing to upcycle. With a coat of paint, a newly sanded top and new handles, we did them up for around £35, instead of buying new at £200+.

You can always find bargains on local buy and sell pages, on social media, in charity shops and so much more. You might even have friends or family getting rid of items that you can buy. There are SO many options and you really don’t have to buy new all the time.

Estimated saving: £505

Tip #2: ALways look for the best price

For anything you do have to buy new, make sure you shop around and don’t just buy the first thing you see. I’d suggest that you have a look online and compare and contrast to make sure you’re getting the best deal available.

Or something I love to do is find something I like and then keep an eye out for it on Vinted or Facebook Marketplace. Things pop up all the time, so if you’re on the lookout, you’re more likely to get it at a good price.

You may also want to sign up to some email newsletters, including Mamas and Papas and other big baby brands, as they may have discounts or offers on.

Tip #3: Choose wall decals over a full mural

We were extremely lucky that our wall mural was gifted to us, otherwise it would have been more than £500, and that’s a huge amount of money to spend on wallpaper.

If you do want to add some interest to the walls without spending hundreds of pounds, wall decals are the way to go. They’re super cheap and can be applied and then peeled off as your child outgrowws them, ready for the next set of decals.

You can even combine paint designs and wall decals, as in the image below, to create something completely unique and beautiful.

 

Estimated saving: £400

Tip #4: Do what you can yourself

I’m not saying you need to learn how to install a carpet, but you absolutely could paint the room yourself instead of paying a professional decorator to do it. In our nurery, we’ve used Lick paint, which in our experience has been really hardwearing, and we painted the room ourselves.

You could also install laminate flooring yourself if you’re feeling adventurous.

Estimated saving: £150

Tip #5: Create your own artwork

Canvases and other wall art can be so expensive now, but you can make your own for significantly cheaper! You could either use some paint and design a canvas yourself, or you can create personalised wall art with your own family photos (this might be a good one to do once baby is born!).

Alternatively, you can buy the frames and print some photos to put in yourself. Frames can be as little as £10 so it’s a really budget-friendly way to decorate.

Estimated saving: £100

I hope I’ve proved that you absolutely can design a beautiful nursery on a budget, even if you only have a couple of hundred pounds to spare.

Adding all the saving costs together, you could save as much as £1,100 with my handy tips! And still come out with a wonderful room (that hopefully encourages good baby sleep, but we’ll see about that).