How to deal with a cluttered house with a baby?

[Muddlingthroughthis]

Hello!

I have a 10 month old baby.

When we bought our house it was with the mindset to start a family but now I think actually we didn’t go big enough.

downstairs we have a living room. Small dining room and kitchen.

The clutter since having our baby is INSANE and really gets me down.

I’ve bought the kallax boxes for storage but the Baby equipment is too big.

weve put all big items in the dining room so that’s a mess.

Baby changing unit, bouncer, sit-me-up, kallax boxes.

The living room is cluttered with toys. We had to get rid of the coffee table for more floor space for her to play.

basically my home is a bloody cluttered nightmare. I don’t see how it can get better as I’ve maximised storage.

any ideas? Or is this just the norm?

The harsh secret to dealing with clutter is the Container Method.
This doesn't mean buying more storage, it means using containers to define how much "stuff" you allow yourself. If it won't fit in the Container, either you don't buy that new item, or you get rid of something to make room for it.
Stuff has to earn its place in your house.

Mine are just hitting teens and I feel the same. We had a very large house to start with and had an enormous carpeted playroom with a ton of toys. It looked like a daycare but at least could be shut off.
Over the years and three moves I delcluttered but I just wish they had grown up with less. Part of the problem was we are the youngest couple in a big families and inherited everyone else's toys.

We have just given away lots of bikes and scooters but they will not let me touch their other junk.

The episode called 'Minimalism Tips: Less Stuff Equals Bigger Joy' on the
Self-Care for Extremely Busy Women podcast is great.

Rotate toys, they will be much more interesting for her. Keep a couple out on at a time and have the rest stored in a kallax. This is a Montessori approach - Montessori notebook is a good website to learn more

I watched something a few years back which said something like ‘ if you can replace the item for less than £20 within a week, you probably don’t need to keep it’

It mean I ditched all those spare just in case cables, basic baby stuff like vests that weren’t sentimental, old random crap in shed and cellar, cook books or clothing I wore rarely.
I haven’t yet needed to replace anything.

If I need to buy any of it again in future it will be money well spent for the cost of having little clutter

Baby clothes wise - Ds is toddler, maybe we have another, not sure. I’m only keeping favourite or more expensive items. Ie nice merino wool cardigan kept, basic sleepsuits donated.

Remember if you don't actually KNOW where to find that item in your house ( that was so essential that you HAD to keep it), you pretty much don't possess it. You might have well have chucked it out anyway.

Embrace.

Or at least that's what I did. Was a much easier option and cheaper than a professional cleaner!