How I Decorated My Son’s Room for Under $60

Last week, I asked if you had any questions for me. Stephanie asked if I had any frugal decorating tips.

There is only one room in our house that we took great care to decorate and that is my son’s room (although I am currently working on our bathroom and when it is finished I’ll detail what I did). He absolutely loved Bob the Builder and everything construction related so here’s what I did to give him a room that he loved, but was easy on our wallet.

Bedding – Bought a Bob the Builder bedding set from Walmart for $27 on clearance. I did look on eBay and I couldn’t find it cheaper when you factored in the shipping costs. With some purchases you need to be in the right place at the right time for the best deal.

Curtains – Used the flat sheet from the bedding for a Bob the Builder curtain. I also went on eBay and found a flat sheet for sale ($4.55) and a valance ($7.54). Total Cost: $12.09 (NOTE: Bob the Builder was “in” at the time I did my son’s room and now you can find things at a great deal. You can also make your own curtains by buying material and sewing them. Unfortunately, I do not know how to sew).

Wall Decorations – I scoured the local thrift shops for shelves. I bought two smaller matching ones ($1.00) and one larger one ($1.50). It took some patience to carefully scrape off some paint splatters that were on the smaller ones but they were in good condition overall. Total Cost: $2.50

Shelf Decorations – Bought a large firetruck from a garage sale to put on the large shelf ($1.00) and used a few of my son’s cheaper plastic construction trucks and road signs to place on the smaller ones (not more than $4.00). Total Cost: ~$5.00

Wall Border – Instead of buying expensive border, I used some printable sticker paper to print out construction trucks to cut out and stick on the wall for a border. I also used some stickers to decorate the light switch plate and his bed. Total cost: Probably around $2.00.

Laundry Hamper – and bought a garbage pail ($4.94) the one with the rounded top and the push flap for his laundry hamper. I bought bright construction orange spray paint for $3.47 and spraypainted the top orange and then painted stripes on the bottom. It ended up looking like a construction barrel that you see on the side of the road. Total Cost: $8.41

Miscellaneous Item to Tie the Look Together – Bought some orange cones to place on top of his dresser. Total Cost: $2.96

Total Cost To Decorate My Son’s Construction Room: $59.96

I’m glad we didn’t spend too much on our son’s room because a few years after we decorated it, we switched rooms with our son. So yes, mom and dad are sleeping in the room with the construction truck border and Bob the Builder curtains. Probably this summer we will get around to removing the stickers and getting new curtains (if funds are available). :)

Posted by Tricia on April 11, 2007 at 10:06 AM in Living Frugal, Saving Money, Spending Money | 9 Comments »
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  1. Viriatha responded:
    Posted: April 11th, 2007 at 12:24 pm

    Cheap Shelves – I read. And read. And read. Alot. So shelving is something important to me if my books aren’t going to just stay in boxes or end up scattered and torn. Tricia of Blogging Away Debt wrote about how she decorated her son’s room for under 60$. She talks about buying and scraping some thrift store shelves. She spent $2.50 on those and I think she’s talking about wall shelves but if you need shelves, don’t have alot of money and, like alot of people trying to spend less, don’t have much time, try this idea.

    Go to Home Depot or someplace similar and buy 4 cinder blocks (shop carefully, cinder blocks can vary oddly in price) and 3 feet of 1″x8″ poplar. Put a board down on the floor and 2 blocks on top, board, blocks, board! Under 10$ and you have a 3-shelf bookshelf. Considerably more expensive than Tricia’s idea but I think this would go great in her son’s construction room! Compare to the Sauder shelves Walmart carries at ~ $23.

  2. Moneymonk responded:
    Posted: April 11th, 2007 at 5:22 pm

    very good ! $60 you did good. I know people spend for more than that.

    I decorated my daughter room for about $100

    Two words Target and Toys R us. Bed sheets, shelves is all you need and maybe a fresh coat of paint. As you said tie in maching artifacts and “viola” – you have a child’s room. I did not buy her toys, some blocks and a chalkboad is enough for her. A good chuck went towards books

  3. Tricia responded:
    Posted: April 11th, 2007 at 8:38 pm

    Viriatha – I like the idea about the cinder blocks for a construction room. At one time, we did use crates with boards on top to make a play table for my son (when he was younger). Or we used some rubbermaid totes when he was a little taller.

    Moneymonk – I don’t have a Toys R Us or a Target near me. Sometimes I wish I did for more choices. As for books, my son has so many. I pick them up for really cheap at garage sales.

  4. Around the PF Blogosphere: April 11, 2007 | The Sun’s Financial Diary | A Personal Finance Blog on Saving and Investing responded:
    Posted: April 11th, 2007 at 9:46 pm

    [...] Blogging Away Debt shares with us how she decorated her son’s room with less than $60 [...]

  5. 3 Things About Money responded:
    Posted: April 12th, 2007 at 6:28 am

    Wow – sounds like a great room. I’ll bet your son really liked it(what’s not to love about Bob the Builder?. We like the cinder block shelf idea because they are very hard to tip over, being so heavy, even if dogs or children are climbing the shelves. We get them at the recycled building material store for a buck apiece.

  6. Festival Of Frugality #71: Definitions Of Frugality Edition responded:
    Posted: April 24th, 2007 at 6:25 am

    [...] How I Decorated My Son’s Room for Under $60 Tricia @ Blogging Away Debt. Tricia tells us how she decorated her son’s room for $59.96 (yeah!…not $60) This post is a fine example of frugality in practice. Instead of buying expensive border, I used some printable sticker paper to print out construction trucks to cut out and stick on the wall for a border. I also used some stickers to decorate the light switch plate and his bed. Total cost: Probably around $2.00. [...]

  7. Festival of Frugality #71 Is Financially Prudent. | My Two Dollars responded:
    Posted: April 24th, 2007 at 12:01 pm

    [...] Away Debt has decorated her son’s room for under $60…if you have children, this is a great reference on how to save [...]

  8. Personal Finance Posts and Carnivals for Last Week of April 2007 (Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog) responded:
    Posted: April 29th, 2007 at 1:02 pm

    [...] The Art of Making Money hosted the 71st Festival of Frugality. The post that I really enjoyed was How to decorate your son’s room for under $60 fromTricia of Blogging Away Debt. It just goes to show you do not need to spend too much if you get [...]

  9. Money-saving tips: blog carnivals worth reading » The Bargain Queen blog responded:
    Posted: May 5th, 2007 at 11:49 pm

    [...] How I Decorated My Son’s Room for Under $60 [...]

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