7 Ways to Save When Setting Up a Playroom

After the nursery or child's bedroom, the next most important room to set up when you have kids is the playroom (or the play area, depending on the size of your house). But not counting how much you'll likely spend on toys, the cost of decorating a devoted play space for your little ones can quickly add up, leaving you less to sock away for your retirement, your child's future education or other milestones more important than having a perfect playroom.

Stores like Pottery Barn Kids and Land of Nod sell very cute and practical playroom storage furniture and wall art. Unfortunately, their designs can be costly, with some of the storage units running $1,000 or more and a number of wall art options costing upwards of $100.

The good news, however, is that there are ways to create a cute play space for your children without breaking the bank. Here are seven tips for setting up a playroom for less.

Repurpose what you already have. Instead of buying loads of new toy storage units, consider that many items you already have around your house can easily be repurposed into toy boxes. Old entertainment centers -- those designed for bigger televisions than the flat screens we all have today -- can easily be used as toy storage units. Hampers, meanwhile, are great for storing stuffed animals, and another idea is to use a blanket you have around the house as a floor covering.

Think outside the traditional toy chest. The notion of repurposing gets me to my next tip: When you do buy new items for toy storage, remember that many products not necessarily designed to hold toys work great for just that function. Lunchboxes, for example, are a very budget-friendly solution for storing little cars or action figures, while hampers also are ideal for storing balls and play kitchen accessories.

Remember that you don't need that much playroom toy storage. I'm a big fan of toy rotation, or not keeping the whole toy collection out at once. It's a great trick for making old toys seem new. If you follow this philosophy, your child's playroom won't have so many toys, so you'll be able to cut toy storage costs (you can keep the toys that are out of rotation in cheap plastic bins in your garage, in a closest or under a bed).

Don't forget about Ikea. Ikea offers very functional playroom shelves that also happen to be very affordable, as well as loads of other great design elements for a budget-friendly playroom. My daughter's play space, for instance, is outfitted with a $15 hopscotch rug design I bought at Ikea.

Go for multi-purpose rug or play mat designs. While we're on the topic of play space rugs, when you're deciding what to put on the playroom floor, you can save money by opting for designs that have a dual purpose. Beyond my daughter's hopscotch design that doubles as a game of hopscotch, if you go for a rug with a train track design, you can skip buying your little ones a separate train table.

Be wary of personalized items. It can be tempting to buy special toy containers personalized with the name of your child or with what you envision that bucket or bin storing. However, before you pay extra for such personalization, think twice. You may want to repurpose that pail or bin down the road, so keeping it from saying your child's name or something like "toy cars" may make you more likely to repurpose rather than repurchase.

Go for frugal DIY wall art. Before you shell out for expensive playroom art, remember that there are many easy ways to make inexpensive cute wall art yourself. Two such tricks: frame old calendar or children's book images and turn fabric into wall art with the help of wood fabric stretcher bars.

Now that you're armed with these tips for cutting the cost of a cute play space, don't let the cost of toys themselves get you down. There are loads of ways to cut the cost of those too, such as these tips for saving on toys for your kids.

What strategies for setting up playrooms on a budget did I miss? Share your best tip below.

Jennifer Saranow Schultz, formerly the "Bucks" blogger for The New York Times and a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, shares daily hints to help make parenting easier and cheaper at HintMama.com, on Twitter at @HintMama and on Facebook at Facebook.com/HintMama.