Redecorating on a Budget: Organising and decorating my daughter's room

It's no exaggeration to say that I had no idea what I was doing when I first designed my daughter's room. I used the wrong colours, put things at the wrong height, and generally designed to what my idea of a child's room should be, and not what it actually is.

Redecorating on a Budget

We evolved out of her initial setup so quickly, I didn't have time to blink. We quickly determined a cot was not for her or us, so we switched to a floor bed.

I tried to use the trendy Ikea Kallax units to store her toys. She bashed her head on them, and I found them to be too deep for any real use (everything just had to go into the buckets in a heap)

And I put all of her art and books up way too high in anticipation of her having a bed. Which she didn't get for quite some time!

In the end, I looked at the room and I just thought what on earth was I doing?

Redoing the room also coincided with her being able to tell me what she liked: the colours green and pink.

It was time for a new look.

Painting on a Budget

1. The first step was sourcing paint. If you want to do this on a budget, like me, find some leftover paint and use that. If you don't have the colour you want, ask around, put it on Facebook, anything. Someone will have the leftover paint you need.

2. Think about making fun effects with the paint. I put a scallop border on mine (by drawing round a bowl), it added details without adding cost

   
   

Finding Furniture on a Budget

1. Scavenge your house. I had the chest of drawers in my studio, sanded them, dyed them with a white wood dye, sourced new handles and varnished them

2. The wardrobe I used was my great nan's, which my aunt was giving away. Vintage furniture can be great for kids rooms, as they come with compartments and drawers. I used each drawer for a different category (see below!)

3. Use Facebook and Facebook Marketplace. Someone was giving away the bed for free, I just had to pick it up.

4. Head to your local charity shop or re-use centre. I've found loads at the re-use centre at my local dump. If you're willing to put a bit of work into a piece of furniture, this is a fantastic strategy, often throwing up absolute bargains

5. Shop on Vinted or Ebay for smaller accessories. The canopy over my daughter's bed was £15 from Vinted. It takes a bit of looking, but you often can find what you need

   
   

Art on a Budget

1. Use books as art! I got the shelves from Ikea, popped them up beside her bed, and filled them with her prettiest books (we also rotate them with library books). They look great and encourage her to read

2. Find printable art. I don't want to blow my own horn here, but I create printable art for children you can find here. It's much more cost effective and you can buy, download and print all on the same day.

3. I also pick up pretty pieces of watercolour art that are already framed from charity shops and Ebay.

4. Find bargains on Etsy (and then shop on the website of the artist). Bit cheeky of me to say, but you can find some real bargains on Etsy by searching for illustrators, and then I usually try to find the seller's actual website, so they don't have to pay as many fees on the purchase

Soft Furnishings on a Budget

Okay, this one requires a little skill with sewing, but not much! (otherwise I wouldn't be able to do it).

1. Cut up an old duvet for pillows and curtains. The pillow and curtains in the shot below were made from an old duvet (using simple running stitch), that I picked up from a charity shop

2. Get a paper light (okay, not strictly a soft furnishing, but...) This light is made of paper, and was super cheap at £9. It was really easy to put up too

Get Creative

In order to make this a fun bedroom, get a little creative. The bed I found turned out to be half a bunk bed, so it was really high. I turned the space underneath it into a little den for Evie, stringing up fairy lights and using other cushions and blankets from around the house.

Efficient Energy

The one thing I 'splashed out' on in her room, was the radiator (£80). She needed a new radiator, as I'm pretty sure the old one was the original from 1964, but I couldn't afford to get a plumber in to change it. So, I looked for alternatives, and it wasn't long before I found this eco friendly one.

We bought an infrared radiator instead. A radiator that heats the objects in the room, rather than the air, making it much more efficient. In the picture above, it's the white rectangle mounted high on the wall.

It saved us money because the radiator itself was only £80 (a blip compared to traditional radiators), and it also plugs directly into the socket, so there's no installation fee. Plus, it saves us money on our bills in the long run.

Although do make sure you seek some advice before installing! There are all kinds of things to consider with this type of radiator, such as how high up it is, and making sure it's not opposite a window.

Here's How the Room Looks Now

And there we are, how to organise and redecorate your child's room on a budget.

Not a bad before and after if you ask me!

I hope some of these tips were helpful! Please feel free to send me any pics of your rooms on Insta @mossandearth_decluttering.

As always, thanks for reading!

Nx