by Sandra Gordon of BabyProductsMom.com
Right up there on the excitement scale with creating your list of baby names is pondering the endless possibilities for making your baby’s room special. From a fantasy room that clearly stands apart to a sophisticated space that blends in with the décor of your home, your baby’s room can be anything you want it to be. Whether you decide to decorate your baby’s room lavishly or simply, safety should be your main concern. Going the safe route can also save you money.
”A decked-out crib, for example, with the traditional bumper, blanket and pillow set-can run you hundreds, even thousands of dollars, depending on how designer you want to go. But it’s money that you needn’t and even shouldn’t spend because the safest cribs are bare,” says Sandra Gordon, author of Consumer Reports Best Baby Products, (Tenth Edition). The safest cribs are stationary (without drop sides) and have a firm mattress, a snug-fitting mattress pad, and a crib sheet-and nothing else: no bumper guards, loose blankets, stuffed animals, pillows, sleep positioners, quilts or duvets (radar: suffocation risk).
There are lots of other safe ways to save. Gordon offers the following tips for expectant parents to help them decorate for the nursery for less:
1. Buy bedding separates.
To set the style tone for your baby’s nursery, a crib skirt/dust ruffle and fitted sheet will do the job so buy those linens separately and use them as the anchor for your decorating palate. Then choose a paint color or wallpaper and other accessories, such as the fabric for your glider, based on the linen colors and patterns you’ve chosen.
2. Get inspired with accessories.
You can also pull a color scheme from a patterned rug, which incidentally, helps camouflage stains and spills. (To reduce the risk of tripping, make sure the rug has a non-skid back or is secured to the floor with double-face tape.) A piece of artwork can also serve as your creative catalyst, and it doesn’t have to be a pricey oil painting. An inexpensive poster will do. Or, if you have older children, involve them in decorating the baby’s room by having them paint or draw a picture that you mat and frame. If you have your heart set on certain colors, just give your little artists those colors of markers or paint to work with.
3. Pick paint colors carefully.
Instead of using whimsical wallpaper or a painting the room a babyish blue or pink, consider a paint hue that your child won’t grow out of so quickly, such as yellow, lime green, or lavender for girls, or navy, red, or Kelly green for boys. When it’s time for an update, all you’ll have to do is change the accessories, such as the artwork, instead of repainting.
4. Consider convertible furniture.
Furniture that morphs–from a crib that converts to toddler bed and a changing table that changes into a desk or dresser–can also help you go the distance so that when your baby moves onto the “big boy” or “big girl” stage, it doesn’t necessitate a gear and design overhaul. Many stationary cribs convert to a toddler and day bed, then finally to a full-size bed, conceivably taking your child from infancy until she’s off to college. To convert a crib to a full-size bed, you may need to buy extra parts, such as stabilizing or support rails that aren’t included in the original purchase, though. But compared to having to buy a toddler bed and a full-size bed, the savings can still be significant.
