5 ways to inexpensively furnish your child's bedroom

It's fun to decorate your child's bedroom or nursery, but there's no need to get carried away! Check out these five tips and furnish your child's room without breaking the bank.

Today you can decorate your child's room with fabulous child-size furniture. A wide variety of styles and colours are available.

• While it may be worth buying a small table and chairs (which you can find second-hand), remember that by the time he starts school he'll already be growing out of them.
• To get value for money, it's much better to buy full-size furniture your child will grow into over the years.

You can soften the feel of full-size furniture by choosing child-style fabrics for bedding and curtains, and decorating the walls with a fun border.

• If another child comes along, all of these can be changed at a later date with relative ease and at little extra cost.

• When it's time to buy a big bed for your child, consider one with a mattress set on a frame that has drawers underneath the bed.
• If space is limited or you have children sharing a room, this is a real space saver, providing storage and a sleep space in one.
• Alternatively, there are storage boxes on wheels that can be kept under beds without drawers.
• For older children and teens, consider a loft bed with a storage or a study area below.
• You'll find a wide variety of prices and styles available in home decor stores, DIY superstores and many furniture stores.
• Prices including bed, wardrobe and desk start at about $400.

If you have two children sharing a room, you probably face demands for more privacy than your house allows. Here are some low-cost suggestions for room dividers that give children some space of their own.

• Cheap bookcases: Place a free-standing bookcase, ranging from waist height to ceiling height, between the two beds. Or look for open metal bookcases (available at office liquidation stores), and bolt one side to the wall to prevent it tipping over. Your children will have more privacy and somewhere to store their belongings.
• Folding screens: Make simple wooden frames or use lightweight interior doors, and join them with hinges. Cover with fabric, or turn them into free-standing bulletin boards and let each child decorate their side of the screen.
• Curtain between the beds: Save money on a curtain by dyeing an old sheet, or use a 1960s-style curtain of beads.

• Buy a large foam cushion form and make a simple cover for it. Floor cushions allow a child freedom to cuddle up wherever they wish, and they are safe and easy for children to move.
• Create a pile of old decorative pillows — if you don't have any, pick them up at garage sales or in second-hand stores and have them dry-cleaned. Let your child make his or her own little nest for reading or listening to music.

When creating a room for your child, it's best to incorporate their personal style into the design. Follow these tips and create a space your child will love at a price you'll love!