Setting Up a Nursery with a Recycled Cradle

When pregnant with my first son, my husband and I were looking for inexpensive ways to prepare ourselves (and our home) for our child. One of the ways we did this was to scour garage sales for items we could either re-purpose or somehow upcycle for the nursery. As luck would have it, one such sale in our neighborhood had a solid wood rocking cradle with scratched paint up for grabs. After some haggling, I purchased the cradle for $10, and had my new project at hand.

First, I dismantled the cradle and kept the hardware in a plastic bag - much of it was rusted and needed replacing. Then, I hand-sanded all of the parts down to the bare wood as my brother helped to rebuild the bottom (removing the paint revealed some water-damage). With a couple cans of primer, spray paint, and sealant, I refinished the cradle to match our son's room.

About $30 of new hardware and some hand-painted trim later, we had a brand-new customized cradle for our baby for less than a month's worth of diapers.

More tips for setting up a nursery.