My Daughter's Nursery- Cute and on a Budget

I wanted an adorable, unique nursery for my little girl that featured a jungle animal theme. Having little money, I had to use my creativity to make my dream come true. Searching endlessly for a jungle theme using feminine colors led me to believe there was nothing out there. At least nothing that matched the black furniture we were using for her room. At the time I was pregnant there were few bedding sets that had a little black in them. I’ve seen more since this time. I found a gorgeous black armoire significantly discounted because of one scratch. I then bought a black baby bed to match. We found the typical looking diaper changing table for sale on Craigslist for 20 bucks. It was wood in color, so my husband sprayed painted it black. He didn’t prime it though so I see some of high gloss spray paint used is now chipping off on one corner. I chose this type of changing table because I knew it could double as a book shelf and holder for toys as she outgrew the need for a changing table.


I’m not a terrific sewer, but something about knowing it was for my child, brought out the best in me. I was determined to find the materials I needed to decorate the room and sew my own bed skirt and window toppers. I’m happy to say it turned out great, in my humble opinion. My mother and I went to the material store. She has dementia, but can still get out and do a few things. She found a gorgeous luxurious fabric in the upholstery section featuring a silver and black diamond design with a zebra in each diamond. I had to have it though it was pricey. Luckily when I went back to buy some more of it because I ran out, it went on deep discount and I got it for a steal. You can see how I used it in the curtains in the picture above.


I bought a pattern for making crib skirts so that I didn’t have to measure out perfect squares. Wish I had known I’d be creating a blog so I would have taken pictures along the way. A bedskirt is simple. You just buy some cheap muslin fabric for the part under the mattress that isn’t seen. Basically you cut rectangles out for the middle white part and the sides. Then do a simple rolled hem around the front, back and side panels that will be attached to the muslin. I didn’t follow the pattern completely because I wanted some pleats on the front and back bedskirts. I just increased the size of my front and back panels by a few inches and pinned in a pleat. I sewed all the panels to the muslin square and voila I was done.

I decided to buy pink and green bedding and bumper for the bedding. It looked so cute. Later I cut out squares of corresponding patterns to make the comforter, but I never assembled them all. Had little Ella before I could get it done. I was given so many blankets it didn’t matter, plus I had heard a newborn doesn’t use the comforter anyway. I chose a green dotted sheet and a pink bumper. I also purchased a less expensive pink sheet as well. It all looked great together.



Using the bedding colors, I found two paints that I felt matched perfectly. Mr. Buzzkill (who wasn’t really a Buzzkill at anytime during this particular project) painted the top part of the room pink and the bottom green. Wish I had known about frog tape back then. I could have created a perfect line between the two colors and hand painted in a different color. I considered a chair rail, but then I saw the most perfect ribbon. It was black with silver polka dots. Having read about gluing a ribbon onto the wall as a chair rail some time ago, I decided to give it a whirl. I used a very light bit of Aileens tacky glue and a laser level to ensure it was perfectly straight. I glued it on over the space where the two different colors stopped. It has held up great with no problems whatsoever. I even saw where my daughter had started picking at it through her crib rails and it didn't loose. Now as she get's stronger I may have to pull the crib out some. Everyone who has visited the nursery keeps thinking I painted the ribbon chair rail with a stencil or by hand. The color of the ribbon tied in the with the zebra bed skirt perfectly.



Feeling more confident in my sewing abilities, I bought a pattern for simple curtain toppers/swags. I had bought a green fabric with a little bit of black thread running through the weave on deep discount way back before sewing the bedskirt. I decided to incorporate it into the window toppers along with zebra fabric. You’ll see that it looks pretty cute, despite the fact that I’m not a great sewer and I ran out of fabric. I now have a secret spot to hide jewelry or other goods when we go on vacation –if ever! (See in image above).  I really need one. I wasn’t sure about my ability to sew rod pockets so I just threw the toppers over the black pole and they hang perfectly.

I needed some nursery art. I’d bought a little wooden sign over her bed along with the letters of her name made out of wire covered with pearls. This was a splurge at around $15 each. I was glad I named her Ella and not some long name like Charlotte (smiling).



Next , I looked through my scraps of material and decided to make jungle animal silouhettes out of them. I primed and painted over two ugly paintings I had from a painting class I had attended for fun. I ironed some backing onto the materials I wanted to use to give it some stiffness. Looking on the internet I found some silhouettes of animals I liked. I blew them up to different sizes and printed them off. I had to tape them together, as some were too big for the printer. I traced the images onto the fabric and cut them out. I then ironed the cutouts onto the painted canvases. However, I’ve had to since glue them on because the interfacing didn’t hold well.



I also used some of Martha Stewart’s cookie cutters I had been given as a gift years ago to cut out shapes in porcelain clay. I happened to be taking a clay class for fun. I rolled on various lacey textures and glued them to canvases with tulle bows attached to the top. If you don’t have access to real clay that is fired, you could probably make these out of salt dough, paint them white and spray them with a gloss preservative. You could even die the dough if you wanted colors. Also you could use frog tape to paint stripes on the canvases to which you are adhering your art work.


I created a zebra lamp by cutting out the zebras from the fabric and gluing them onto the shade I had made. I used a adhesive shade from Hobby Lobby which comes with a template for cutting out your base material you use to cover the shade. I added some fruffy ribbon and voila it was ready for the black lamp base I already owned. You can see I ran out of ribbon on the back, but we were too poor at this time for me to buy some more. Basically living off one income at this time. My contracting work had slowed to a snail’s pace.



Oh lucky day thought I when I saw Jerry Giraffe just waiting there at Anthropologie (on sale for $17) for me to buy him and take him home. Then with the addition of a few extras, like a cute clay elephant my mother made for Ella in clay class and a large zebra coffee cup for flowers, I was set. Oh, and I found a super discounted rug that pulled the whole room together. Still cost me a pretty penny, but the store told me it would have cost over a thousand on special order. The person who ordered it didn’t want it. I got it home and it felt a bit lumpy where the squares of carpet had been attached. But, you know, the more we have walked on it, the less lumpy it feels. I barely feel any these days.

Last but not least, I had my husband spray paint an old rattan chair I bought from Pottery Barn in my single days. I bought cushions to match. It wasn’t all that comfortable and I can’t rocker her in it, but realistically we always ended up in the living room watching tv and rocking her there.



I almost forgot…this is Mrs. Bowregard. I tell Ella she has a high regard for bows. I could not believe my good fortune when I saw this little cutey for $8 in a gallery of artists. There were only a few bows at first, but now she is littered with bows from top to bottom and Ella loves choosing one each morning.

My only regret (or so I thought) was not having time to paint the ugly ceiling fan white. However, it turns out babies are mesmorized by ceiling fans. I wrote an article about it, in fact. You can see that here. I was glad the ceiling fan stayed ugly brown when she was little because it helped it show up better against the ceiling for her little eyes.