My parents bought us a nice crib - not an expensive one - and for the rest of the nursery I bought used furniture from consignment type shops and refinished it myself. I may have spent $300 in total and now baby #4 is enjoying it.

Anonymous wrote:My wife and I are looking at nursery furniture and she has settled on buying an expensive crib and other nursery furniture. We have the money but spending $3500 on a crib, dresser, rocking chair, and nightstand seems like a lot of money. I don’t know if I should say something or let her get what she likes.

Let her get what she likes if you can afford it. Happy wife happy life. I bought a $1500 crib for DC1 and am grateful that DH didn’t give me grief for it. She’s excited and wants to celebrate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are doing everything from PBK because they are high quality. My wife said all furniture is made with toxic chemicals. She wants a nightstand to go next to the rocker for a lamp and to put things like water on it.

Pottery Barn is not high quality! It’s made in China and not even real wood. Many are made of particle board.

+1. If she wants non-toxic, PBK is not it. You are paying for the brand, not actual quality. Get a solid wood crib with no particle board. Romina makes nice ones. The Ikea Sniglar is all wood and works just fine too. Pair with a non-toxic mattress, such as Naturepedic. For a baby, I would spend more on the mattress and less on the crib if you need to make a choice. Also look into solid wood furniture from places like Room and Board and let it air out a while before baby arrives.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are doing everything from PBK because they are high quality. My wife said all furniture is made with toxic chemicals. She wants a nightstand to go next to the rocker for a lamp and to put things like water on it.

Pottery Barn is not high quality! It’s made in China and not even real wood. Many are made of particle board.

Yes this. It is made in China just like the ones from Target. There is nothing special or safer about it and it will look terrible once your child gets teeth. And you would really rethink the dark wood. The espresso finish furniture, especially from big box stores like pottery barn wear terribly. They scratch and get marked up from any little thing.

We splurged on a crib. My crib has been used for 4 kids. We passed it on to relatives, got it back and it's still being used. Uts an heirloom item and is built so well our grandchildren will likely use it. I think it depends on how many kids you intend to have.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are doing everything from PBK because they are high quality. My wife said all furniture is made with toxic chemicals. She wants a nightstand to go next to the rocker for a lamp and to put things like water on it.

Pottery Barn is not high quality! It’s made in China and not even real wood. Many are made of particle board.

OP here. We are doing everything from PBK because they are high quality. My wife said all furniture is made with toxic chemicals. She wants a nightstand to go next to the rocker for a lamp and to put things like water on it.

I would do money on crib and then do cheaper dresser and night stand (which babies don't need a night stand).

A quality comfy rocker is worth it but not more than 500 dollars.

We spent money on a crib. Not 3500 but like 700. My husband is large - height and weight and it felt like he could lean on the crib and crush it. Something more solid was important to me. We have had it for 6 years and 3 kids. Also has a conversation kit to become a toddler bed and then later a full sized bed. Was worth it for us

Anonymous wrote:If you have the money, do it. Is this a first baby? Do you intend to have others? If so, will you use this crib again? Or is your wife the type to want to redo a new nursery with each child? I would agree to spending a lot if the furniture was gender neutral stuff that would be used again no matter gender of baby.

OP here. This is our first but we plan to have another child. We are not a theme. The crib and furniture are a dark wood. The rocker is I think a cream color. My wife only wants to get non-toxic furniture and she said it’s more expensive. She doesn’t want to use a regular crib because of the toxic chemicals used to make them.

If you have the money, do it. Is this a first baby? Do you intend to have others? If so, will you use this crib again? Or is your wife the type to want to redo a new nursery with each child? I would agree to spending a lot if the furniture was gender neutral stuff that would be used again no matter gender of baby.

IKEA baby stuff has had a lot of recalls, so much that it would give me pause to buy cribs etc there.

If it makes her happy, why not spend the money? You will be spending lots of time in that room, might as well make it comfortable and homey.

I have a lot of expensive and antique furniture in my house, but the thing that always got a lot of compliments was our $79 IKEA Sniglar crib. If you have the money, though, buy whatever your wife wants. There were certain expensive things I was hung up on before our first baby came and for those things it made me feel in control and so happy to get exactly what I wanted.

P.S. our rocking chair is a family antique and attractive and comfortable it annoys the crap out of all of us. Takes up too much space and is ugly. That’s the thing I’d cross off your list unless you have a huge nursery. Get a nice comfy armchair that can be used in another room in the future instead!

Tell her to go much cheaper and save the money for when the child is older and do a really good decoration. If you aren't having 3-4-5 kids, you only use it 2-3 years.

My wife and I are looking at nursery furniture and she has settled on buying an expensive crib and other nursery furniture. We have the money but spending $3500 on a crib, dresser, rocking chair, and nightstand seems like a lot of money. I don’t know if I should say something or let her get what she likes.