How much did it cost you to 'fully' set up your nursery???

[Amy_jellybean]

I'm wondering how much I should expect to pay to set up a nursery? I know this will vary a lot from person to person but i'm talking about people that bought complete nursery settings (ie. cot, bookshelf, change table, dresser/draws, shelves etc.)

I've been looking on Baby on a budget etc and I nearly fell over when I saw what they are charging for a chest of draws!!!

Im worried about buying things seperate though as they wont 'match'. Yes ok ok I admit it, im a furniture snob!!!!

I know DH wont buy second hand for the furniture so im trying to work out what to budget for the nursery.

xx

[LuluHB]

We spent a fortune when doing the nursery for DD1. Boori cradle, cot and drawers with change table, linen sets with matching this and thats. I remember we spent about $6K in one go at the baby shop but that also included the pram, which I think was about $600, $500 or something for a meridian car seat. Everything else would have been furniture. Then on top of that would have been all the linen, so maybe another $500 or so. Crazy.

DD2 we spent very little because she came along so fast and we were lucky in that my SIL had stuff to lend us. Maybe $400 or so on more linen for her and a bit of decor stuff but that's about it.

This time started again from scratch but realised that you just don't have to spend that sort of money, not to mention we're just not in the position this time to spend it! I would say maybe $1,000 in total for absolutely everything in the nursery - cot, change table, linen, decorations for walls etc. Still more than what you need to spend, but I'm a bit of a linen snob so a fair bit of money went there.

[feeb]

I insisted in buying Boori sleigh cot (and as much as I love it was silly! and edge is covered in teeth marks), chest of drawers with change top, car seat, pram then linen would have spent about $2500 - $3000 I think. Drawers are good quality and heavy duty.

[Minque]

We spent about $1500 in total for all the nursery furniture not including furnishings and decorations. The cot and change table was from babies r us and the bookcase, feeding chair and chest of drawers was from ikea

[Cassius2]

we have spent alot on some items and then not much on others. for the chest of drawers we were lucky to come across a gorgeous 1950s vintage danish set for a bargain at $150. then we spent $1300 on a leander cot, $500 on a moses basket with stand and a couple hundred on linen. and another $100 or so on decorations (ie wall decals, mobiles). the change table we bought from like baby bunting and it was around $200 (but butt ugly so wanna change that to the leander one that hangs off the wall...space saver too!).

[Tegam]

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[~Kim~]

OK well i'm not a furniture snob. I didn't spend anywhere near those amounts.
The first time the cot and change table matched, but I prefer a bit of matching and mixing so the other stuff we had already and painted for her. I got the cot from Babies'r'us and the package was nearly half price - under $400 for both. Linen and decoration may have been $150 (maybe if that). Mostly from Target and on special. Neither of my babies slept in their cot at all so I was glad I didn't bother spending big dollars. Jogging pram was the most expensive.

We had to start from scratch this time and I got a chest of drawers/change table on ebay for $150. I got a boori cradle on special too. I made her sheets and change table cover from cool quilting fabric I had and we got lime green shelves from Target. The wood on the cradle/change table are both dark. They don't match perfectly but not that badly that you notice. For her in total less than $500. Her nappies are worth more I'd say lol. I got her decorations on Etsy. Hers is the loudest nursery I know. I love it.

[chocorama]

Pretty much nothing. Baby will room in with us. There is a bassinet next to our (king sized) bed, the bassinet came in a package from the opshop- a pram, bassinet & bassinet stand for $60. The bassinet slots into the pram when needed. All were in near perfect condition. We don't have a change table- just a waterproof mattress that I used with the other two kids (with a spare cover for when one is in the wash) that sits on top of the chest of drawers. The drawers were second hand too, solid timber on metal runners (important to me- hate mucking around with jammy drawers!) but we didn't pay cash for those- DP bartered building work for them, they were part of a furniture package we got in lieu of payment.

