One of the most important things
we hope clients take away from
spending a session with us is that
it’s fantastic you’ve decluttered,
but now your mindset needs to
change from lack and need (which
makes you spend) to enough
(which means you don’t). There’s
no point in decluttering if you’re
looking for an excuse to fill it all
up again. Reducing the flow of
items coming into your home is
the message, and what better time
to put this into practise than now,
when a new bundle of joy is about
to join your family.
Here are some of our tips to help
you transition into this exciting
new phase of your life!
People will want to buy you
stuff
Ah the well-meaning family and
friends...! When I had my
daughter, it was also my mother’s
first grandchild and all she wanted
to do was go out and buy
something. Any time she did her
weekly food shop she would come
back with a pack of vests and
another bundle of nappies. I
ended up with so many newborn
nappies that I didn’t even get
through them by the time my
daughter grew out of them. And
all the cute outfits! Little dresses,
patterned tights, bloomers – you
name it and my daughter had it. I
then had a baby shower and was
given more stuff. I felt like I
couldn’t even buy the clothing I
wanted to put her in because
people had bought so much for
her already. As difficult as it
sounds, be prepared to ask for
exactly what you want. Want
vouchers for your baby shower so
you can choose what you want to
buy? Do it. A fantastic thing to
ask for is food delivery vouchers;
immensely useful in the first few
weeks when you’re trying to hold it
all together and no one wants to
cook. Have a friend that makes a
mean lasagne? Ask them to make
you a couple to put in your
freezer. You will still get the odd
thing, but people want to be
useful and helpful and are grateful
when they can be told what to do
and buy for you.
Estelle and Julia at
The Clearing
Concept want to
help you feel
happier and less
stressed in your
home!Big changes afoot
Bringing a baby into your world
will most likely mean a huge
lifestyle shift, and there will be lots
of things you did before that you
realistically won’t be able to do for
a while. Take this opportunity to
look at how your space is being
used currently and if there are any
hobby-related belongings that can
be stored away in a
loft/shed/garage until you have
more free time in the future. This
is an easy way to make space for
the countless baby items that will
all of a sudden be making their
way into your home.Think practically
Babies will not spend their time in
cute little outfits. They will leak
(you will leak!) and they’ll need to
be changed, possibly multiple
times a day. I don’t know a single
mother who hasn’t told me that
their babies didn’t even wear most
of the outfits they had bought.
What did they wear? You guessed
it, sleepsuits! It will be hard to
resist completely, and I’m sure
there will be times when you want
to dress them up, but think
consciously before you buy an
excess of those adorable little
outfits. As they grow older and
start to move, they also won’t be
able to crawl in dresses or jeans
that don’t have enough stretch, for
example. If you end up having
events to go to, like weddings or
parties, it would be nice to be able
to shop for the outfit at the time,
in the correct size, rather than feel
you have to put them in
impractical outfits just you can say
they wore them.They grow up so fast
Between 0 and 1, they will grow so
quickly. Many items will only fit
them for 2-3 months, so there’s no
need to have tens and tens of
things. You will need enough so
you don’t feel like all you are doing
is washing clothes, but not so
many that you are overwhelmed
and they end up in huge piles that
you can’t face putting away.Sort and label
It’s recommended that we wash
clothes before we wear them, and
that could not be more true with
children’s clothes (the two things
over the years that I have not
washed before putting my
children in them have given them
rashes!). This is a perfect excuse
to organise them by clothing type
and size. Try not to have varying
size ranges in their drawers at the
same time – buy some boxes or
zip-up laundry bags before your
little one arrives and take the time
to sort and label everything
clearly. You’ll be so glad you took
the time to do this in advance and
you can swap them out easily as
and when they grow. Decluttering
as you go is always a great idea
with these kinds of things, unless
you are hoping for more to add to
your brood. In which case, if they
are sorted and labelled, it will be a
breeze next time around.Next day delivery
If you do forget something that
you realise you need once the
baby comes, isn’t it better that you
made sure you needed it before
possibly spending money on
something that would not get
used? The worst that can happen
is that you have to wait until the
next day for it to be delivered to
your door. Best case scenario is
that your partner/mother/friend
can nip out and get it, or you’ll
probably have people visiting all
the time that you can ask to pick
something up on their way over.
Again, people want to be useful so
don’t be afraid to ask. It’s a tiny
baby, and the necessities are milk,
cuddles and nappies. Anything
else can wait for Amazon Prime.http://www.onthedoorstep.orgPage 11