It’s back to school time in my part of Texas. After a summer full of camps and vacation expenses, along with all of the fun at home over the last few months, that means it’s time to get our home back in order, yet at the same time give the credit card a break.

Each time I’m in a space putting away the toys, clothes and every miscellaneous thing that comes with a family of four, my brain immediately starts to create a wishlist of better storage, organization and design. I have dreams of built in cabinets, desks and custom closets for every room but even with DIY, that takes a reasonable budget and even more time. My goal is to hit a quick reset as we go into the fall season and then prioritize which projects to tackle by end of year.

Everything Has a Home
I grew up with a pretty regimented father as he managed large construction sites with dozens of crew members and supplies, along with his own workshops at home. He constantly would reiterate that every little thing has its home. Every tool drawer had a label and the shop walls were spray painted with the silhouettes of tools to know what went where. While I’m not going to label all of my doors or take the spray paint to the walls in my house, the logic still holds true.

A biggest part of our mess is due to not putting things away in their home. Instead we shove them off to the side and find a temporary spot with good intentions to put it up later. And we don’t. This wasn’t as hard in our prior home, which was a one story where I could easily go from room to room item by item, but has proven to be a challenge in a two story house where kids aren’t big enough to put everything up themselves. Our biggest clutter areas are the countertops in the kitchen, living room coffee table, bottom of the stairs and closets turn into a dumping ground.

Finding the Routine
We’re blessed to have healthy kids to play and make a mess but at the same time, I have to find a balance for picking up or I start to feel anxiety. As far as schedule, our max forcing function is that we have professional cleaners help once a month and do the night before pick up scramble.

As far as approach, I’ve heard you should pick up room by room and be efficient with your time. I’ more of the pick up a sock, take it to the kids bedroom, get distracted by reorganizing the closet, look at a baby photo, sit down on the floor and delve into Google photos and purchase photo albums online type.

Some of you are hustlers at the weekly pickup and self cleaning. Whatever your routine schedule, these storage solutions will help with the every day in between. I’ve added links to help get your started. 

Storage Options

1. Baskets for temporary holding
   It’s inevitable (kids or no kids) that things will pile up. My dad is a unicorn of a perfectionist while most of us normal people will continue to quickly put something off to the side with goals to come back to it later. link
   
   To at least avoid everything being out in the open in common spaces, wicker baskets are a great option to throw things in and then easy to carry going room to room later to eventually find ‘its home.’
   
   
2. Storage bench
   Storage benches-whether at the end of bed or ottomans-offer great storage while also giving design and functionality. link
   
   
3. Cubbies
   We use cubby storage units in our upstairs playroom and closets. These give the option to A) go up with storage and don’t take up as much floor space and B) decide which items you want to be on display vs hide with cubby storage bins. link
   
   
4. Clear storage containers
   While I love hiding items in fabric storage cubes or pretty wicket baskets, a reality is I forget what is there or the kids overlook the area when seeking things out to play. I’ve found that everyone uses items when they can be seen. So while they may not be as pretty to the eye, clear storage serves the best function for us in areas where we are seeking something specific. 
   large storage
   clear plastic
   
   
5. Hanging closet organizer
   With a two story house and two little ones, we keep school shoes downstairs in the entryway closet to help get out the door more quickly. And when getting home, rather than dumping shoes by the door, they go back into the organizer. Each kiddo has their own sections for easy grabbing. link
   
   Before shoes, I also stored boardgames so these come in handy to tuck away anything vertically and leave room in the closet for other necessities.
   
   
6. File box for schoolwork
   Lastly, my kids bring home art and schoolwork and that countertop is oh, so convenient to just temporarily toss it aside in the Friday afternoon bonanza. I purchased file storage boxes for each child and use folders for each grade to tuck away the keepsakes. link