[simplechic]

I have been invited by families.com to co-host a blog titled "Frugal Living." One of the topics we will cover is decorating on a budget. Are there specific things you think I should focus on? Do you have clever ways to decorate on a budget that might be interesting to others? Any advice you have on what to include would be helpful!

[another_mother]

Originally Posted by simplechic

I have been invited by families.com to co-host a blog titled "Frugal Living." One of the topics we will cover is decorating on a budget. Are there specific things you think I should focus on? Do you have clever ways to decorate on a budget that might be interesting to others? Any advice you have on what to include would be helpful!

Hi Simplechic,

I'm co-hosting the Home and Garden blog. We will be covering all kinds of topics, but my specialty is affordable decorating, so you and I have something in common.

I'll have to visit your blog and check out all your great ideas. I hope you'll visit Home and Garden sometime and maybe even post there if you'd like.

Best wishes,

~Sherry

[PearlyWrites]

Hi!

Welcome! I am co-hosting the education blog.

I look forward to reading both of your categories as I have NO green thumb and kill all my plants!

Frugal living sounds fun; I can't wait to learn more ideas!

Thanks!
Lisa


Check out our blog: http://education.families.com/blog/

[shoshanna]

I'd like to know how to decorate a nusery on a budget and still make it really cute!

[heritagemom]

Shoshanna,
I have 6 kids, and most of them came into our family during our 'college' years so we ALWAYS had to decorate on a budget.

First of all...PAINT. Paint is cheap and you can do a lot of things with it, and if you don't like it, you can always do it again! My first choice was always what I wanted the "theme" to be. For my boys, I wanted something that could "grow up' a little with them and stayed a way from toooooo cutesy or babish. I chose navy blue and white striped material and then the same colors in a dotted fabric and made "reversible" comforters using fabric from WalMart. And made some VERY simple curtains to go with it. It's easy to find dark blue sheets and pillow cases and as they grew up, we accented with red etc to keep from painting over and over.

One of my sons we named "Noah" and so the little Noah's Ark pictures etc in the browns and blues combined well with the navy etc. Now that all three boys are in the same room, I took black paper and cut out 1 inch squares and made a "race car flag" pattern all the way around the room in three alternating lines..."checkered flag" motif. I was going to paint it, but I couldn't get the lines straight! So I just cut out squares and then used scrapbook double side tape to stick them up there. Then I ordered some large "cool" car posters and painted silver "metal" boxes on the walls, and put the posters inside of them so the decor works for my older boys as well as the younger one. Add a colored "stop light" lamp and some roads signs (painted) and it's great!.

For my youngest daughter, we found a cute pattern on fabric we liked and then painted the room around those colors. I used "rub on" decals from the craft store to add a flower border around the top of the room, and screwed a plastic 'window box' I got at Walmart under the window and put all of her stuffed animals in it. I also found a wooden rocking chair at a thrift store, painted it to match the quilt and used the rub ons on the back of it to match. VERY cute and very inexpensive.

Just find a cute "theme" you like and then come back to this forum and let the ladies give you some great ideas!

[another_mother]

Paint is definitely one of the best fixes. Painting a mural is also inexpensive and it adds something more dramatic to the room. I just posted on article on the Home and Garden blog about murals, which should be available soon.

Try to decide on a color scheme first then llook for a picture or scene that you think would look perfect in the nursery. You can paint a mural yourself. It's fun and it's simpler than you might think!

[simplechic]

I have a 15 month old boy myself, so I have recently undertaken this project. I am working on an article to address your question. I do agree with the comments on paint. Have you thought of a theme? My son's room is red, white, and light blue--patriotic. I liked these colors because they weren't too babyish and I can use some of the things I got for him for a girl if(when,hopefully) we have a girl later on.

Also, congrats on the adoption!

[heritagemom]

I am SO not a free hand painter, so I went online and browsed for a "poster" mural and found one I loved that looks like a medditerranean overlook of the sea from a posh balcony. I pasted it up behind our jetted tub in the master bath because there are no windows in that room and it makes it feel "open" and beautiful. I am planning to go over the top of it with paint so that it looks more like a "painting" I did, rather than a print on the wall, but I'm not there yet. It was MUCH cheaper than hiring someone who CAN paint to do it for me. I also got some white lights (like christmas ones) and wrapped them around some grapevines and trimmed the top of the corner with them, the grapes hanging down, and at night we just turn on the white lights for a soothing and pretty atmosphere there.

Since it IS Christmas time, you can get some blue lights cheap (after Christmas especially) and tack them up around the room with the blue theme and they would be a soft and pretty "nightlight" for a nursery too!

[simplechic]

Originally Posted by shoshanna

I'd like to know how to decorate a nusery on a budget and still make it really cute!

Shoshanna,
Here is the link to the frugal living blog: http://www.families.com/blogs/frugal.php
The blogs are not technically up-and-running (meaning they haven't been launched to the public). But you can still view them via the link.
Look for these articles in answer to your question:
"Decorating a Nursery on a Budget" and "Simple-Chic Kid's Rooms." These should have some ideas to get you started. Let me know what you think or if you have any other questions!
Marily

[another_mother]

Hi Shoshana,

Here's the link to the mural article I mentioned:

Paint Your Own Mural

Let us know how the nursery is coming along.

~Sherry

Check out the Home and Garden Blog