If you are a mother, you know it’s hard organizing with kids in the house. Use these tips to avoid clutter, messes, and disorder.
I’m so excited to share with you some awesome advice from a DIY/decor blogger Abby at Just a Girl and Her Blog.
I love decorating blogs and often follow them for inspiration as to how I can make the home a happy place.
Since I’m here day in and day out with the kids it’s important to me to have it look pretty and organized. As much as I can anyway.
I’ve followed Abby’s blog for some time and love her organizing freebies, awesome newsletters, and all around inspiration.  I was so happy when she agreed to do an interview.
Give her a warm welcome and go check out all her awesomeness when you’re done.
What's in this post...
1. Tell us something very interesting (or very uninteresting) about your family!
I’m outnumbered! My family consists of myself, my husband, and our two sons Connor and Caleb (ages 3 & 6), so I’m surrounded by boy stuff 24/7!
2. What’s the most surprising thing about becoming a mother?
I only had a sister, so I was totally surprised at how WILD little boys are! They have endless energy and are constantly on the go. It was fun to learn how to organize with kids.
3. Your blog has tons of great organizing resources, have you always been so organized with your kids?
Weeellllll…that’s debatable. ;) Truthfully, I am naturally very scatterbrained (I think it’s an occupational hazard of bing a creative!), so once I realized my scattered tendencies, I started to create systems to try to help myself stay more organized. I am constantly tweaking and testing new strategies until I find ones that work for our family.
Read: 4 Characteristics Of Organized Stay At Home Moms
4. What are your favorite tools for organizing? Both electronic and in various places in your home.
I’m obsessed with labeling, so my silhouette cutting machine and my label maker are must-haves for me. I also love bins and vessels in all shapes and sizes and am always collecting them whenever I’m out and about. Ooh and organizing printables! I make printables for everything!
Help prepare your kids for life, one skill at a time. Simple, easy skills every month!
Learn More5. What is your philosophy for keeping organized with children in the house?
It’s a balancing act. If I tried to insist on 0 mess at all times, I think we would all be miserable. Our house looks like a tornado has blown through from time to time.
That being said, we have clean up times each day and the boys each have little chores that they’re responsible for. We use labeled bins and every toy has a specific “home,” so it doesn’t take long to get everything straightened up again.
Read: Chores 2 & 3 Year Olds Can Do
6. One piece of advice for busy moms of little ones who want their homes to look good, but aren’t sure where to start?
Purge, purge, and purge some more.
It’s when I try to cram too much into my given space that I have trouble staying organized. I used to think that the solution was bigger bins or even a bigger house, but that’s just giving me more room to store my clutter!
By trashing, donating, or selling the items we no longer use, we minimize clutter and it’s a lot easier to keep our home looking clean and organized.
Check out Abby’s book on simplifying and organizing your home!
Hi Rachel.
I have also followed Abby for some time and she is great. Thanks for sharing her interview. I especially loved when she said that “she is constantly tweaking and testing new strategies until she find ones that work for her family.”
I think that is key when you have kids around. You can think up the perfect system and implement it, but more often then not there will be something you haven’t thought about and you have to go back and change something. But if you did your “research” right in the beginning. (what is the problem, why is it a problem, when does the problem manifest, who contributes to it being a problem etc.) then it is simply tweaking your solution until you get it all right.
Thanks for a good blog.
Kristine the Dane