5 Ways to Keep Your New Home Free of Kids’ Clutter
Our children bring us great joy, but most of them also create unstoppable clutter. When you picture your dream home, it’s unlikely that you fantasize about taking all that clutter with you. Moving into a new home is the perfect opportunity to start fresh and go through a massive purge.
Getting started is often the hardest part. Take one room at a time and systematically work through the whole house. Here are a few tips to help you along the way:
- Start by organizing closets and drawers. Although we want the satisfaction of seeing clean visible surfaces, starting with the storage areas gives us somewhere to put items away in a more organized fashion. Otherwise, we are only temporarily hiding the clutter instead of actually getting rid of it for good.
- Separate all items into categories. While you are sorting through everything, designate areas for keep, trash, and donate. Be particularly disciplined in what you choose to keep and make sure each item has both a place and current purpose.
- Make the most of bins and cubbies. Creative storage solutions will go a long way in containing the kids’ mess and clutter. There are cute ways to label these bins, and you can find inspiration on a Pinterest board we created just for that purpose!
- Be artful about saving art. While anything our children create is a masterpiece to us, we may not need to display every piece they make at home and school. Consider showcasing a few special pieces in frames on rotation. Take photos of others to create a digital album so you can file or toss the originals.
- Give daily use items a home of their own. Designate an organized area for items such as shoes, backpacks, jackets, and lunch bags. Use hooks and shelves at child height to make it easier for the little ones to put everything where it goes when they get home from school.
Head over to our Pinterest boards for additional ideas!