Decorating Your Nursery on a Budget by Cooper Watson 
Decorating a nursery can be an expensive process.
From paints to furniture to accessories the costs can add up.
Some people spend hundreds while others spend thousands.
The stress of making sure that your little one has a
wonderful space of their own can take its toll; don't let finances add on to that stress.
Here are some tips that will help you decorate your nursery the way you want in a financially prudent way.
Plan Your Budget
Planning your budget is the first and most important step.
You need to have a spending limit in mind so that you will be able to purchase accordingly.
Once you are comfortable with an adequate spending limit you should then brainstorm and come up with a list of expenses and ideas that fit what you are trying to accomplish. It is important that your list contain two sections, "items that are needed" and "items that I would like to have."
By creating these sections you are able to prioritize the items in the nursery so that if you find yourself maxing out or going over your budget,
you will be able to objectively remove items that are not necessary for the time being. Remember, you can always pick up extras in a piece-meal way,just save a little and then purchase a bit more; you can keep repeating this until you have all or the majority of items you want.
Choose a Theme
It is very wise to take time and consider the type of theme you would like in your baby's nursery. Decide what color palette you would like to use for the room. Once a palette is decided upon search for paints that fit that color palette that are on sale. Many stores offer coupons online or you can check your local newspapers (particularly the Sunday edition) for coupons, sales, and deals. Popular character products (Blues Clues, Winnie The Pooh, Bob The Builder) are wonderful themes but are a bit more expensive. If you would really like to use a character theme there is a way to do so without spending a lot of money. For example, if you decide to use Bob The Builder, decorate the nursery with a city theme and use wall decals and/or stencils to put up the main characters; you can do this with Winnie The Pooh as well (decorate your nursery as a forest). The use of wall decals and stencils are a major way of saving money and can let your creative and imaginative abilities soar.
Furniture
Try and cut costs when you are picking out furniture because they can be the most expensive item in the nursery. You should be able to find furniture at second hand stores and yard sales. Also, stores like Ikea offer new, reasonably priced furniture for your nursery needs. Make sure that the furniture picked out complies with the most up to date child safety requirements (go to http://www.nsc.org and put "cribs" in the search field).
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