J is now 17th months and a whirlwind of trouble. He runs at all times and is curious about everything. He is growing out of his clothes and shoes at lightning speed. And he is now talking up a storm. He repeats just about everything he hears, it is astonishing to me how much he’s grown lately.

Since we got back from our annual summer vacation our small home began to feel like miniature match-box. J (and his toys) seems to be taking over the house. I decided it was time to take action. First, a major spring-cleaning was in order. Second, re-design J’s room from baby room to toddler room. His calm and soothing nursery will now be converted into an inviting area he can relax, sleep, AND play in. Third, have a garage sale.

The global recession hit our happy home pretty hard so I had a small if not non-existent budget to redesign J’s room. Like so many of you, I’m trying to redesign on a dime!

So here is what I did. J’s room previously had a crib, changing table with built in hutch, rocking chair, and a twin sized bed. Luckily the changing table we had originally bought had a built in hutch that converted to a standard bookcase. This was a huge space saver and a completely convenient piece. I’m not going to lie, once J hit eight months he was crawling and squirming everywhere so the changing table was not very safe anymore. We converted it early on and we just placed the changing pad on the floor. We have been changing him like that every since.

We had originally had the twin sized bed in case one of us (mainly me) had to sleep in there when J was an infant, during one of those many hellish sleepless nights, so that the other person could sleep. We also figured this would eventually be his “big boy bed”.  So we moved the twin-sized bed to our very small office (thank God for Ikea), currently my husband is working out of it but he will be moving his office elsewhere soon. The bed is a day bed and works well as a couch for now. We also figure that this office will eventually become J’s room when we decide to have another baby.

Once we moved the bed out, it created a great deal of play space for J. So we moved his foam Skip Hop play mat (Play Spot)  into the room. So he could play comfortably on the floor. It also works well as a changing pad.

As a former teacher I still felt the room needed something else to keep it more organized, make it more inviting to play, and keep it educational. I must tell you, I recently read an article that claimed that garage sales were at an all-time high. They were right. I began to frequent garage sales and found some amazing stuff. More importantly, I found an almost brand new low book case from Ikea (miracle store if you live on a budget and in small home) that would work great to store and organize J’s toys.

I really wanted to get J a small table so he could sit and play. He is not used to sitting at a table on his own. I figured he was ready to start exposing him to sitting on his own. I was looking into Ikea (www.Ikea.com) and found some very affordable options. A table and 2 chair bare wood set for only $24.99. However, I was also lucky enough to have a fabulous neighbor with four boys who gifted me a beautiful Pottery Barn Kids honey colored wood play table with pull out shelves underneath. The table is in great condition and the perfect height. Her boys had outgrown it and she was looking to get rid of it. It is a great idea to get your mommy friends together and have swap parties. One of my friend has recently done this with clothes a purses. It is a great and fun way to get some new stuff, not spend any money, and clean out all your unused supplies.

If you don’t have friends with kids check out your local baby and child consignment shops. I have found some great ones in my area with amazing products and clothes in fantastic condition.

My mother in law was also nice enough to frequent Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Steinmart, and Target for me. She ended up buying J a great large area rug fro his room on the cheap at the TJ Maxx Homestore in our area.

Now that I cleaned out and reorganized the house, it’s time to have a garage sale. I felt inspired with the ones I just went to. I encourage you to do the same (reduce, reuse, recycle). And remember one mama’s trash could be another mama’s treasure.