My son moved out of his nursery last year right before Holiday into the guest bedroom.  Just a little feedback about the layout of our house, we have a four bedroom house.  Our guest bedroom used to be my den prior to having my son, and hubby had his own den.  The nursery used to be the guest bedroom, however it had already been decorated as a nursery when we bought our house.  After he was born, we converted my den into a guest bedroom, my husband’s den becomes mine and he moved his work station into the basement.  People might wonder why on earth didn’t my son stay in his own nursery and just got rid of the crib.  At that time we weren’t sure if we’re done or planning on having another one, and we are still not sure.  Therefore, we decided to move him out of the nursery and into the guest bedroom.  Should we decide not having another one, we’ll just have to paint the nursery.

Anyway, it took probably six months to complete the room makeover.  I have a budget of $100 and determined to find deals on Craigslist or garage sale.  In those six months, my son slept in a yellow gold-ish room with a really weird room layout.  It was hard to resist the temptation to just redo his bedroom, but I was determined.  Instant gratification is a dangerous thing!  I want to create a theme that he can grow up with at least until he’s about 10 years old or so.  I didn’t want characters (even though he loves Thomas the train) as it’s easier to get bored with.  I also didn’t want the whole bedding set because if it got stained or puked on or any nasty thing a child can do to his bedding, I didn’t have to replace the whole thing.  I just wanted a comforter and pillow case.  Having said that I decided to go with the transportation theme (cars, train, helicopter, etc), but still I wasn’t 100% sure since it all depends on the deal I might get.  My other problem was the bed is in full size and it’s harder to get deals on kids full size bedding.  I guess most kids sleep in a twin bed. I spent the entire Winter checking on deals on ebay and craiglists.

One day in early Spring during lunch time, I decided to go to Bed Bath and Beyond to look for a rice cooker.  I found out they were having clearance on beddings and window treatments.  I looked around, and there!  I found Olive Kids transportation theme comforter set.  I prayed in my heart… please let it be a full size bedding…please let it be full size bedding.  And it was!  Exactly how I wanted, just a comforter and two pillow shams.  The original price was $99.99, discounted for 70% off plus additional 33% off plus my 20% off coupon, I ended up paying $16.00 for the bedding.  Yeahhh!!!  Once I got the bedding then it’s time for me to look for transportation theme room decor to complete the overall look.  I have to tell you that I’m very lucky to get everything I need and more from garage sale and craigslist.  Here’s the before and after picture.

Before pic - gold paint color with my office shelving system from the container store

The following pictures show items I got from garage sale and craigslist.

From craiglists - 3 wall frame pictures match with bedding & firetruck rod all for $15

From garage sale - firetruck peg, firetruck toss pillow, firetruck lamp, police car and firetruck wall art (shown below), all from Pottery Barn $20

police car and firetruck wall art

The firetruck lamp still has tag on it and shows $39.95. About a week after I found all those items, I went to another garage sale and found the matching table. I didn’t plan on buying this but it matches perfectly, so I thought he could use it for a desk once he is in the kindergarten.

table matches the bedding

Final look:

Final Look

The front of the room with his puzzle bookshelves (bought it for the nursery)

Total room makeover:
a gallon of paint: $40
comforter set: $16
blue fitted sheet from Walmart $8
curtain (bought from Target): $18
red wall art + rod: $15
pillow + white wall art + peg board + lamp: $20
Total $117

Just $17 over budget but I’m completely happy with the overall look.  After we were done with the room makeover, I told my husband, “Gosh I wished I had this kind of room when I was a kid.  Growing up I had to share a room with my two brothers because my parents didn’t have a lot of money”.  Either way, I have accomplished to get a thousand-dollar-look room for under just $120.

Tags: parenting blog, parenting tips, room makeover on a budget, toddler room makeover, transportation theme boys room

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