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We have recently moved, and with a baby on the way, we are in serious need of furniture, and cost-effective furniture is even better! 

Furniture is expensive and so is remodeling, so when Alex wanted to share her cost-effective furniture alternatives with me, I wanted to share them all with you! So without further ado, here’s her cost-effective furniture and decorating alternatives!

Alex snapshotA Bit About Alex

Alex was born and raised in beautiful Sydney. As a journalism graduate and rookie blogger, she is trying to find my luck. Being a regular contributor at BizzMark Blog, she uses blogs to present to a wider audience and showcase her expertise.

—————Guest Post—————

Setting up a nursery or a kid’s room is one of the most exciting activities for a parent. It’s an opportunity to think about all the happy memories that are going to be created in that room. It’s also pretty expensive or at least there’s a misconception that it should be. A kid’s room can be decorated on a budget if you know where to look and what to look for.  This doesn’t mean furniture should lose any of its charm or quality.

Flooring

Laminate floors are a great alternative to hardwood. They come in a variety of colors, which means you can fit them with all kinds of designs. It’s a durable material and once you get the room set up, there’s no more work needed. You can also put it over an existing floor. It’s resistant to mold and bacteria and it’s pretty easy to maintain. On the other hand, a laminate floor can be pretty hard, which may be a problem for a small kid. It imitates wood, but it doesn’t feel like it under your feet (kids won’t mind).

Reclaimed materials

If it’s well maintained, wood can last a really long time and be reused again and again. It’s fine if you don’t want to use recycled wood for a bed or crib (but there’s no reason not to). You can use it for everything else, from chairs to dressers and picture frames. It’s an environmentally friendly choice and it’s also kind of exciting for your furniture to have a story to tell. Reused wood come from old houses, furniture, and sometimes from logs which are too imperfect for fine pieces of furniture.

Bassinets and cribs

These tend to be the most expensive items in any kid’s room and there’s really no reason for it. They come with all kinds of bells and whistles, which add a lot of costs and not that much value. For instance, round cribs require round linen, which is harder to find and more expensive. Also, drawers beneath a crib make it cost twice as much and they are just mildly useful. It’s perfectly fine to put sheets a couple of steps further and save a lot of money on a regular drawer.

crib for bedroom as a cost-effective furniture alternatives for kids

Style

When it comes to children’s room style, it’s your job to make it seem festive and bright and no one will care about all the corners you cut. Start with fun kids floor rugs and work your way up from there. If it’s a baby’s room, bright colors on the walls will be enough, but later on, you have to add some favorite cartoon or comic book characters. These stickers are easy to find or make and they don’t cost that much, but they make the room feel special.

rugs as a cost-effective furniture alternatives

Thinking ahead

Kids tend to grow up pretty fast and although all the furniture that comes in a miniature size is really cute, it won’t be very useful after just a couple of months or a year. It’s ok to think about the future and get a couple of larger pieces of furniture – some storage units or comfy chairs for instance – which can be used for a while. Also, try to find furniture which can be reassembled and useful even after the kids don’t need it anymore. Durability and fixability should also be on your mind when you go shopping. If it’s something that’s going to break the first time it falls over – it isn’t made for children.

Discounts

Use every discount available. Some stores offer discounts specifically for baby related products, others do it when you buy in bulk. Recycled materials can be found in factories or at specialized stores. Don’t be afraid to look around, both online and offline before you make the purchase. You can save a lot just by waiting for the right offer to come up.

A lot of money can be saved by being innovative and creative. Your most important job is to decide on the look and feel of kids’ rooms. If you got that covered, all the rest can be negotiated. Make a budget beforehand and stick to it religiously – it will pay off.

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As we have moved, cost-effective furniture alternatives are definitely a friend of the budget! This guest post gives you tips and advice to save money

43 comments on “Cost-Effective Furniture Alternatives for Kids”

  1. Our son is heading off to college this Fall. One thing that concerns me is having enough storage space for all his things. You have given me some great ideas of things we can do!

  2. As a military wife who could barely handle her busy schedule I am truly glad I came across your post. I love checking out new things and I totally agree with you. You don’t have to spend a ton for these furnitures. Thanks for the reminder and tips!

  3. It is so much fun to decorate a kid’s room, but so easy to get carried away. So many great points shared here. We bought a gorgeous crib with the intention of using it for multiple kids. We only had one, so it got all of 2 years worth of use. It has been boxed in the attic for 18 years! It cost more than the bed she has used for years! And I love that rug!

