eBay, the Baby Way

Thanks to lots of great advice from lots of great mama-friends (and also because of the sight of the price tags in some local baby boutiques), I started perusing Craigslist, Overstock, Amazon, Etsy, and eBay for some of my nursery essentials.

Jack. Pot.

Seriously, the thrifty bug has bitten, and it has sparked my desire to find a better deal on just about everything. Great if you have tons of time on your hands, bad if you're working full-time and baby is due in 4 months and some of these items take, oh, 12 weeks to ship. But that's not the point. The point is I've scored some major deals, I'm proud as a peacock, and I'd like to share them with all of you who perhaps like me, were feeling a bit overwhelemed with all of the neverending options in BabyLand. And because I'm honest, I also like the idea of having written proof of how much money I've saved so that I can convince Mr. T when we really do need that to-die-for little seersucker dress with bloomers for our baby girl. And that sweet sundress. And those baby cowboy boots...you see where this is going.

So let's recap the first purchase that came from Craigslist. That in reality was a little like a drive-by drug exchange because we had to meet the seller 20 minutes outside of town to pick it up. But for this little godsend, also known as the Graco Travel Lite Crib, brand-new and still in the box with a nifty little price tag, I think it was a very wise first purchase. Go us.

Things that made me happy about it: a built-in bassinet, a size that is 20% smaller than a standard pack and play, and push-button packability for easy traveling. I also loved that the gender-neutral pattern was called Barcelona Bluegrass, a fitting and subtle tribute to this baby girl's Nashville roots. I mean she was made in Music City, after all. :)

Next up? By this time we had discovered the great news that baby girl was indeed a baby girl, so it was on to the bedding department. Lawd, I had a TIME with this one. Basically, I had three cardinal rules: no pink, no themes, and no cheap fabrics. Now granted, I've seen adorable nurseries that use every pattern and shade of pink, but for me, I always knew I wanted to do something a little different. And the color that kept drawing me in was the sweetest, lightest shade of lavender. Kind of like this one called French Lilac from Benny Moore, only we use Porter Paints exclusively (shameless plug - they are a client of my husband's).




Great - paint color decision now made. Ah, but not so fast on doing the happy dance. Now most normal people would choose their bedding first, and then match the appropriate paint color, but I like to make things difficult on myself when it comes to home decor and do things backward. So the bedding search was on. And let me just tell you, there really aren't that many options out there that use lavender and white like I had pictured in my mind's eye. Though I did find this one, which I absolutely adored for its silk shantung simplicity, until I saw its $800 price tag. As IF. I don't care if the sheets are spun silk, I could never bring myself to pay that crazy price. And like the baby won't eventually spit up all over that pristine white. And so I kept shopping.

But what I DID find while taking a break from searching high and low for the bedding was this adorable little black chandelier on eBay. And it was truly like love at first sight - I knew I had to have it. Our nursery is a pretty small room, so a large fixture might have been overwhelming. But she was just the right size...


A few clicks later, and one bid that thankfully, went unchallenged, she was mine. And not only did I fall in love with her (even though she hasn't arrived yet and my fingers are triple-crossed she's being shipped in the best darn packaging one can provide), but that little purchase set the tone and inspiration for the rest of the nursery. I decided on a combination of black, white and lavender, with a little bit of sweetness, a touch of glamour, and a whole lot of sass.

So when I found this bedding that had those very same elements, I knew we had a winner!


Loved the simple design element. Adored the color combination. Crazy about the teeny black bows. Not so crazy about the organza crib skirt trim, but figure that's an easy fix. And most importantly, utterly delighted with the price tag - a whopping $99!!! Allow me to mention that she retails for four times that. So needless to say, two bids later, she was also mine. New eBay junkie, party of one. And yes, I realize many of you jumped on the eBay bandwagon like a decade ago. What can I say, I'm a late bloomer.

Elated with my newest purchase, I was on the prowl for some fun fill-ins. And the beauty of thrifty finds is that if you only spend $99 on your bedding, you are totally justified on splurging on some "non-essentials."

Some that I like? Scalloped mirrors from PB Kids (hello lavender background!):

An over-the-top white resin picture frame, scooped up at TJ Max for $10 (similar to below):

A wow-factor rug, to bring in another fabulous design element. I'm contemplating this one, which is only $150 on Overstock!

And how could I forget our white shelves, which were actually a wedding gift from a dear friend and made an appearance in the space formerly known as our media room, so no purchase required. How perfect will they be??


And for yet another fun pattern, I'm digging these striped panels for window treatments. The little ribbons even match the bedding! I think it's meant to be.

And for those of you who may be skeptical of three different patterns in one room, just feast your eyes on this fabulous little nursery. Just substitute the aqua for lavender and she could be my nursery's cousin. Proof positive that having fun with with different patterns can be done well.

So there you have it, my nursery inspiration board in blog form. Because I'm not tech-savvy enough to do an actual one. Four months and counting to make it happen - wish me luck!