I had so much fun putting together our nursery! I think we were able to create a really nice room for Scribble in spite of our modest budget.

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April Ingram Photography

We moved into a new house after I found out I was pregnant. After working for months on home repairs, we were in no mood to paint a nursery! So we decided to leave the walls the plain cream color they were already painted. This freed me up to use colorful accessories and curtains.

I poured my second-trimester energy into various craft projects for this nursery: the letters above his crib, mobiles, hand-painted dresser knobs, and wall art.

I had so much fun making mobiles! I made two: one to go above the crib and one that hangs above the rocking chair.


April Ingram Photography

I made cardboard patterns of the clouds, stars, and bird bodies and wings, then hand-sewed them together and added the button and ribbon details.  The ribbons were threaded through cardboard circles–I used cake boards so that the ends would not show when the mobile was viewed from the bottom or side.

This mobile (sorry for the terrible instagram photo!) took only a few minutes and scraps to make — just an embroidery hoop, masking tape, ribbon, and pom pom yarn.

We didn’t have a theme for our nursery. But since my husband and I were both English teachers, and since we met in a Shakespeare class, it made sense to incorporate some bookish details. I bought old children’s books at thrift stores and used them as wall art.

My goal for this nursery was to bring everything together as cheaply as possible. Our parents splurged on a spendy crib and mattress, and a cushy glider that lives in our bedroom currently, but the rest of the furniture and accessories were secondhand. We refinished a dresser given to us by my grandmother. The rocker is a family heirloom that lived in my great-grandparents’ home, my grandparents’ home, and my father’s home before coming to us. The bed and nightstand set were purchased at a yard sale (the mattress is new).

The tiny chair was mine as a child, and the boat bookshelf (a castoff from my parents’ house) was a bland hunter green before my father and I painted it to match the rest of the nursery decor. The wooden plaque is special to me; the letters, made from clay, spell out baby’s name. A dear potter friend brought the clay to our baby shower and had every attendee decorate a letter. She painted and fired the letters before affixing them to the wood plaque.

We did a lot of “shopping in our home” for nursery touches– stuffed animals we had as kids, beloved childhood books and pillows, college memorabilia that has followed us from our dorm room days, knick-knacks from vacations, and other oddities we had outgrown but that are perfect for a child’s room.

There are a lot of different tones and textures in this room– everything from cherry wood, to oak, to painted white wood. Because we cobbled pieces together, it was difficult to settle on one color. I think it gives the nursery a homey feel!

All told, I spent around 300 dollars on this nursery:

– Nursery linens: 60 dollars (sheets for crib, bed, quilt for bed).
– Changing table: 90 dollars.
– Blackout curtains: 80 dollars (15 per panel), curtain rods.
– Mobiles and wall art: 40 dollars for crafts supplies.
– Paint and refinishing tools: 20 dollars.
– Map: 5 dollars.
– Lamps: 20 dollars for two– one used and one new.

We were blessed to have parents who helped us with our large nursery purchases– our glider, the twin bed/mattress/nightstand set and the crib. I think if you factored these items into the budget, the total cost of the nursery would be around 1,000 dollars. But there are a ton of ways to save on these items!

I’m so proud of how our nursery came together given our limited funds and my limited mobility!


April Ingram Photography