  4. Oooo so many awesome tips!!! I try to buy things for my daughters room that she can grow with.

  5. Great ideas. I know one of the things my sister did when buying cribs for her kids is to buy one that can be converted into a toddler bed later on. This way you can utilize the bed for a few more years. You can also repurpose some of your own furniture that you might now be using.

  6. Some useful tips here thank you. Although my children have grown I do have a grandson so will be sharing with my daughter. I love the point about Thinking Ahead. They aren’t babies forever (unfortunately) so having decor that can transition with age will save money.

  7. When we redid our basement we made an adult side and a kids side. The adult side has nice, ceramic wood looking tile. The kid side has cheep carpet. LOL.

  8. I totally agree! Kids’ furniture only lasts a few years and before you know it, you’ll need to be replacing it with bigger furniture. I’m really grateful for the hand-me-downs we got when our son was born!

  9. I love this! We have three little boys and little furniture seemed like the perfect option. They hardly used it though! Now that we’re moving I want to buy them cute furniture they’re actually going to use.

  10. Cost effective is just what I need! These are great ideas! Furnishing for a new baby or when the baby turns into a toddler/little kid is costly

  11. You’ve made a great point about laminate floors and kids. They are much more forgiving that solid wood and cheaper to replace. 🙂

  12. Cost effective is what i need! I need to be better about searching out discounts for in store, i am great on line but i always forget in person! I need to find a way to squeeze a 6th dresser into one of 2 bedrooms….any ideas!?

  13. The one thing about buying kid’s furniture is that it is tough to find something that will last and that they will not outgrow within a few months. I totally agree with you on buying cribs and bassinets with all those extras being a waste. You can save so much money by just putting things a few feet away. You don’t need storage under the crib. I think that is just a waste of money.

  14. We have passed things down from child to child in our home. It totally helps when you find something that can be used over and over.

  15. I love making changes to my kids’ rooms and not spending a bundle doing it. Anything that I can get from someone else to make new is awesome!

  16. We are all about the hand-me-downs. Reusing old furniture from my childhood, and getting items from friends has made a difference in how we have decorated our kids’ rooms.

  17. These are great tips! Our little one still sleeps in a pack n play because we never got around to putting her crib together and she’s 16 months old!

  18. Great tips, every single one. I especially agree with and laughed out loud about the crib one. If you buy a round one it gets expensive looking for bedding and the drawer, forget about it. One of your cribs had a drawer and it broke right away. Bad investment!

  19. I wish I would have known some of this on my first baby so that I could have used it for all 5. That really would have been cost effective.

  20. Love using reclaimed material whenever we can. We also tried to think long term–for example, when both my son’s outgrew the crib, instead of wasting money on a toddler bed that they would use for such a short time, we went straight to a twin bed.

  21. I love that faux rug, seriously so fun! Kids furniture is getting so trendy lately, it’s crazy.

  22. Oh for sure saving money on this stuff is key! They grow so fast that before you know it the decor you had is now too kiddy and babyish. Think long term when decorating so you have options later on without spending big $$$

  23. I love upcycling old furniture to use with my kid’s furniture! I hate spending a fortune on furniture that my kids will definitely destroy! Upcycling is the cheapest way for me! These are some great tips that I actually haven’t tried before. We will be renovating our home soon so I can definitely use some of the old material!

  24. I love my laminate floors. Actually one part of my house has laminate for about 20 years and it has really held up even better than our 10 year old one. I’m trying to convince my hubby to re-do the entire house so it all matches but he is dead set against laminate in the bedroom.

  25. You are definitely right about cribs! I always wondered why someone would buy a round crib that needs hard-to-find and expensive sheets! Same goes with changing tables. We just put a changing pad on a dresser so we can get more use out of it.

  26. We were lucky enough to get a good amount of like new hand me downs from family members when our daughter was born. Now with our son we had kept most of them so we are using them again.

  27. I think it is definitely important to make a budget before looking at items. It is easy to get lost in all kind of cute kids furniture and some are super pricey!

  28. I think a great way of saving money is definitely through looking at how it can last a few years by looking ahead to the future. Something traditional and simple always works!

  29. Those fun rugs for kids rooms are getting more chic and trendy every-single-day! I really love a lot of them and want them for my own office space!

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