The Nursery on a Shoestring Budget

Sit back & relax - this is a long one....

A few things to know about Baby A's nursery:

1. One month after we found out we were having Baby A, Hubby lost his job.  Not good on so many levels, but w/ respect to this post that meant NO  MONEY for decorating a nursery!
2. We were sure we were having a boy, so I had many plans for a boy's nursery and zero for a girl's - so I was at a loss when we found out a girl was on the way
3. This was my craft room and although I was so happy and thankful that after 9 years of trying, we were finally going to have another sweet baby, I did mourn the loss of my room just a bit.
4. This room didn't actually get done until Baby A was about 5 months old.  I hadn't even started it when she was born - see numbers 1, 2 & 3 above!

So, with no money, I was forced to use what I had to create this room for her, and I love it in the end.  Most everything has meaning or was given to us along the way.  I bought a total of 4 things in here, and spent about $75 total, most of which paid for 2 gallons of paint for the walls.

Here is the before - my craft room in all it's trashed glory!

Pretty isnt' it?!?  Actually, when cleaned up it was a cute space in sand, black & white.  I really loved it....sniff, sniff.....

And here is now, from the same angle (from the doorway)

You can see that the shelves are still there, I just painted the black brackets the same color as the wall.  I haven't quite gotten around to painting the shelves themselves, but I keep intending to paint them white.  The wall color is Laura Ashley Pale Apple 1 from Lowe's.  Teen K and I probably had about 50 different paint samples spread out on the floor in here after we emptied out the craft room stuff before we settled on this color.
Here are some more up close pictures and details:

The shelves are full of special things - most all of them have meaning (and a couple of the animals are just cute).

 Top shelf left side: The ballerina picture was from Hubby's sister's room as a child and the cowgirl hat came from her Godmother (Baby A is a born Texan after all!).

Top shelf, right side: The pink dog was a gift from her great-Aunt, the pink platypus Teen K won for her baby sister in one of those machines with the giant mechanical claw at a restaurant, and the bear belonged to Hubby's mother (it's mink!)

Bottom shelf, left side: that's a picture of me, the elephant is just cute, and those are the shoes she wore home from the hospital.

Bottom shelf, right side: The vintage Pooh & Piglet and flowers in the vase were from her baby shower, the picture of the girl w/ the kitten was from my room as a child and the Mickey ears were brought back from Disneyworld for her by a friend.

Beneath the shelves is an ugly bookcase, that I'd love to replace one day, but it's serving a purpose holding books & toys (donated from her Godmother) and diapers etc. in the baskets.  But on top of the bookcase are special things - the photo of her taken in the hospital in a frame that was in Teen K's nursery, the bear also belonged to big sister, the penguin was in her first Easter basket and the photo of my beloved grandparents - because her middle name is their last name.

Hanging from either side of the bookshelves are dresses that were mine as a baby - I have pictures of her in both dresses (which I should probably frame and put on the shelves...) and the Prayer for a Little Girl was also from my room as a child. 

This table & chairs were from my Father-in-Law who painted them for her room.  The quilted tea set on top was from Godmother again (it's SO CUTE and from Lillian Vernon).  There something new coming soon in that space by the table - I'll share when it's done and up in the room!

The crib & changing table are borrowed from a sweet friend who saved the day with those - her youngest was just coming out of the crib, so she gave them to use for Baby A - a real budget saver!  The crib is super simple - I was going to make a longer crib skirt to go under the eyelet skirt that is already there (that is part of Teen K's crib set - one of the few things I had saved), but I liked the simple sweetness (and connection to her big sister) from just using the eyelet skirt, so I stopped there.  Above the crib are one of the few things I bought - vintage flashcards (bought off etsy.com) for $12 and ribbon and little clothespins from Walmart.  The small print of 3 angels over the lightswitch was actually from my room as a child and has my birth announcement on the back.

The "curtain" on the window is actually a flat sheet from my in-laws.  I used regular ole pushpins to attach it to the wall and the eyelet top of the sheet is just flopped over for a valance.  It's tied back w/ some dark pink polka dot ribbon.  Beneath the window is a toy box that was in my childhood room, K's room and now passed on to Baby A.  The dark pink polka dot fabric is actually laying over the top right now - I need to get that stapled on there....

 The dresser belonged to my grandfather and I thought about painting it, but then decided I really loved it the way it was.  On top is a little shelf that I had in my craft room with a box that was given to me by her Godmother, the white fur muff & hat that were mine as a child (we have pictures of me around 2 yrs. old in Rockefeller Center in NYC wearing those), a cute box she received that holds her little hat, onesie & bracelets from the hospital. There's a little empty space on top there that will be filled w/ an upcoming project that I hope to share this coming week....

In front of the changing table is the rocking chair that my grandmother was rocked in as a baby (it's over 100 years old) - my father painted it for K's room, and Baby A and I have spent a lot of time there as well.  Above the changing table are baby pictures of Hubby, K, me and Baby A (in another purchase - frames from the Dollar Tree that were spray painted white).

So that's it - I still have a couple things up my sleeve for her room, but I am happy with it so far.  I love that it's filled with special family treasures and items from beloved friends.

I have been waiting for Cha Cha to do another Sentimental Sunday so I could link up - this whole room is truly sentimental to me....