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5 Achievable Ways To Design A Budget-Friendly Nursery

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One of the most exciting parts of pregnancy is designing the nursery.

Tiny baby outfits, cute little socks, teensy little diapers? YES, I loved those too!

However, I could not wait to start picking out items for the nursery.

From the very beginning, though, I knew I wanted to keep it all on a budget, and I’m happy to say that we were able to do so.

With the help of family and friends, we were able to completely outfit our nursery relatively inexpensively.

Here’s how we did it.

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5 Tips for designing a budget-friendly nursery

1. Pick a theme early

Depending on when you find out you’re expecting, you have roughly 9 months (more like 10) to plan and prepare for baby.

That gives you plenty of time to space out your purchases and shop around to look for the best prices on nursery items.

While we were probably 3 to 4 months into our pregnancy when I really decided on our Beatrix Potter theme, I knew all along I wanted something relatively “vintage.”

Even knowing that helped me to shop early for furniture and other accessories.

2. Plan your splurges

While I love getting a good deal on anything, I have always been okay “splurging” on an item or two, especially when they mean a lot to me.

As we planned for our nursery, I knew I was okay with a heftier investment on our crib and mattress.

Aside from that, we were able to keep everything else on a pretty tight budget.

3. Don’t be afraid to buy used

Don’t get me wrong– While you don’t want to purchase a secondhand crib (or car seat), SOME furniture items are worth it and can easily be purchased on from the Facebook marketplace, at a consignment shop, or even from a yard sale.

We scored these adorable matching mommy/daughter rockers via Craigslist.

We paid around $50 for the set, and with a little elbow grease and a couple of coats of white paint, I had something adorable (that I’ll eventually be able to pass on to my sweet baby).

4. DIY It

I knew I needed something to pull all of the colors and patterns in our nursery altogether, so I decided on making some pillows and bunting to do so.

Had I tried to purchase these outright, I could have spent anywhere from $50 to $100 on these décor items.

Instead, I made them myself and paid less than $20 for all of it (thanks to a great sale at Jo-Ann Fabric and a great coupon)!

Plus, I was able to get a custom look that incorporated all of the colors I needed.

5. Accept gifts

Probably ¾ of the décor items we received as gifts.

The adorable hand-painted pictures, A to Z bookends, stuffed characters, tea set, rocking horse, quilts, and more– we all received as gifts!

Letting people know what our theme was and sharing a few ideas of items we wanted for the nursery was perfect because people were happy to bless us with special gifts that fit within our theme.

We did, and I am just in love with it.

One of my favorite things in the nursery is our adorable $0 pallet bookshelves!


That’s basically it. Simple, right?

This is how we were able to design a budget-friendly nursery that we absolutely loved.

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5 Achievable ways to design a budget-friendly nursery