1. The first thing to consider when decorating your nursery is safety. Be sure to check out safety guidelines before buying or borrowing nursery furniture. You can also look up product recalls on government websites. This is a good thing to do before you start shopping for furniture.
2. Start visiting swap meets, tag sales, and garage sales as soon as you know you’ll be needing baby things. Use any secondhand sources you can think of, particularly for items that you’ll use for a very short time, such as a bassinette, walker,  or jumper.
3. Select furniture and furnishings that will convert to good use as the child grows from infancy to the toddler stage. Planning ahead now will really pay off in the future. You’ll only have to buy once.
4. Choose colors for the nursery that will coordinate with the colors of toys. Then the toys become decorative items themselves.
5. The best way to save lots of money is to do as much of the work as you can yourself.  Paint furniture, sew curtains and quilts, paint the walls, and put up wallpaper.
6. Use your money to buy things that will last through childhood – or at least a few years. Invest in a good bed and chest, but borrow or shop at discount stores for everything else.
7. If friends will be having a baby shower for you, this is a great time to get some things that will enhance your chosen room theme. Register for some things to decorate the room, such as bedding, furniture, and accessories.
8. Select a paint color for the walls that will “grow” with the child. Pale pink or baby blue are adorable for an infant, but may not last long.
9. Use baskets, drawers, and shelves to store toys, clothing, and other infant essentials.
10. Expand storage space by building shelves and adding extra clothes rods for the closet. You can buy simple do-it-yourself kits at home centers.
11. Instead of trying to wallpaper the whole room, paint the walls and decorate with a simple border or stencil a design around the windows, ceiling, and doors.