For us, decorative items weren't really on the agenda. 1) we're on a tight budget 2) we have a small home, our older 2 children already share a room and later on this baby will join them and 3) we believe that expensive decor is usually more for the parents enjoyment rather than the baby's... We figure, babies don't care what the walls look like, as long as they're warm, safe & fed.

There are plenty of great baby items on Freecycle, Ebay, Gumtree and the Trading Post, and most major cities have Baby & Kids markets where you can score bargains. I know my reply may not be applicable here because technically we don't have a nursery but we have nursery "items". Our basic approach is to keep to a minimum & think creatively (multi purpose etc). I struggle to wrap my head around not buying second hand for babies! So much stuff goes into landfill each year, and there is so much great quality preloved stuff floating around, because its used for such a short timespan, in my mind there is rarely a need to buy new.

[carr2walks]

I can't remember how much I spent, but probably under $1000. I got my sleigh cot brand new on ebay for 1/2 the price, drawers from ikea. Scored a massive bookshelf from work (as they were renovating when I was pregnant) which I painted white to match, turned on the side and got 12 baskets from Ikea to hold all those items for bub. My change mat laid on top of the bookcase.
I would definately recommend ebay if you want brand new and matching but don't want to spend a fortune. A friend just ordered an entire nursery package of cot (with mattress), change table, drawers and I'm sure 1 or 2 more things for just under $1000.

[briggsy's girl]

we bought Boori cot and drawers - partially cos it "fit" the furnishings in our hours, partially because we wanted the bigger cot that transfers to a toddler bed. DD is nearly 3 and part time cosleeps, part time in the toddler bed in our room. i couldn't tell you how much it was for those things in particular cos we bought other things at the time, but about 2.5-3k at the baby shop (linen, baby swing, cot, under cot drawer, set of drawers, car seat, pram, bassinette for pram, capsule). Some of it was definitely not "essential" - but for our circumstances, they were.

DD will continue to use her drawers long term. there's nothing "baby-ish" about them at all, so they can be used for as long as she needs them. the cot/toddler bed/couch may be moved into her room for her as well so that she has it to sit on for reading etc - may have to rearrange the room a bit though lol

i think you need to go "shopping" online - work out what you believe you want/need. then work out from there what your own budget will be. you can get pre-loved stuff, and a lot of it is in fantastic condition (our cot has a few teeth marks you can feel, but nothing you can see - and the rest of it is in immaculate condition. so you can still get the "nice" stuff without having to buy brand new if that's what you want to do. I am the first to admit that pretty much the only reason we spent on new stuff was because we had fought so hard to get her, had saved for another ivf cycle not expecting the IUI to work, so had the money there and it felt important to us to go all out and embrace the pregnancy etc. we didn't technically NEED to do it, but it was what we wanted to do for us. We don't regret any of the purchases we made, and we've used them all probably more than I anticipated, so it was well worth it for us

[e_p]

we did ours on a budget...it's functional, looks great and the money we saved means I'll be able to stay home for longer.

A friend gifted us her beautiful bassinet (which we barely used since it was too deep and DS woke every time I put him in there), a new mattress for that was $20 from Clark Rubber. I bought new linen for about $30

Boori cot and mattress off eBay for $300, set up as a sidecar to our bed because we cosleep, but can also be converted to a toddler bed. Linen was $20 (plain white fitted sheets...DS sleeps in a grobag)

Pram & capsule - we bought a brand new travel system for $500 from pramwarehouse (cheapest price I could find)

Ikea chest of drawers and shelving unit were about $300, and I put a change mat on top of the drawers $20

For decorations I bought square canvases and covered them in bright colored children's quilting fabric - DS LOVES them...from only a few weeks old he would smile, giggle and chatter to them. Even now if he's crying, we take him to look at his 'pictures' and he settles straight away. Total cost probably about $100

there are a couple of websites I looked at that do nursery packages for cheap...babyzonedirect and bubsngrubs come to mind. Goodluck!

