Organising our baby ‘clutter’ with Very

I’m sure we all have certain gripes with our homes. The things that annoy us. The things we can’t organise.

There might always be a bit of clutter on the table in the hallway, a junk drawer that items get shoved into because they only fit a ‘miscellaneous’ category, a floordrobe.

So when Very reached out about their new spring campaign for getting organised and decluttering, I couldn’t wait to sign up.

Since having Hallie, we have a lot of home items that are very useful for a short space of time, before quickly being outgrown or underused.

Muslin cloths were an absolute necessity a year ago, but now only come out when a sickness bug arises.

Clothes that fit for about two months but then need to go away because she’s outgrown them.

Toys that she used to love but has since got too old for.

When you have children, it’s a constant cycle of buy what you need in the moment and get rid a few months later. It can be exhausting, taking a toll on you and your house.

But don’t fret. There are ways of managing such items so they don’t take over.

1. Storage boxes

These storage boxes are an absolute must have for us.

Ever since Hallie was born, I keep a box in the spare room for any clothes that are too small. Instead of allowing them to clutter up her bedroom drawers, they go in the storage box. When this box is full, it gets a label with every item listed and it gets put in the loft.

This has been a really great system so far, and I know it will come in handy should we ever have another baby and we need to find the newborn towels easily, or the ‘tiny baby’ outfits.

I’ve also recently filled one with toys she’s outgrown, like the sensory baby items, rattles and teethers. As a toddler, she’s moved on to bigger and better things!

For the clothes that she’s yet to grow into, I have some storage boxes that fit perfectly under her cot. They zip up, so the items won’t get dusty, and means they’re right there for the future.

It means the only items in her chest of drawers are the clothes that currently fit, making it much easier to get her dressed in the morning.

2. A bathroom cabinet

We’re fairly lucky with our bathroom storage. We have a small space under the sink and a few shelves by the window.

But with kids comes lots of things and we quickly found that we were lacking space for all Hallie’s bath toys. They were becoming a bit unsightly and getting in the way.

I’d said for a while I’d like a tall but narrow cabinet where the handrail is, and wasn’t sure I’d be able to find something with a 30cm depth. But Very came to the rescue.

Their 2-door bathroom cabinet is precisely what I was looking for. It’s 30cm depth means it fits perfectly between the wall and the toilet, and its doors hide a number of sins (mainly bath toys and toilet roll).

But it’s also a great place to store extra cleaning products, getting them high up and away from little fingers.

3. A heated airer

Washing. Piles. Everywhere.

It’s been the same ever since we had Hallie. If there’s not a load in the machine, there’s one in the tumble dryer or on the line. If it’s not on the line, it’s in a pile at the end of our bed waiting to be put away.

To add to this, we use cloth nappies (reusables) on Hallie, so I’m washing about 12-15 nappies every 3 days.

I absolutely love cloth nappies and am a huge advocate. Not only am I saving a huge amount of plastic, but also money. I buy one pack of plastic nappies every couple of months (she wears them at night only) instead of buying a pack every couple of weeks.

I’ve just worked out the maths, and shocked myself.

1,960 nappies.

That’s how many we’ve saved by using cloth since she was 4 months old. But that also means I’ve done 130 loads of nappy washes.

Yes, it’s a lot, and they take a long time to dry too.

Drying them in the sun sterilises them and dries them much faster, but I can’t rely on this in winter.

This is why I think our heated airer will be a game changer. It can dry the nappy boosters (the inserts) in a few hours instead of a day (or even two days when it’s cold and rainy weather), and will hopefully speed up the washing process, reducing the amount of laundry clutter we have around the house.

It holds much more than our old airer did, and doesn’t use a huge amount of electricity. According to our smart meter, it’s about 10p an hour. Way better than the 40p tumble dryer.

When not in use, it can be folded against the wall, as above. Each section pulls down individually so you can choose how much space it takes up.

 

So there you have it, that’s how Very has helped us to declutter with 3 very simple but effective products!