Cheap and simple ways to make a room a nursary?

[Stefka]

Our house is tiny and although we have a spare room it contains a lot of our stuff. It has two big ikea bookcases in it and a sofa bed. I've put the cot in there but at the moment it just looks like a room with a cot in it. We are totally strapped for cash so can't spend money on things like curtains or wall paper so wondered if there were other things I could do to make it look more like a baby's room rather than just our spare room with a cot stuck in it . I know the baby won't care but it feels a bit like a rite of passage for me - I would just like to do it if that makes sense

If you have a local Freecycle group, join it! You can get ideas from what other people are offering and asking for, as well as stuff itself.

anna8888- sell books for the kids NEVER!

Kids will ALWAYS find something to climb on when they're big enough. Get the cases themselves screwed to the wall, and if any of the books are valuable place them well out of reach. It's not likely that little ones would be unsupervised anyway, is it?

Well, yes - I would always ensure that a child's bedroom was a safe place where he/she could be left to play unsupervised for short periods.

I think mobiles are an easy way to make it look nice. If you get some wrapping paper or just plain paper that you have around you can make origami cranes (birds not the construction type!) easily (i am useless at origami but can still manage it). Then you can hang those individually with thread rather than trying to balance mobiles and it's practically free and gives baby something to look at- my little boy adores anything hung from the ceiling. Will keep you occupied too! Will have a look for a link.

monkey.org/~aidan/origami/crane/
sorry don't know how to link!it looks like a lot of steps but once you manage one they are easy! and if you make a thousand your wish comes true (i think that's right!)

We have a small spare room in a rented house, so we didnt want to spend too much. I got white bedding and a pale blue blanket and cushions, and put them along the spare bed, which is a single bed pushed up against the wall, I was trying to make the bed look more like an enormous comfy sofa with lots of cushions and pillows on it. I reckon it worked and I use the bed to feed DD on, dress her etc. Then there is a cot bed along the window, with a change table on it. The room has 2 built in wardrobes with a mirror alcove dressing table type thing between them....deranged though it sounds I have put millions of teddy bears there, the ones at the back perched on boxes, its like a little teddy bear rockery, with hanging type things hanging off the cupboard door over the rest of them. I swear DD loves being held over it all. On the mirror I put lots of little stickers of dolphins and fish arranged in swirls. I put big glow in the dark white stars edging one of the walls. I got a sea grass ottoman thing from argos too to put extra stuff in, figuring that when she's crawling she won't knock herself on the corners. I made a long billowy net curtain thing for the lower half of the window some long white veil fabric, it makes the room feel really soft. It is the nicest room in the house now I think...she is not sleeping there yet, but in a couple of months will be. I hope she likes it!

Oh and the teddy bears were mainly outgrown donations from friends children, and baby pressies.....didnt really do that bit till they came flooding in....dont spend a fortune on teddy bears, just wait till they start arriving...I think its the best bit though.