Decorating a Nursery on a Budget

Wall Coverings

In the beginning, wall coverings are really for the purpose of mom and dad having something pleasant to look at while they are in the room. The baby probably won't even start to notice the walls of his or her room for quite some time after he or she is born. With that being said, it doesn't mean you can't do something impressive and inexpensive.

The most inexpensive option of changing the look of the walls is painting the room. You can also paint a boarder around the room, or add little details as you wish. This could include flowers, sweet messages, stars, cartoon characters, etc. Stencils and wall paint are a great way for an "inartistic" person to do something impressive.

You can also use a wallpaper boarder, or even wallpaper the entire room. This will likely be more expensive than painting, and will take more work to change the look of the walls later on.

You can add interest with doing a chair railing, wainscoting, magnetic boarder (paint with magnetic paint on a strip around the room and then paint over it with the normal wall color).

If you are an artsy person, you probably don't need any ideas for things to hang on the walls, but here some things to get your mind thinking about the possibilities anyway:

• Vinyl letter boards with a message, the child's name, or a happy picture
• Simple "cartoon-like" paintings
• Handmade or bought quilt
• Hanging shelf accessorized with small toys that coordinate with nursery color scheme
• Framed shadow boxes with baby's keepsakes
• Framed collage
• Family and/or baby portraits

Generally, items on the wall will look better if placed in odd numbers and centered around something. For example, a set of three paintings placed symmetrically around the dresser would look better than the three paintings spread out around the room.