Getting Ready for Baby
“For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.”
My younger sister and I were born 2 years and 5 days apart (August 5 and 10), but we couldn’t be more different in most aspects of life. As we know, I am Type-A, follow the rules, and am very neat; while Adrienne pushes every rule to the limit, it is guaranteed to be the life of the party and more comfortable with disorganization.
Sidebar, there have been numerous times when we were together, and she would get truly upset that I wouldn’t stop straightening up! I can’t help it. ☺
Adrienne and her husband let us know Christmas morning 2019 that they were pregnant!!! Being who I am, I went into planning mode (in my head, because it’s Adrie’s baby so she gets to take the lead). Also, I worked at Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby for about 4 years as a personal registry advisor when I first moved to Atlanta, so I had a ton of experience of what baby needs.
Adrie and Eric live in a 2-bedroom row house in Baltimore, so they don’t have a ton of space. In February, before the world shut down, my mom and I went up to Baltimore to help Adrie purge, organize, clean and make space for the baby. The biggest surprise for new moms is the amount of STUFF babies require and how much space the stuff takes up!
Our main focus was the basement – it’s where they had the most storage space, so it became the dumping ground for things they were no longer using or were just in the way.
The first thing we needed to do was identify what to keep, what was going to the dump, and what would be donated. I like to start with small spaces to get the momentum rolling, so we started with what would become the storage closet for back-up paper towels, cleaning supplies, and drinks.
Eric’s Closet Before
Eric’s Closet After
They had a wire rack that we were able to re-purpose in the closet to hold items. And now, you can actually see what is in there and even play hide and seek when my niece gets older. ☺
Our next stop was an open space that used to house the bar that was since removed and became the holder of all things that were in the way and too big to fit into a closet. My dear sister had big plans for this space to become the new guest quarters since the current guest room was now the new nursery. We really needed to get this area cleaned out.
Eric’s Guest Room
As you can see from the before picture, there was a lot of stuff that just needed to find a home. This space required the most time, as there were documents that we needed to pay close attention to in order to protect their information. In this room, we had a keep, donate, sell, shred, and dump piles. There were quite a few things that ended up not having a home by the time we left (like the bike and the vacuum); however, we had a plan for that.
Off this room was a closet we repurposed to now hold a dresser for Adrienne to keep her sewing, knitting, and gift-giving (wrapping paper, tissue paper, etc.) supplies. Don’t be afraid to repurpose a room, closet, or cabinet. It’s your space, and it has to work for you.
We saved the best for last, the back storage area. There were already shelves (that were full) and bins that we were able to repurpose and reorganize to better use the space. I spent a lot of time in this space asking Adrienne what they used the most to make sure we were putting those items to the front and top. Christmas bins were at the bottom, while linens and kitchen items were towards the front for easy access. I also made sure to keep various-sized luggage near the front so they could easily get to it. Little did any of us know that we wouldn’t be traveling for the rest of the year.
The weekend flew by, and we were not able to start clearing the room for the nursery transition. However, we did start cleaning it and made a plan for our next visit (the baby shower).
This was a marathon weekend, and we had so much fun but, oh boy once done we were tired! When taking on a project of this size, it’s best to split it up – either by space or by stage. Each way has advantages and disadvantages. Contact me today for your consultation so we can chat about what will work for your space!
