5 Habits to Keep Your Home Organized

Getting your home organized is helpful, but it’s not useful unless you keep your home that way. I have included my top 5 habits for keeping your home clean.

1. Have a place for everything

The first way to keep on top of the items in your home is having a place for everything. This will keep unwanted items off of your counters and floor. First, make sure you have places for items that live in your home at all times. This includes toys, clothes and personal belongings. And think about where you want things to live and where they end up. I would like all of our toys to live upstairs in the playroom but having a toddler means I need some downstairs where I can watch him play while I make dinner. Since it makes the most sense for our family at this time, I have toys that live downstairs and a place for them to live.

Also, think about items that come in and out of your house daily. This is mostly backpacks, purses and briefcases, but also includes lunch boxes and snack containers. Have a system when you walk in the door what to do with those items. I have my four year old get his lunch and snack out of his backpack and place them on the counter. Then, he hangs his backpack by the door. Having his lunch and snack on the counter reminds me that I need to clean them up. And since I hate counter clutter, it normally gets done very quickly! My two year old is learning the routine but due to height restrictions, needs a little help!

2. Clean the kitchen after cooking

The area of my house that drives me crazy when it’s messy is the kitchen. We are in and out of our kitchen a lot. So, I try to stay on top of that area.

In the morning, I strive to clean up as soon as I’m done making breakfast and packing lunches. We do easy breakfasts and I make sure lunch isn’t too messy to pack. This helps me stay on top of my habit of cleaning up. And, the boys love a few extra minutes to play before they get dressed!

I keep lunch easy when we’re home so I don’t have major cleaning up to do after making it. I usually have leftovers or something that doesn’t require a lot of dishes.

Dinner is the meal that I make the biggest mess. I try to make dinner most weeknights which leads to many dishes. But, we always make sure to clean up that night. Typically, my husband will clean up since I made dinner. Also, for some reason, the kids will easily let him clean up while they’re playing. Not sure why that is – they don’t let me get anything done!

I make sure I am not leaving a mess for future Jordan because she will not appreciate it!

3. Laundry Routine

The biggest question I get about routines is laundry. Once you have children, laundry seems endless! I have two suggestions for timing when it comes to laundry. It all depends on what type of person you are.

Do one load each day

Have a routine where you put laundry in and fold it at the same time each day. Find a time when you can fold the laundry right when you take it out of the dryer. If your kids are younger, take the time to put it away. If they are older (or an adult spouse), they can put it away themselves. Don’t make extra work for yourself!

Do all the laundry in one day

Choose one day where you can create breaks to fold and put away the laundry. I do this on Sunday when my husband can play with the boys which I fold and put it away. The nice part about doing it all on one day is you have to take it out of the dryer right away so the next load can go in. This helps me stay on top of folding it because I don’t want it to get wrinkly. 

The big key to laundry is folding it right out of the dryer. Again, future you will thank you!

4. Deal with mail and paper right away

Immediately when mail comes into the house, I have three actions. I either throw it away immediately or I do something with it. It is either something that needs to be dealt with right away, or I need to find time later to do something with it. When I deal with it right away, this can mean just putting a note in my phone to get something done. I don’t like extra paper in my house, so if I can throw something away and get it digital, I do.

But sometimes, you need the paper for later. If I am to use it later, I put it on my desk. If my husband needs it, I have a drawer in the kitchen. He typically thinks about it about a week later and I know where it is for him.

When kids bring home papers, I put them away right away. Artwork goes into my file cabinet. I will go through it this summer and decide what to keep from each of them this year. Any other papers are dealt with like mail, either make a note right away or save for later on my desk.

5. Have a nightly cleaning routine

If you pick one habit to start with, start here! This is the best habit I have the starts my day off right. I make sure we clean up at night so there’s not extra clean up for the morning. Mornings are typically hectic in our house and I’d prefer less to do rather than more.

First, make sure you clean up the kitchen. There’s nothing worse than waking up to a dirty kitchen. This can include running the dishwasher. We run it every night so that dirty dishes don’t pile up the next day due to lack of dishwasher space.

Then, take 5-10 minutes to pick up downstairs. In our house, this is done by whoever has the “easy” kid to put to bed. Our four year old has many demands at bedtime and does what he can to extend the process. Our two year old can’t talk yet so he is easy to put to bed. Whoever has him picks up downstairs and makes sure everything is cleaned up. We put anything that needs to go upstairs on the stairs as a reminder. This also usually includes a quick vacuum up of crumbs and general child debris that has accumulated throughout the day.

Taking the time in the evening to make sure everything is picked up makes it easier to relax in the evening and wake up to a calm downstairs.

Creating habits in your home to keep it organized and clean helps keep your home in order. Some of these my partner does with me, some of these he does not care (he could leave old mail on the counter for weeks). I just know what matters more to me and I take care of that one. Find a rhythm that works well for you and your family!

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