If you’re an expectant mother, I assume you are very much eager to prepare your home to make it more baby friendly. And decluttering is a very important part of that. You don’t want to stress yourself out with all the clutter strewn around, and you sure don’t want to risk the health of your baby and yourself by letting your home become a nest for spiders, cockroaches and critters.
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures.
Now as you go into the nesting mode, it can be hard to get rid of things that are a reminder of your life prior to the arrival of your baby.
But let me acquaint you with a fact.
The closets need to be more accommodating for all the baby clothes and essentials. You have no option but to declutter some of your own clothes (and your spouse’s) that you know won’t be needed anymore.
If your home has a spare room that can be turned into a nursery, you still might have to declutter a lot of your stuff sitting in there. And amidst all the chaos, anxiety and tiredness you must have been feeling right now, it’s normal to find yourself too unmotivated to declutter.
If you are looking to declutter your home before the arrival of your baby but have no idea where to start, here’s a few tips that can help:
1. Make Room In Your Fridge
Remember that your fridge is going to be stocked up with baby formula and breast milk after the baby arrives. Wipe clean your fridge thoroughly before sanitizing it. Now get rid of any stale food items and relocate the things that are not required to be stored in the fridge.
2. Sort Through Your Maternity Wear
You may still want to wear your maternity clothes for a few months post the arrival of your baby. So you can just start sorting through your clothes to keep aside the ones that you would like to wear. Get rid of the clothes that you didn’t like wearing during pregnancy and store/donate the rest.
3. Make Room In Your Closets
Your closets are probably going to need a lot of space to store all the baby clothes, baby toys and other baby care essentials. It’s important that you have at least one big closet reserved for this purpose.
If possible, ask your spouse to let go of some of the clothes and footwear that they don’t like wearing. You also might have to pack away some of the seasonal clothing items to make sure that there’s enough space to house all the baby stuff.
Don’t forget to go through your linen closet and get rid of any threadbare blankets, unmatched pillow covers and extra comforters. Your baby is going to have a lot of little towels, bedding, blankets and comforters that will require space to fit in.
4. Reassess Your Space
Remember that once the baby arrives, you will be left with limited time and energy to clean your home. Hence, it would be better if you rethink your space and purge it ruthlessly. You might have to get rid of things that aren’t serving a purpose sitting in your home including any duplicate items. Declutter your space with the goal of cutting down on the need to clean and maintain it often.
5. Cut Down On The Nursery Décor
It can be tempting to go out of the way to decorate the nursery for your baby. Remember that you don’t want to stuff the nursery with a lot of wall décor or stuff that can make it look overly cluttered. Also, you don’t want to risk keeping unneeded items in the baby crib or on any wall near it. Keep décor to the minimum and aim for a nursery that exudes positive energy.
6. Rethink Your Storage
You might feel the need to pile up on baskets and bins to store all those baby essentials. But let me tell you that it might just be a bad idea. Try and reuse the storage solutions that you already have and buy only what’s needed. Make sure that you only choose baskets without lids for your baby’s closet to make sure that the items in them are fairly visible. If needed, label all the bins and baskets for systematic organization.
7. Declutter Your Baby Shower Gifts
You must have received a lot of gifts on your baby shower that might need to be sorted through. And since these gifts have a lot of sentimental value attached, it can be hard to declutter them.
To make it easier for yourself to get rid of these gifts, start with the duplicate items. If you have two or more duplicates for a baby toy, get rid of the extras. If there’s an item that you know you won’t be using in the near future, don’t feel guilty about getting rid of it. You may even have to prune down some of the baby stuff you have been accumulating over the last few months to make space for the more important stuff. Keep only the things that are useful and add value to yours and your baby’s life.
8. Think From A Baby’s Perspective
If you have gone through all the above steps and still want to purge more, take a home tour and look at everything from a baby’s perspective. Are there things that would fail to be of any value once your baby arrives? Do you want to replace some of your old memories with the ones that you will now be making with your baby? Are there any sharp fittings or furniture that you don’t want your child to accidentally bump into? Get rid of it.
So there you have it! Now that your home is all set for the baby’s arrival, don’t forget to reward yourself with your favourite cup of dessert.
Have you ever decluttered your home before a baby’s arrival? How did it turn out? Would you like to share any other tips for decluttering your pre-baby stuff?