Nursery furniture? (UK)

[Fezzle]

I'm a FTM so we have absolutely nothing in the way of nursery furniture. Any tips for where to look? The nursery is just a box room, but I'm hoping to fit in a cot, small wardrobe, a chair and a dresser with a changing top. We haven't seriously started looking yet, so so far I've just browsed what's in Ikea, mothercare and Next, but wondering where else are places to look for decently made but not too expensive nursery furniture?

 

[LillyFleur]

I spent ages looking! In the end we went for the Mothercare Bloomsbury cotbed and changing table in Ivory. I really wanted something that was sturdy as all the cheaper cotbeds were so flimsy. Really happy with the changing table, the cot bed is still in the box as we still have to decorate

It's suprising how huge the furniture actually is, our nursery is a normal sized bedroom (could fit a double bed) and no way could we fit a cotbed, chair, wardrobe and changing table in.

I found Mothercare and Mammas and Pappas had the best choice but Mothercare only have a few of the ranges set up in the shop so you can't see them prior to buying and it seemed to be the same ones in every shop which is annoying if you want to check the quality. Mamas and Pappas have loads of cots set up and seemed to be lovely quality, although bit too expensive for my budget.

 

[CWB86]

We got ours from babies r us

 

[MindUtopia]

We got stuff from IKEA and Mothercare and also from an antiques auction and hand me downs. You really don't need much. Somewhere for baby to sleep close to you in your room (whether that is a moses basket, co-sleeper cot, or safe sleeping space in your bed), then a cot/cot bed, and somewhere for clothes storage (wardrobe/dresser). We used a cot top changer, which was much more convenient than the actual changing tables or changing tops that go on a dresser, because baby faced you at a perpendicular angle rather than lying length-wise on the dresser/changing table. That was so much easier. We also found at first we didn't even do much changing in her room, mostly it was on the floor or the bed, so having something that was movable was really helpful. If you have space, I'd really recommend getting a cot bed. Our daughter didn't sleep tremendously long in her cot. She was in our bedroom all of the time until 8 months and then moved to a toddler bed at 18 months. But the toddler bed (part of the cot bed) will last her until 4+ years. We wouldn't have gotten quite as much use out of a cot. A rocking chair was also great, though to start we kept it in our room, and most of the time I fed her from bed anyway, but we use it a lot now that she's older.

 

[Fezzle]

Thanks! I think we'll have a look at Mamas and Papas and Babies R Us too. I've been thinking about the cot changer- especially because then we can use a little dresser that we already have. We'll definitely be looking at the cot beds too. I really want a glider, but so far DH wants to use a chair (that's just a stationary chair) that we already have- right now it's in the other spare room, so it's ok to stay there if we don't have room other than if we have guests staying there. We already have a moses basket- or actually not yet, but have had three offers from people to use theirs!

 

[TeddysGirl]

We got a change table from eBay for £65 was as new condition and new it was £275, we got a wardrobe that looks like it matches for £35 on a Facebook selling site, also like new condition and brand new it was £250 !

EBay, Gumtree and Facebook selling sites are great !

 

[wildflower79]

Nursery furniture is so expensive! We never bothered for dd, other than we bought a cot bed on sale from mamas and papas. We just used normal drawers and a normal wardrobe we already had. I had an old chair I put in her room, that we never actually used. I always changed her just on a changing mat on our bed.

This baby will be going into the box room for now. We're using dd's old cot bed and a mamas and papas nursery wardrobe that I bought used for £40 off a facebook selling page. I could maybe do with some drawers in there too, but space is so tight I'm not sure they'd fit without everything being really tight.

I did look at the Ikea stuva range, which looked really cool and practical, but decided not to spend that much money on something we might not even use for that long.

Forgot to add that we also had a moses basket for dd, before we moved her into her cot. And will be using one for this baby too while he/she is in our room with us.

 

[Crosby]

I found a cot, wardrobe and a chest of drawers package in white in Argos for £400.

 

[kariss]

We brought a second hand mommas and poppas set off ebay, cot bed, changing station/draws and wardrobe in perfect condition for £150
I can't justify £800-900 brand new.
X

 

[Dawnlouise30]

We got our changing station and wardrobe from Ikea. Very reasonably priced. We got our cotbed from mothercare, half price in the sale but it was still £150 without matress, this was because I was being fussy and wanted the cot with humphrys corner etched on the end lol.
All this was 3 years ago for my first son. We will reuse all again this time but get a new mattress again. Xx

 

[angelmum31]

Bought cotbed and moses basket from john lewis which actually didnt work out very expensive and their customer service was exceptional! I would recommend some form of change table - I was told it would be a waste of money but one of the most used items with my dd. if you dont have space for one you can buy ones that slot on top of the cot. As far as drawers/wardrobe goes I agree with others - dont bother buying 'nursery' ones - stick to normal as they are sturdier and better priced x

 

[Fezzle]

I am definitely leaning towards a cot bed, a good sized wardrobe, a cot-top changer and then use the small dresser we already have (which is too small for changing on top). Now I need to drag DH out to some shops to have a look at things! I'll probably look at second hand stuff too, though would rather buy from somewhere that will deliver. Thanks for all the tips!