These tips for how to decorate a toddler room came from our recent decision to move our daughter to her new “big girl” toddler room.
Being budget conscious, we wanted to make sure her room was decorated as nice (and cheap) as possible.
These tips are so easy to follow, and fun for you to customize for your child!
Table of Contents
How To Decorate A Toddler Room For Under $40
1) Use what you have.
We reused most of the furniture in her room.
You cannot really see the painting at the top of the photo below but it was gifted to us from my sister and the dresser is one that I have had since I was a child.
The white cube storage was also gifted to us, but you can find similar pieces fairly inexpensively.
Reusing storage is a great idea for a kids room. 3 of the cubes are completely empty making lots of space to grow (and add more toys).
2) Accept Freebies
The desk in the picture below was gifted to us by a coworker whose girls outgrew it.
If you do not know of anyone who has older kids check out online classified sites such as Kijiji and Craigslist.
They both have free sections that are perfect for finding items to help you out cheaply when you are trying to figure out how to decorate a toddler room.
Another place to find great (free) stuff is Facebook.
In my area, we have a local Recycling Kindness page where you can post things to give away or get things you need.
It is also a great way to keep ‘junk’ out of the landfill.
3) Get Creative
The bookshelves are made from plastic rain gutters, an idea I originally saw on Pinterest.
$8 bought 10 feet of gutter and I just needed to cut the length into thirds, sand the edges and then screw them onto the wall.
You may even be able to have your hardware store cut these for you for free.
There are tonnes of ideas on the internet about cheap and easy DIY projects.
Scope them out and get your creative juices flowing.
4) Spend your money and time wisely
Your time is worth a lot, so spend it wisely.
The room originally had the dark stripe and grey walls but the bottom was HOT pink.
I found some pre-mixed recycled paint at my local Walmart for under $19 and only painted the bottom portion of the wall.
5) Keep It Simple.
The mirror on the back of the door is a huge hit.
Our daughter loves to flirt with herself and show the other girl in the mirror her toys.
If you do not have a mirror kicking around the house wait until back-to-school sales start.
Dorm mirrors can be found on the cheap.
These are some really great ideas. I love the book shelf!
Thank Natalie. It really looks fantastic.
Is that a Berenstain bear plush I see in a pic? Love those books! Your little girl sure is a cutie!
Good eye 🙂 Papa Bear and Brother Bear are over the toddler bed and Sister Bear was probably upside down in the living room lol. I think we got them off of ebay or Kijiji, maybe both.
Hello Kat!
Happy Birthday again!!!
I think that you did a fantastic job on your daughter’s new bedroom. It looks very nice.
I like the bookshelves and am very happy that they are filled with wonderful books.
Congratulations on your interesting blog!
My sister Lise told me that she went and took a look at it and she was impressed. Keep up the good work.
Thank you Suzette! I am glad you love the room.
You did a very nice job on your daughter’s room! I love doing these type of projects and I’m always looking to do things cheaply. It’s fun to look around and see what items you may already have, paint them, etc. and use them in a new and different way! Great job!
Thanks Anita! It is very true. The wood finishes may not match but we were very budget friendly.
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Hugs, Cathy
Oh! I love the stacked up books on your wall bookshelves. And A big congrats on displaying them that way. I think for this age group, looking and seeing the covers of books rather than spines is what sparks interest in reading. Congrats for doing such a super job on it! Do stop by at Stackingbooks if you love to read aloud and need suggestions. We have reviewed more than 150+ children’s picture books in detail which might be of interest to you 🙂
-Reshama
I love the tips. I am going to be working on both if my boys rooms soon and the rain gutter idea might be the ticket for the books. Ill be using oops paint though that I’ve been collecting from Home Depot and lowes and its super cheap! Thanks for this post. I hope you will come link it up to the Friday Follow Along. http://Www.leahinspired.com
I love that rain gutter idea! And so cheap!
This is such an adorable room! Great job on making cute *and* cheap.
Wonderful job on the toddler room and an amazing DIY at a low cost! Love the rain gutter idea too and we’ve seen it used in other rooms of homes too. Thanks for sharing.
Her big girl room looks so fun and inviting. And I especially love the way you have the books displayed. Gutters? Are you kidding me, that’s brilliant! I want my books to be displayed like this too.
I love the idea of rain gutters for bookshelves, we just moved, like still unpacking boxes and such, and this is right up my alley! Thanks for the tip!
I LOVE the shelving idea! My personal problem is that my toddler is climbing EVERYTHING, but I will definitely use that idea once he’s a little older. Great post! 🙂
These shelves are very close to the wall and once filled with books it does not really look climbable Good luck!
The gutters as shelves is such a cute idea! I think I’m going to cover some gutters in extra fabric I have laying around before I hang them. (:
Well that sounds even more creative! Thanks for sharing!
I love the rain gutter idea. I always see the Ikea shelf idea and love it, but we don’t have an Ikea anywhere in my state! We have a ton of books so this is a great for us.
Looks awesome! I love the plastic gutters as bookshelf idea, definitely going to have to save this for when we re-do my daughter’s room. Pinning, thanks for sharing!
Visiting from the Wonderful Wednesday blog hop
Turned out great! And your little one sure loves it! Thanks so much for taking the time to link up with us over at the #HomeMattersParty – we hope to see you again next week!
Getting ready to do this! I love the book shelf. I also want to do a faux clothesline to hang her artwork. And polka dots on the wall with washi tape and parchment paper.