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Keeping a house clean with kids can feel like trying to brush your teeth while eating Oreos.
You finish the kitchen, turn around, and someone has already left a cup on the counter. You put away the toys, and somehow another pile appears. The laundry is never actually done. And half the battle isn't even cleaning—it's keeping track of everything that needs to happen next.
For a long time, I thought the answer was becoming more organized, more disciplined, or finally finding the perfect cleaning routine.
I'm starting to think the better answer is simpler:
Make the house easier to live in.
I'm slowly looking at our home this way now. Where does clutter naturally collect? What am I constantly picking up? Which chores take more steps than they should? What am I carrying around in my head that could have an actual system?
If your home has been feeling a little overstimulating lately, I also shared 10 simple ways to make your home feel calmer without redecorating everything.
Some of the ideas below are things we already do, and some are products currently sitting on my own wish list as I slowly reset different areas of our home.
Because the goal isn't a perfectly clean house.
It's a home that doesn't require quite so much work to keep running.
1. Give the laundry a system before it becomes a pile
Laundry is one of those chores that never really ends in a house with kids.
And I've realized that one giant hamper isn't necessarily helping.
I've had a four-section VASAGLE laundry sorter saved because I love the idea of separating everything as it gets tossed in instead of creating one enormous pile that has to be sorted later.
The one I've been eyeing has four removable bags plus a shelf across the top, so it feels more like part of the laundry room instead of another basket sitting on the floor. I'm leaning toward the light cream version, although the black is really pretty too.
For us, I could see having separate sections for things like towels, lights, darks and whatever category seems to multiply fastest that week.
[See the Laundry Sorter I Have Saved →]
Sometimes organization isn't about getting better at doing the chore.
It's about removing one of the steps.
2. Make the vacuum easy enough to grab for a two-minute mess
If I have to pull out a heavy vacuum, unwind a cord and move it from outlet to outlet just to clean up crumbs after dinner, I'm already annoyed.
With kids, most of the messes aren't even full-house-cleaning messes.
They're:
Crumbs under the table.
Something tracked through the hallway.
A couch covered in who-knows-what.
A quick pass through the kitchen.
That's why a good cordless vacuum is high on my list.
After looking through a bunch of options, the LEVOIT LVAC-200 is the one I've saved. I like that it's lightweight, converts for smaller cleaning jobs and has an anti-tangle brush. LEVOIT also advertises up to 50 minutes of runtime, although actual runtime varies depending on the mode and attachments you're using.
The point isn't to vacuum more.
It's to make the little messes easier to handle before they become one giant cleaning day.
[See the Cordless Vacuum I Have Saved →]
3. Keep a spot cleaner around for the messes that don't need a whole cleaning day
Kids have a special talent for spilling something on the one surface that can't just be thrown into the washing machine.
The couch.
The rug.
The carpet.
The car seat.
Of course.
I've had a BISSELL Little Green on my list for exactly this reason, and I'm leaning toward the Little Green Max Pet SmartMix.
It's made for spot cleaning carpets, rugs, stairs, upholstery and car interiors, and the SmartMix system automatically mixes the cleaning solution and water. BISSELL lists 32-ounce clean and dirty tanks on this model as well.
For me, this isn't about owning another cleaning appliance.
It's about being able to deal with the inevitable little disaster when it happens instead of staring at the spot on the couch for the next three weeks.
[See the Spot Cleaner I Have Saved →]
4. Let some of the toy storage look like furniture
I don't necessarily want every organization solution in our house to look like it belongs in a playroom.
Especially in shared spaces.
I've had a soft storage ottoman saved for this exact reason. It gives toys, blankets and all the random things that collect in a living room somewhere to go—but when it's closed, it just looks like part of the room.
This might be one of my favorite rules for organizing a house with kids:
Hide the evidence.
You don't necessarily need fewer toys or a complicated color-coded organization system.
Sometimes you just need a pretty place to throw everything at the end of the night.
[See the Storage Ottoman I Have Saved →]
5. Contain the tiny toy chaos
Big baskets are wonderful until they're filled with 400 tiny pieces belonging to six completely different toys.
LEGO pieces.
Little cars.
Doll accessories.
Craft supplies.
Puzzle pieces.
All the tiny things that somehow reproduce overnight.
