Whether you’re packing for just yourself or a whole family (I don’t know about you, but packing for everyone still falls on me!), you will want to be organized to make sure you don’t forget anything.

Before we even get started, my biggest piece of advice is to have duplicates for travel. The last thing you want is to forget your phone charger or worse, the sound machine (parents of young kids, you understand!).

Toy rotation just means having a limited number of toys for your children to play with at one time. This creates less overwhelm for kids. Have you ever had too many choices and just shut down? Our children feel the same way. When there are too many toys around, they get overwhelmed and can’t choose.

Are you ready to get your home organized but your spouse is not? Check out my tips for convincing your spouse it’s time to get your house organized!

When thinking about the nursery, consider what you’ll be doing where. You want to make sure diapers and wipes are within reach when you’re changing the baby (and have extras on hand because no one wants to be stuck without a wipe!). Where will you be feeding the baby? Make sure to have a table nearby for water or to place the bottle down when needed. Getting everything set up before the baby arrives, if possible, will help when the baby is here and you’re not sleeping.

When it comes to playrooms, the key is finding a system that works well for the parents and the children. I typically try to find a system that children can clean up easily and looks put away for the parents. It’s way easier to go to bed at night when the toys are cleaned up!

The key to a smooth running household is routines – both for children and parents. Think about each routine and what would work well for your family with the ages of your children.

Kids’ rooms can be tough, especially toddlers. They are constantly growing and clothes sizes are changing. The key to a kid’s clothing is to work with that change. When organizing a kid’s closet and dresser, you want to have systems for bringing in new clothes and getting rid of outgrown clothes. Many of these tips will work for older kids as well. They are still growing out of clothing, just not as quickly.

The part of my day that used to take the longest was making dinner. I thought that I had to spend time following a recipe that involved lots of chopping and putting ingredients together. Since having kids, I have made dinners so much easier. I normally have about 25 minutes of a tv show to get dinner ready and on the table without going into too much screen time for my kids. Now, I typically finish what I need to do in less time because I have developed a plan that works well for our family.

The most important part for toy organization is finding a system that works for you and your family can grow into. We have a combination of the Kallax system as well as smaller containers for items. With a four year old and a two year old, we are transitioning into toys with smaller items and more pieces. The smaller containers keep everything together, which little brother can spend time in the cube bins finding toys that are age appropriate for him!

The main goal for this pantry was to make it functional. With many family members in and out, items need to be visible and easily accessible for everyone. Even a month later, these systems are still working for everyone! The is always my goal when working with clients.