With many reports citing the average cost to raise a child from birth to age 18 at $200,000, any way to save money is welcome.
Since the early childhood years tend to be the most expensive due to all the needs of a new baby, money that can be saved during this time is particularly welcome. One of the easiest ways to cut costs and still provide for a little one, is to decorate a baby's room with garage sale finds. Baby equipment and nursery decor are used for such a brief period of time that finding them in excellent condition is usually not a difficult task. By decorating with garage sale finds, baby's room will look adorable for a fraction of the full retail cost.
Decor
Unless a theme for the baby's room is a non-negotiable, be open to exploring new decorating ideas when shopping at garage sales for room decor. Curtains, valances, lamps, prints, pictures, wallpaper border and other baby room decor can all be found at the garage sale of a young family. People tend to buy too much wallpaper border when decorating a nursery for fear of running out. What typically ends up happening is that they have two or three rolls of border left over and have either lost the receipt or simply do not want the hassle of returning it. Curtains, valances, lamps, pictures and prints are all perfect for the infant's room, but when it is redecorated in 18-24 months for the growing toddler, suddenly the baby themes are no longer needed. Bargains on baby decor abound at garage sales if you are willing to look for them.
Furniture
Baby room furniture can be a tricky find. The crib that looks brand new sitting on the front lawn at a garage sale may have been subject to a safety recall. Before purchasing any furniture be sure to check out its safety record and its recall status. If a web-browsing smart phone is available, you can even check the information while at the garage sale. Keep in mind that all baby furniture, like cribs, high chairs, changing tables and dressers, should be thoroughly checked over before purchasing. No matter how low the price, if the piece is not safe, there is no sense in buying it.
Accessories
As any new parent can attest to, babies typically have more accessories than anyone at any other time in life. Yard and garage sales are great places to find bottle warmers, wipe warmers, crib bumpers, crib skirts, baskets for storage, quilt racks, and all the other accessories that babies tend to need. In fact, most of the time, it is easy to find things at garage sales that you never even knew that a baby needed. As with all garage sale finds, be sure to thoroughly check each piece to make sure that it is in excellent condition with no rips, tears or broken pieces. Safety must come before price.
Garage sales are a great place to find terrific buys on baby room decor. Be open to new themes and ideas for decorating, because there are so many options available. Always make sure that the pieces purchased are in excellent condition and perfect working order. A good garage sale will even include batteries in pieces like baby swings and bouncer seats to demonstrate that they work properly. Decorating baby's room with garage sale finds is not only economical, it is a fun way to treasure hunt for the perfect pieces for the room.
Alyssa Davis writes for Metal-Wall-Art.com and is a specialist in creating unique interiors with dragonfly metal wall decor and ship metal wall sculpture.
