How Our Home Has Changed (And Not Changed) With a Baby

Life is completely different with Margot and our home has evolved, too. She’s nearly 7 months old so I’m sharing how our house has shifted during this phase of her life.

I recently looked around and realized the house looks a lot like it did pre-baby. I found this odd because mere months ago during the newborn stage it was a mess. We had piles of laundry, lots of c-section recovery products, four different baby swings, more piles of laundry, and just lots of little odds and ends everywhere. In the past few months, we’ve recovered from those early days and we’ve found our rhythm. We’re getting by with so much less stuff! Funny how as she’s gotten older, the easier and tidier she is - but that will definitely change once she gets more mobile. I’ll make a mental note to update you in a year when she’s taken over more of the house. Until then, here’s what our home looks like today.

Living Room

Our living room was under-utilized pre-baby but now it’s getting a lot of action as Margot’s primary play area. We pushed the coffee table over and put down a blanket that we can easily clean. Her toys all live in a basket under the coffee table (the one I use for her monthly photos) so they stay well contained. She has a play gym that she’s now outgrown, her nail file and “booger picker” are in the tray on the table, the Instax for her weekly photos is nearby, and a handmade baby blanket is draped over a chair.

The living room gets the best light during the day, so we put in a lot of time here. It’s nice having her most-used things right there for her.

Oh, and just out of frame is the rocking chair my mom used to rock me in when I was a baby. Here’s a sweet photo of her with Margot in it.

On the other side of the living room sits her stroller. We go on walks 2-3 times a day so it gets a lot of use and has all of her things (blanket, books, toys, diapers, etc.) stowed in the bottom. The spot by the bookcase collonade fits the stroller perfectly and is close to the front door. I just wish getting it up and down the exterior stairs was as seamless.

Dining Room

The dining table is also our clean laundry pile table, so let’s just say it sees more baby clothes than it does meals.

We store the car seat and diaper bag in the corner of the dining room. I think lots of people (most?) store the car seat in the car, but we prefer to keep it wherever Margot is rather than in the car that might drive off while she stays home. We currently have a car seat base for each of our cars, but one car seat.

We also keep her baby book open on the top of the colonnade so we can jot down a milestone or funny note on the page for the current month. Complete with a pen, it looks like a hotel guest book, and I like it like that.

Kitchen

While the kitchen renovation isn’t blog-ready (unpainted trim, decor missing, etc.) it functions so well, and I’m so glad we finished before Margot arrived. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen so we’ve set up a spot for her to hang out. Since she isn’t crawling yet, she stays plopped on the quilt with her toys and custom name stool. Her play area is by the doors when we’re working at the sink and prepping food. But when we’re cooking, we shift her whole set up to the other side of the kitchen by the table to keep her a safe distance from the stove.

The baby bathtub sits on the counter in the corner (seen above) but I do want to find a better spot for it without moving her bathing area out of the kitchen. I’m going to hold onto the sweet kitchen sink bath until she physically can’t fit in it anymore!

We have a double dishwasher with the bigger washer on top for our normal dishes, and the lower one dedicated to her bottles, pump parts, and baby plates/cups/bowls. It works well for us to keep her things separate from ours and allows us to sanitize her items on a longer cycle than our regular dishes require. I thought I loved having two independent dishwashers before having a baby, but now I really love it. (side note: we just switched to these Como Tomo bottles and really like them, but I’m a firm Dr. Brown’s fan for babies 0-6m!)

On top of the counter is the bottle drying rack with spare bottles and pump parts. We also have her probiotics and vitamin D on top of the marble backsplash shelf. The wooden bowl is for the caps we remove from the refrigerated bottles before we put them in the warmer. On the fridge is her solid food schedule to be sure we’re introducing a variety of foods and allergens.

Margot has a dedicated dishwasher and a dedicated kitchen drawer. This is where we store all of her feeding things - bibs, bowls, cups, spoons, washcloths, pump parts, and spare bottles. We chose this drawer for her things because it’s at her height so she can access it when she’s older.

Her highchair is parked under the kitchen table and we pull it out for meals next to the table. The one reason I considered not elevating the table to counter height was to keep her at the same level as us. While we aren’t at the same height at the table, we make do and gather around her to eat near her level.

Primary Bedroom

The primary bedroom is back to normal, well, kinda. The photo above is from when Margot slept in the bassinet next to me but she’s since moved to her own room. While the bassinet isn’t in use next to the bed, it is shoved in a corner waiting for someone to buy it. Until I sell it, I’ll continue draping my clothes on it.

I swear by this basinet and highly recommend it to anyone - especially those recovering from a c-section! It’s the best. Check out all of my postpartum essentials here.

Nursery

The nursery has changed the most, naturally. It used to be the den and now is dedicated to Margot. This room has her crib, books, clothes, changing pad, extra toys, and our glider. I’ll share the reveal soon!

Home Office

The only change here (other than the 100 tabs open on my computer researching baby things) is the pump and pumping bra. During the day, I pump at my computer, then before bed, I carry the pump to the bedroom for one last pre-bed pump in front of the TV.

Not that anyone asked for a pump review, but…This is the pump I got through insurance and it’s loud and just as annoying as all the other pumps out there. A friend lent me her wireless one which is great from a mobility standpoint, but it doesn’t have as good of output so I only use it on occasion.

The Porch

Margot’s swing! Such a sweet little update to the curb appeal. Learn more about the swing and install here.

The only room that’s completely unchanged is the bathroom. Well, I guess I do have some postpartum things in there, but let’s not get into the weeds.

And that’s it! I know I left a lot out by just giving a mere tease to her nursery, but this wasn’t a nursery tour, this was a baby in the house tour. Everything will change when we babyproof, when she starts leaving her toys wherever she goes, and when she starts developing little hobbies. I’m so excited! Stay tuned.

I realize this blog post also became a bit of a baby product review, whoops. I’m happy to elaborate or answer baby product questions. Just leave a question about a specific item in the comments.