Give Yourself a Time Limit for Each Room
For the perfectionist or the procrastinator, it can be easy to spend too much time on each section, trying to get everything just right or debating too long on how you want it organized. Don’t over think it.
Take It One Day at a Time
Decluttering a home is a big job. It’s a process that is more fulfilling the more you go along. Once you start understanding how you want to organize your space, it will become easier to cut down on the things you don’t need.
Keep/Donate/Recycle/Toss
As you go through each section of the room, you need to determine what you want to save. Separate the clutter into what you want to keep, what you want to donate or recycle and what just needs to be thrown away. If you are having trouble deciding what to hold on to, go through this checklist:
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Do you love it?
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Do you use It?
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Do you need it?
If you answered yes, save it and store it! Otherwise, decide what you can donate. Those onesies might not fit your baby anymore, but it could still be useful for someone else. However, if it’s too damaged or stained, check to see if it’s recyclable. If not, go ahead and toss it!
Get Organized
Once you have decided what you want to keep, it’s time to organize it. Go through each room again and designate a home for each category of items. Make the most of your space by organizing:
The Nursery
It can be easy to lose track of all those tiny shoes and socks, not to mention all the different products for the changing table.
Use drawer organizers to separate your baby’s clothes by outfit, onesie, or pajamas. To prevent them from wrinkling, roll the outfits instead of folding them. Or if you are hanging the clothes, use hanger dividers to separate the clothes by age. Shoe racks can also help you get all those tiny shoes off the floor.
For the changing table, make it sensible. Creating a diaper caddy that has all the essential items like diapers, wipes, powders, and creams will keep everything in one place so you can reach it all easily.
Organize the toys in clear, labeled bins so you can find what you need quickly without digging through each one.
The Kitchen
The kitchen can start to feel like an explosion of bottles, baby spoons, sippy cups, and other baby dishware.
Select a cabinet shelf that is specifically designated for baby items, sorting out the bottles, sippy cups and the dishes so they don’t get lost in the adult dishes.
It’s also easy to designate a shelf in the pantry for baby food to keep them from getting lost behind everything else.
Paperwork
Organize your baby’s paperwork (and your family’s important information) with an accordion folder. It can be difficult to keep track of all the paperwork when you are exhausted and sleep deprived.
An accordion folder will prevent you from losing all the different information without having to worry about it and you’ll always know where to find the answer when you have a question about your baby’s health.
You can use a variety of categories like:
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Social Security Card and Birth Certificate
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Immunization Records
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Health Records
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Pediatrician Records
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Insurance Paperwork
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Nursing Information
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Articles/Pamphlets on Parenting
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Receipts and Warranties
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Milestones
It’s also a good idea to have digital copies of everything, just in case!
It's About Constant Progress
Give yourself time at the end of each day to put things back where they belong. Even if you only have five or ten minutes, you will feel so much better once everything is out of the way and in its proper place.
Whether it’s once a week, once a month, or once a season, decluttering your home will improve your organization and will help relieve your stress. You will be able to find what you need easily and get rid of the things you don’t use.
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