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How to Raise a Newborn in a Small Space?
Feeling cramped in your home already and baby’s not here yet? Take it from me, baby is going to come with a whole lot of paraphernalia. And then a whole bunch more will appear when they’re toddlers. And suddenly your living space will be bursting at the seams with toys of all sorts and descriptions.
I wish I had read this contributed post before our baby arrived, I’m sure our house would look a whole lot neater than it does now.
Making Space For Baby: How to Raise a Newborn in a Small Space
In an ideal world, we’d all have unlimited space to adapt our homes to the changing needs of our families. In practice of course, this often isn’t the case.
And with getting on the property ladder increasingly harder due to rising house prices, spiralling rents and stagnant wages, a lot of people find themselves expecting a new arrival without space they’d ideally like to accommodate them.
Living in a smaller space is something many of us, especially city-dwellers, are having to struggle with. Add a fractious newborn, all the equipment they need and sleepless nights into the mix and it’s a recipe for stress at what should be one of the happiest times in our lives.
You can navigate this tricky- and increasingly common – situation with easy steps.
Have a Pre-emptive Clutter Strike
Once you know where you’ll be for the baby’s arrival take proactive steps to minimise the existing clutter in your home. If you’ve ever been tempted to Marie Kondo your sock drawer, now is the time!
You’ll already know of one or two black holes of clutter that you could easily get rid of – and now is the time to clear them out and squeeze every last available space for storage.
Investigate services such as Canning Vale Storage Units that will help store anything you don’t want to permanently get rid of.
Only Keep What You’re Currently Using
Babies go through and outgrow toys, clothes and equipment extremely rapidly, so what is indispensable one month quickly becomes useless the next.
If you’re living in a small space, you need to ensure you only have what you need at that time – don’t be tempted to buy things in advance or hang on to them longer than necessary.
Storage boxes that fit under the bed and fitting shelves on higher up, dead wall space can add a little extra room to keep things.
Curtain Over Storage Areas
Having to include lots of extra storage for baby things can be quite unsightly, but floor to ceiling shelves are invaluable and can be custom built by a local tradesman into an awkward space.
You are left with the issue that they don’t always look that attractive, so a simple solution is to hang curtains, They’re easy to install on a tension rod, and can mask all manner of things you’d rather keep hidden while adding a splash of colour.
Choose Furniture With Added Storage
You can make all the rooms you have available work harder by selecting furniture with hidden storage.
From sleek ottomans that do triple duty as seating, a casual coffee table and as storage for baby changing equipment or toys to bookcases with storage baskets you can fill, select every piece with its capacity in mind.
This will help everything to have a place in your home, minimising clutter and stress.
Also, think about ways to leverage dead space – wall-mounted racks for hanging bikes could easily be used to store a pram, and rods or rails with hanging baskets, such as can be found in a lot of kitchens, are ideal for additional toy storage.
Have you made space for your baby?
I guess it’s not too late for us. We can start throwing out excess and planning space saving storage units in time for our upcoming renovations. Just wish I had given it some thought beforehand.
How much time do you have before baby comes? The best time to strike is when the nesting kicks in… have fun.