by Carrie from Buzzings of a Queen Bee

Hey all!  My name is Carrie, and I will be the first to admit that I am a decorating geek.  I have no formal training, but I love the challenge of creating cozy and comfortable rooms for my family.  I also have two little kiddos, Nina and Henry, and I have learned that decorating for those small people is a new and different kind of challenge.  I’ve picked up a few tips along the way, and I am happy to share them with you!

Personalize on the Cheap

I have a bit of an obsession with monogramming.  Let’s just say my kids will never forget their names as long as they stick with me!  I’ve found, though, that personalizing things in my kids’ rooms gives it a put-together feeling, without costing a lot of cash!  I recently found a woman on Etsy.com who would embroider my daughter’s name onto tiny handmade birds, and a cute little accessory for her room was born!  It doesn’t have to cost a lot to make a big impact.

Don’t Be Afraid of Secondhand

I used to be totally creeped out by second stores.  Then I realized how expensive this whole kid thing was going to be!  And I discovered that a thick coat of paint, or a super-hot cycle in my washing machine, could fix a lot of my creeped outed-ness!  Here’s a good example.  These blue bins were a few dollars at my local Goodwill.

Guess what is also just a few dollars?  A can of red spray paint.  Just as good as new.  And just as cute.

Buy Stuff You Can Use for More Than One Kid

I had my daughter in 2006.  I had no idea who would come after her, but I knew I didn’t want to have to write another large check for another crib!  So we went with a plain white crib and changing table, as well as white bedding, changing table covers and blankets.  I supplemented with fun accessories to make her room more girlie, but I was glad everything else was neutral when our son was born in 2009!  A few new boyish accessories totally changed the look without having to buy everything from scratch.

Think Outside the Coat Rack

Kids’ clothes are small, but they are mighty.  I had no idea how many little shirts and onesies would come along with baby-hood, and they quickly overflowed the sweet little (white!) dresser I had designated for that purpose.  For clothes that we use all the time, like pajamas or sweatshirts, I adapted a simple coat rack for my daughter’s room.  I’ve had a coat rack by my front door for years, so why not use it for another room?  Thinking outside the box (or coat rack!) can bring out the best ideas, because those ideas are usually brought on by necessity.  So before you run out to buy something new for your nursery, look around your house to check if something you already have would fit the bill.

Check Your Perfections at the (Nursery) Door

OK, I will admit I am a perfectionist.  I get all excited about a room and don’t want to rest until it’s exactly what I envisioned. When decorating our baby’s nursery, we inherited a wicker rocking chair from my husband’s family.  In fact, it was the same chair that his mom used to rock him to sleep when he was a baby.  The problem?  The perfectionist in me had pictured one of those fancy upholstered chairs that were in all the design magazines.  When I thought about the memories that my husband’s chair carried with it, though, I abandoned my plans for the fancy chair, and I am so glad I did.  This sweet little rocker is one of my favorite things in my son’s room, and if I had insisted on my original plan, I would have missed out!

I hope that your baby’s nursery is everything you hope for, with a couple of charming surprises thrown in.  From what I know of parenting, it seems like a pretty good wish for life with a new baby as well!  Good luck!

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More about our Booty Blogger:

When Carrie was a little girl, her dad dubbed her “The Queen Bee,” most likely because she was the firstborn in the family and was always planning a new project! Carrie is now a wife to Brent, mama to two little ones, Nina and Henry, and an amateur decorator and organizer, which means she still has an ever-evolving list of projects! Hmm…perhaps she still is the Queen Bee after all! Read more of Carrie’s decorating tips and tricks at her wonderful decorating blog.