Decorating on a low income

[CaitlinArai22]

Ok, so i admit we splerged on a couple of things, and were given some really nice things, but for the most part its meant skimping and saving to put together a nice nursery on 2 pensions.
I've tried to work around this to make sure we still eat and baby has nice things - he'll definately have all he needs, but it would be nice to have nice matching stuff..... tho i suppose thats as much for my sake as his lol.

anyway, here are some of the things i've done:

found 'zanzibar' (the jungle setting im using) pics online, used them and brought cheap photopaper and printed my own wall hangings, including giraffes and monkeys in BIG sizes for the walls

printed little pics and decorated a cheap 2nd hand cot with zanzibar animals, leaves and vines (its taken me 3 days of printing, cutting, designing and glueing - now i have to gloss the darn thing, lol

couldnt find suitable curtains at a suitab;e price, but found some at a garage sale that were cheap and would match the lounge room, so put them up and moved the green expencive ones from the lounge to the nursery:rolleyes:

bought a little bookcase from reject shop, turned it on its side (so its stable and reachable from ground level) decorated with vine pics etc from the zanzibar pics, put a soft jungle animal in each box/shelf

bought a childrens neck pillow in the shape of a giraffe from reject shop for $4, much too small for me, too big for him for a while, but looks very cute curled up on the arm chair i got for free in hard rubbish week - the neighbors didnt like the green colour, which matches my place perfectly, so that was a bonus.


anyway, was really just wondering what ideas other people had? i'm keeping an eye out for an old toybox i can sand back and decorate, but other then that i dont know how much more i can do


ooooh hold on i might print off a really big croc and stick him so his head and tail point out just above the table with the key board so it looks like we have a croc hiding back there lol

[CaitlinArai22]

come on, i need a new project i am feeling really edgy and jumpy right now:yes:

someone must have some ideas?

[Mathermy]

Have you had a look around Ikea? Is there anything around your home that could use a makeover with a splash of paint and some fresh fabric?

[MountainGirl]

Ikea and Bunnings and your local chinatown! I decorated Rafferty;s room for about $50,.... Painted the walls a lovely deep beige colour,...(and my accent colours were chocolate and white) bought some coloured chinese paper lanterns from our local chinese shop and hung them around the picture rails,.. got 4 small white square frames from Ikea and framed 4 of Rafferty;s ultrasound pictures and hung them on the wall,..... Bought RAFFERTY in wooden letters from Bunnings (at 70c each) and painted them chocolate brown,.. bought a length of funky material from Ikea and stretched it over a frame and hung it on the wall,... matched the same fabric as a change table cover,....and paired it back with plain coloured cotton cot sheets,....

all our furniture is chocolate brown and the floors are polished wood,.so it looks lovely,..

you can also buy a roll-up bamboo blind from your local chinatown for about $7,.and pin it on the window,..looks more neutral than curtains,.and is more versatile.

Hope that helps!:)

[Mathermy]

Ikea and Bunnings and your local chinatown! I decorated Rafferty;s room for about $50,.... Painted the walls a lovely deep beige colour,...(and my accent colours were chocolate and white) bought some coloured chinese paper lanterns from our local chinese shop and hung them around the picture rails,.. got 4 small white square frames from Ikea and framed 4 of Rafferty;s ultrasound pictures and hung them on the wall,..... Bought RAFFERTY in wooden letters from Bunnings (at 70c each) and painted them chocolate brown,.. bought a length of funky material from Ikea and stretched it over a frame and hung it on the wall,... matched the same fabric as a change table cover,....and paired it back with plain coloured cotton cot sheets,....

all our furniture is chocolate brown and the floors are polished wood,.so it looks lovely,..

you can also buy a roll-up bamboo blind from your local chinatown for about $7,.and pin it on the window,..looks more neutral than curtains,.and is more versatile.

Hope that helps!:)

ooooo ooooo I've been searching for those wooden letters, refusing to pay $5-10 each:laughing: *off to bunnings....*

[CaitlinArai22]

ahhhh, thats great - i agree about not wanting to spend a fortune on letters, even at spotlight they're still a few $ each.

i will go and have a look, i should have really thought of bunnings before hand. and the ikea/chinatown ideas are good too.

I suppose i just keep picking up cheap/2nd hand furniture and aputting on stickers. i wish i could sew and i'd make a few big cushions shaped like the jungle animals or something, but maybe i can find something similar somewhere.

[JabberJaw]

You could buy some cheap photo frames and decorate those as per your theme ready to put first pictures in.

Bunnings also has a lot of wooden type cut outs (like the letters) to paint in an array of shapes,sizes and prices. They have plain frames ready to paint aswell but i found them cheap in flash harry's/sams warehouse if you have those type shops where you are.

Scourer op shops and garage sales. I get a lot of cane baskets from op shops and garage sales....oh and a neat little bookcase and a can tv unit for $20 which i painted white and use it for teddies and stuff, the baskets come up great with a lick of paint and we use them for toys,towels, clothes,bits and pieces. A few i have lined with a bit of fabric (just roughly hand sewed in the fabric!)

I brought some neat wall canvases from LOOT for $10 each and they are cute hanging in a row, also got some carved timber animals and little wooden trinket boxes from there.

But i must say yr nursery sounds great already!