Over the six years, we've been parents we have collected a lot of stuff. Stuff that we told ourselves we needed in order to make our lives easier. Sleep aids, bouncers, monitors, food blenders and mountains upon mountains for clothes and shoes. When I see it all sat there it literally makes my eyes water at the thought of how much money we've spent over the years.
So on my journey to a more positive and mindful way of living, having stuff around me that no longer serves me, like said baby items, need to go.
Make a Plan
The most important thing you can do is set aside time to declutter. Whether you're scheduling it to do it in one go or want to tackle it in smaller chunks, write down and set aside that time. Maybe it's a day when the kids are at nursery/school or smile nicely at grandparents - it's ideal to get this job done when you're not faced with distractions. I always find it so much harder to declutter with the little ones around, not only do they want (need) my attention but they also have a habit of falling in love with anything that's heading for the bin/charity shop. Anyone else's little ones do this? So make a plan in your diary and make sure you stick to it (and maybe leave the little ones with grandma).
Also mentally thinking about what you're going to do with the "stuff" prior to the formal decluttering will help save time and will make it easier to part with some of the items. Many baby items can hold precious memories and part with them can be hard. But if you've prepared yourself mentally, knowing what you'd like to do with each item can make this process easier and less emotionally draining.
Sell Sell Sell
As I mentioned previously, baby "stuff" costs a fortune and there was so many baby items that I could have and probably should have, bought second hand. So pull together those high-end items or nearly new items and sell them to mum-to-be. I recently organised one of the cupboards upstairs and I found a popular carrier that I knew has held its value and a Sleepyhead - two high costing products that were both in very good condition. I managed to sell the carrier on a specialist Facebook selling group and also managed to sell my Sleepyhead on another Facebook selling group. Luckily the carrier was sold to a fairly local mom who could collect, however, the Sleepyhead was sold to a family much further afield so I had to look into delivery options.
When selling larger items like nursery furniture, bouncers and highchairs selling the items are fairly straightforward. With eBay, Gumtree and local Facebook selling groups make selling with almost just one click of a button, but delivering them can put people off selling them in the first place. I know this has put me off in the past. However, sites such as Shiply have made this process a little more straightforward. You simply fill out a form to say what you need to be delivered, the dates for collection and delivery and then delivery companies make bids and give quotes - often resulting in you finding the best value. You can then simply accept the quote most suited on Shiply and proceed with collection. It's really straightforward and saves you from having to hoard items from one place to another saving you precious time buy finding a delivery driver for your larger items.
Donate
Of course, you can donate many baby items to charities as well, many charity shops welcome preloved baby items or charities such as Stripy Stork will even collect the items for you and then give them to families experiencing hardships. Even items that you think maybe needing to go in the bin, such as worn shoes that would not be suitable to gift to a charity can be dropped off in one of 500 Clarks stores where they help to support Unicef.
Organise
Once you've cleared your space of baby items, it's time to make use of your new found space. For me, that's my downstairs cupboard, whilst I've cleared my upstairs cupboard, which is now a linnen closet, the downstairs is currently full top to bottom of baby items and unwanted items. Once I have gone through and organised my plan is to shelve the entire space and make a pantry. Something I've wanted for a long time. This plan is incentive enough for me to finally sort through items I have been putting off for years!
What would be your top tips for anyone who's yet to tackle this task?
K Elizabeth xoxox
*Collaborative Post