I recently came across clear zippered toy storage bags and immediately saved them.
I love the idea of keeping individual sets together and then storing those bags inside a closet, cabinet or larger basket. Because they're clear, the kids can see what's inside without dumping everything onto the floor just to find one thing.
This is one of those inexpensive organization ideas that makes me wonder why I've been storing little toy pieces the hard way.
[See the Clear Toy Storage Bags →]
6. Stop carrying the entire family calendar in your head
Between school events, practices, appointments, work schedules, birthdays, things that need signed, and everything else that comes with family life, sometimes it feels like half of motherhood is simply remembering where everyone is supposed to be.
I've had the 15-inch Skylight Calendar on my wish list for a while.
I love the idea of having one visible place where everyone in the house can see what's happening instead of Mom being the family calendar.
Skylight can sync online calendars and gives families a shared touchscreen for schedules, chores and lists. Some additional features—such as meal planning, Rewards and its Sidekick tools—are part of the optional Calendar Plus subscription, which Skylight currently lists at $79 per year.
It's definitely one of the pricier things on my list, so this isn't a you need this recommendation.
It's a this could genuinely make our house run easier item that's been sitting high on my own wish list.
[See the Family Calendar I Have Saved →]
Because sometimes the best organization system isn't another planner for Mom.
It's a system everyone in the house can actually see.
7. Make tomorrow easier tonight
This doesn't require buying anything.
And it doesn't need to become an elaborate two-hour nighttime routine either.
Look at tomorrow and ask:
What could I do tonight that would make tomorrow morning slightly easier?
Lay out clothes.
Put backpacks by the door.
Fill water bottles.
Check the calendar.
Put something out for breakfast.
Move the laundry into the dryer.
Even ten minutes can remove several decisions from an already busy morning.
You don't have to prepare for every possible thing tomorrow might bring.
Just give tomorrow-you a little head start.
If Sundays are usually when you're trying to get everything back together, my Sunday Reset Routine is another simple place to start.
8. Repeat meals without feeling guilty about it
Somewhere along the way, feeding a family started feeling like we were supposed to create a brand-new Pinterest-worthy dinner every night.
No thank you.
If your family likes tacos every Tuesday, make tacos every Tuesday.
Have five or ten easy dinners everyone will eat and rotate them.
Keep one or two emergency meals around for nights when the day completely falls apart.
The goal isn't to make dinner impressive.
The goal is to feed everyone without dinner taking every ounce of energy you have left.
Reducing decisions is one of the easiest ways to make a busy home feel lighter.
9. Give everything a place to land
Pay attention to where things naturally pile up in your house.
Shoes by the door.
Backpacks on the floor.
Mail on the counter.
Blankets on the couch.
Laundry outside the bathroom.
Instead of constantly fighting those spots, give the stuff somewhere to go where it already wants to land.
Put the basket there.
Add the hook there.
Move the hamper there.
Create the drop zone there.
A good organization system should work with the way your family actually lives—not the way a perfectly styled house on the internet says you should live.
10. Stop making yourself the only person who resets the house
This might be the biggest one.
A home isn't supposed to be one person's full-time responsibility after they've already spent the day doing everything else.
Kids can put toys back into baskets.
Someone else can unload the dishwasher.
Everyone can take their own things upstairs.
Even a five-minute family reset at the end of the day can make a difference.
Set a timer.
Everyone grabs what belongs to them.
Clear the main living space.
Put tomorrow's things where they need to go.
Done.
Not perfect.
Reset.
A calmer home doesn't have to mean a perfect home
The more I think about resetting our own home, the less interested I am in creating a house that always looks perfect.
I want one that works better for the people living in it.
I want laundry systems that eliminate steps.
Cleaning tools that make everyday messes easier.
Storage that lets our home still feel beautiful while children actually live here.
And systems that take some of the information out of my head and put it somewhere the rest of the family can see it too.
That's the kind of home reset I'm interested in.
Not doing more.
Creating a home that asks a little less of you.
And if you're slowly figuring this out too, you don't have to overhaul your entire house this weekend.
Pick the one thing that creates the most frustration in your home right now.
Start there.
If life in general—not just your house—has been feeling heavy lately, start with How to Reset Your Life When Everything Feels Overwhelming.
One small change can make everyday life feel a whole lot lighter.
Chelsea Denée