Real Clever Moms

Keeping a neat and tidy house isn’t always easy when you have children. You want to create a clutter free oasis of calm; they want to take over the house with their Legos. So, who wins?

Well, with a little thought and careful planning you both can. Here are some easy home organizing tips to help you create the peaceful yet child-friendly home you’ve been dreaming of.

Before starting, make a plan of what needs to be done. Go through each room and identify which room needs extra storage, what type of storage, etc. You should then invest in a few storage and space-saving solutions.

Bookcases, under bed storage, hanging storage (for kid’s rooms), and shelves are all great space saving ideas for clutter free rooms. You can find inexpensive and fun storage at Ikea, Target, or Walmart.

This is also a good time to reconsider room layouts. By organizing furniture and storage in a practical manner, it will be easier to stay organized and keep things tidy. If the kids are constantly leaving clothes on their bedroom floors, give them each a laundry hamper they can keep in a corner of their rooms or closet. This will help to make it easier for them to throw the laundry in the basket instead of on the floor.

Color code children’s bedroom drawers or toy boxes to make it easier to put away things. For example, cars and trains can go in a yellow box and Legos go in the green box. You can do this for the sock drawer or t-shirts drawer by placing a small colored sticker on each drawer; for non-readers, or forgetful older children, you can even label each drawer with a picture of the items meant to go inside.

Once you have your storage ideas planned, you can start organizing by tackling one room at a time. Make three piles: one for charity, one for keeping, and one for the trash. Be ruthless. If you haven’t used it within the last month, unless it has sentimental value, you can either store it or give it away. Keep reminding yourself how much better you’ll feel coming home to a clutter free house.

Once you have organized your house and all your neat storage solutions are in place, go on to part two of this article, where we’ll talk about some easy ways to stay organized.