[AngelPants]

we got our cot free from freecycle, it only needed new cot bolts but i didnt like the stain so DH sanded it back and re-stained it a better colour. change table 2nd hand off ebay, bassinet 2nd hand from a 2nd hand baby store, we have built ins so no need for chest of drawers. bookshelf on sale from ikea. our monitor cost us the most, one of the breathing and movement ones cos im paranoid about that. decor was new venitian blind from spotlight, curtain 2nd hand from my mums spare bedroom, pictures for cost price from a craft store that was closing down. oh and rug and various linen off ebay or gifts. original pram 2ndhand off ebay, got a newer better one when we could afford it.
from what people who have bought whole new nursery furniture have said, buy in a package and a lot of places will give you a discount if you buy everything from them, eg all nursery stuff, pram, carseat etc and most offer laybuy as well.

[~*familyof3*~]

Ima come back to this. By the time i had my 3rd ild mastered it it.

pls excuse the spelling mistakes on my galaxcy

[Feijoa Mum]

With my first DS I had to have it all, and all brand new! I couldnt even put a number on what we spent but it was thousands and that was nearly 16 years ago
ALOT of it was never used, bought for the look but completely nonfunctional, or pretty much just a completely waste of money!

With each child that follow I wised up, and although they have all had a new cot mattress, new car seat and new pram(s) everything else was done on the cheap, 2nd hand, hand me downs and gifts.

Now I have just finished redecorating Ladys room from a nursery to a big girls room and I spent time looking at what I wanted, then spent HOURS and HOURS finding ways to do it cheaper and finding cheaper versions of it.
I am stoked with the results and you would be surprised at what you can achieved with a doily and glue gun

[Eenee]

I don't know because I can't remember lol. The cot and change table match but that's about it. Not that the cot got used until recently though. Oh and we have two cots one in our room and one in the nursery. The second cot was second hand off my sister though. And cot and change table are Tasman Eco brand. Took some convincing to let DH get me that. Would love a bookshelf but DH won't go for that. Wall decals we got from giggle smile designs and was probably around $200. Oh but did get a really little bookshelf in shape of dolls house off bambini pronto.

[RhiChiChi]

Quite alot because be bought new, so I'd say around $3k. Looking back now I wish I'd just purchased really good conditioned second hand items. I bought a craddle off eBAY the other week and it cost me $61 and she gave me the linen for free. If I had purchased the same one new it would have cost me between $200-$300. The craddle has a couple of marks and that is it. I know my cot we used for DD, which will be used for this bubs has marks on it from approx. 2 years use & I won't be upgrading. Looking back I wish I had put that money away (that we spent) on somethign else like a really awesome family holiday or even for education purposes.

[Amy_jellybean]

Hi girls,

Thanks so much for all your tip, tricks and input!

I probably sounded like a complete snob and didn't explain myself very well in my first post. There is nothing wrong with second hand and I am more than happy to buy things second hand, however nursery furniture is something that DH wants me to buy new. It will be used for other children as well (if and when we have them!). he i

I have bought plenty of second hand pumpkin patch baby clothes etc off of ebay and have a draw in our spare room full, along with cloth nappies etc. I am happy to shop around and buy things online (I do it all the time so it doesn't scare me!). DH and I are much the same as you Briggsy's Girl - we have waited so bloody long for a bub that we want the nursery to be all nice and new and pretty.

I think looking at these things gives me hope that the next cycle is going to work.
xxx

[chody47]

We brought all new stuff, but we didn't spend overly huge amounts of money...We got everything from the one shop and they did a bit of a discount for us because we were buying in 'bulk' so to speak. I'll try to remember approx costs:
Matching cot and change table and cot mattress - $800ish (it was on special)
Bassinet - $100 (also on special)
Change mat, mattress protectors (bassinet and cot) - not much, maybe $100ish?

We already had shelves in the built in cupboard in the room so we didn't need a chest of drawers. We brought one of those 'cube shelves' things from ikea which didn't cost much to use to put toys on.

We purchased sheets from target, so that was also minimal costl