5 Steps to Keeping an Organized Home

There are so many things that have changed in our home in the past year in light of COVID-19. One of the biggest is we are spending so much more time at home. All of us. A lot of togetherness. And do you know what I’ve been learning? It is SO much harder to keep my house organized with four of us living on top of each other 24/7.

That’s 12 hours each and every day that my two kids are pulling out toys and setting them up all over the house. Tell me you can relate!? A couple weeks into quarantine, it got me thinking…how do I need to be managing this differently?

I want to share with you what I came up with. None of it is new, and it may not be for you either! But sometimes we just need to be reminded of what we already know.

Create a plan and get them on board

Hear me right now…you can make all the plans in the world to organize your home, but if you don’t have buy-in from the rest of the peeps living with you, it’s not going to be the end result you are looking for!

For kids, be creative and find ways to get them excited. Here’s what works for us:

Make it fun

Print chore charts like these from BusyMommyMedia and Fresh Mommy Blog for your kids and put them in frames you have sitting around your house. Grab some dry erase markers and you are set with a daily checklist. If your kids need more motivation, offer a reward if they make it happen.

Make clean-up a regular part of your day as you finish an activity – make it a race to see who can pick-up their toys the fastest. My oldest loves to blast her fav music while she cleans up.

Let them help

If they are part of the process, I promise they will be more motivated to keep it that way. Ask how they want to fold their clothes in each drawer and let them practice doing it. Get input on which shelf to stack the board games and how to stack them. Buy a few bins like these that are affordable, hold up to lots of abuse and stack wonderfully. Let the kids help decide what toys go in each. Label them {or don’t because they are see through already!}

Then there are the significant others. For me, the stars aligned when I met Tyler who is basically the male version of my organized self. But I realize this may not be a reality in your home. So how might you get your other half on board? Bribery. And if that doesn’t work then I would try food because that’s the key to my man’s heart.

Be Consistent

We all love the feeling when you finish organizing and it looks ! But then you walk away and secretly hope and pray that it will stay that way forever. Can we just admit out loud that it never does!? If you want it to become a habit you have to be consistent. How do you teach a new puppy or even your toddler to potty train? By consistently showing up in the beginning and teaching them to do it correctly.

Teaching your family to keep your home organized uses the exact same principles. Lead by example and make sure you are showing them with your actions how to do things correctly. Put a lot of effort into helping them understand how to keep the house organized now, and then they will start to model that behavior in the future.

Be okay with less stuff

What I’ve learned is that stuff cannot make me happy, but the mess caused by too much stuff can make me super unhappy. Be a little introspective today…do you struggle to let go of things? Are you buying too many things, maybe because you got a great deal? Get a grip on your stuff.

Here are some ways we do that at our house:

Go through clothes seasonally:

After every season I go through all of our closets and purge. If it hasn’t been worn at all in the last year, it’s time to go. Adult stuff I make a donation bag. For kids’ clothes, I either put in the donate bag or set aside to sell.

One in one out rule:

To keep myself from buying too much of the latest deal I found, I hold myself accountable to remove one item in my closet for every one item I add.

Managing the influx of toys:

We used to get a crazy number of toys for birthdays and holidays from grandparents. I learned early on that if we put that many toys out all at once, the kids were overstimulated and didn’t play with any of them. So, we started setting aside half of their Christmas presents, and bringing a new one out each month as something fresh and new.

We also peruse through the toys every year before Christmas and I let the kids decide if they are done with any of their toys “so we can make room for the new toys.” I’ve even been known to sell the nicer toys they are done with {like American Girl} on Marketplace and give that child the proceeds from it to put in their savings.

Every time you leave a room take something with you

If there was one statement that describes my style best this might be it. Just ask my family. I promise you, if you get into this one habit, and teach your family to do the same, it will transform your home.

So how might you accomplish this? When your family finishes each meal, ask everyone to take one thing that doesn’t belong in the kitchen and move it to its home. Do it again in the family room after watching tv. Every time you get out of the car, every person checks for what they brought in the car and puts it where it actually goes. Instead of letting your stuff pile up in the wrong place until it’s an overwhelming job to tackle, you peel away at it throughout the day so it never becomes too much.

Find margin in your life

While this might be a great list to get you started on making your home a more breathable space, you must have the time each day or week to do these steps. So stop keeping yourself so busy! With the next sport your kid needs to try or mindless scrolling on social media or volunteer roles. These are all good things. Until they aren’t. Allow yourself to have open space in your life so you can invest in your family and make your home a place you love to be.  

Still feel overwhelmed??

That’s 100% okay! It may be a season you are in, or it may be that you want your home to be organized but it’s just not your thing. Then I say, focus on what you are good at! I would love to step in and help you in this area.

Click Here for a free 15-minute phone consultation and tell me about the areas of your home you would love to see transformed. I am offering both virtual and in-person organizing solutions and I’d love to chat about what is the best fit for you.