Decluttering Your Home Before Baby Arrives
A guide to decluttering & getting your home in shape before your due date!
Whether “nesting” has set in or not, you probably have a few things you want to accomplish before the birth of your newborn. Decluttering is a smart place to start. While adding in baby’s new items, you may find you have a few things to get rid of to make life a little less cluttered. Below are some tips to help you streamline the process.
Start in Your Closet
Organizing your closet and removing what does not belong can help you at any time in your life. Having a small wardrobe with your favorite items will help you to get dressed quickly when time is of the essence. Go through your pre-pregnancy clothes and donate or recycle what you do not love. Put only your favorites back in your closet. You may want to include some clothes that are a few sizes bigger than your pre-pregnancy size to get you through the first few postpartum months.
Hobby Supplies
You will not have as much time as you once did once the baby arrives. Now is a good time to go through your hobby supplies like board games, crafting supplies and anything else you may stay busy with. Keep your favorites but consider cutting back on some.
Your Kitchen
Check out your refrigerator and freezer. Are there items in there from 2005? Spend some time going through and getting rid of outdated items. When your freezer is empty, give it a wipe down.
Go through your cabinets and get rid of outdated items or perhaps junk foods you do not want to have on hand while breastfeeding.
Assess your countertops. Are there items sitting out that do not need to be? Do you have small appliances on your counters that you use once a month? Consider putting them away, making more space for a more spacious, peaceful cooking experience.
Junk Drawers
While getting rid of items, you might as well look in the bottom drawer of your nightstand or anywhere else you may be accumulating junk that has lived there for the past 3 years untouched. If it is low, now is a great time to consider moving it so baby can’t get into items he or she should not touch.
Once you get through all of the clutter, you can sit back and relax while waiting for your baby to arrive.
Before Moving
Maybe you’re moving before baby arrives, or preparing for a baby is a lot like moving….here’s a very informative infographic we’d love to share about decluttering:
I find your suggestion about cutting back on several crafting and other hobby-related items when preparing for a new baby. My sister is planning a bedroom makeover this year since she’s pregnant for four months now. Aside from your helpful suggestions, where and how should she find a dumpster rental so that she can segregate which waste to recycle or throw away?
Quickest way is to do a local google search for “dumpster rental near me” and look at 3 pack map box, and pick a company that relates closest with junk removal, waste management, or garbage collection, and pay attention to not only the review rating, but the quantity of reviews.
I got myself and family of soon to be 4 when we welcome baby number 2 down with our possessions. I still feel like we have a lot of stuff for the size of space we currently own. I have successfully gotten rid of 2 dresser tops full of stuff. This is after I’ve done 2 major declutter purges. I still want my space more organized for a small space. Multiple items instead of 1 in 1 out makes more progress. I got rid of like 12 kid books this way.