Clutter-free Living with Kids
22nd April 2016
Living with kids can be tricky. As the fourth pot of paint gets splashed up the wall, it’s times like this that you want nothing more than peace and quiet. Yet, enjoy some time spent cooking together or playing cricket down the park and it feels like life couldn’t get any better. It’s a complicated relationship. Keeping your house tidy when there’s kids around is a mammoth task. Just as you put something away, it mysteriously ends up on the floor, or as as you wipe down the table, it miraculously becomes splattered with the colours of dinner that night. Living in a clutter-free home with kids is possible. Listen up and we’ll tell you exactly how to keep your Nikoo home as pristine as the day you moved in.
Don’t let things pile up
With real-life problems it’s always better to get things off your chest rather than letting everything pile up. The same goes for your house. Those piles of ‘stuff’ at the end of your children’s beds- they’ve got to go. The longer they stay there, the more tempted they are to add to them. They probably don’t even know what lies at the bottom of the man-made mountain of clothes, toys and ‘things’.
Rotate and donate
Growing up, it’s always great to have plenty of toys to play with. That said, when you’re young, your interests change quickly and the toy box grows and grows before it overflows. Every time the latest Disney movie comes out, you can expect the likes of Superman and SpongeBob to be shoved to the bottom of the pile to make room for someone new. Soon you’ll find you have not one toy box, but two. And as birthdays go by, those two toy boxes will multiply in front of your very eyes to form an entire cupboard. More toys equate to more mess. Where do you draw the line? The solution is simple. Rotate the number of toys your children have access to- they can’t play with them all at once. This will help you to keep your house pristine. And once they grow tired of certain trends, donate, donate, donate!
Everything needs a home
If everything has a home, there’s no excuse for findings things scattered throughout yours. Nobody enjoys the unexpected jab to the sole of the foot from the mislaid plug- things like toys and electronics need homes. The same goes for things like school bags, books and lunch bags. You know the drill- the kids come running through the door, throwing everything down instantly. The next person to step through the door is greeted with an obstacle course of epic proportions. These are things that get used every day, so it’s tempting to never put them away, but designate a cupboard or a storage box and you’ll find that the kids will get into good habits.
Get the kids involved
Robots capable of keeping the home tidy are a way off yet, so in the meantime, that job belongs to you. The kids make the majority of the mess, so why not get them involved in the tidy up? In fact, let’s make it fun. Pitch them against one another by making it a race to pick up the most blue items or the most pairs of shoes. Getting everybody involved is not only a great way for the family to spend time together but it’s a great way to trick the kids into de-cluttering their own mess!
Develop a routine
Developing a routine where everything is returned into its rightful places before bedtime is a great way to start fresh in the mornings with nothing on your mind.
Space-saving furniture
This is the obvious solution. If you can’t get encourage your kids to keep their mess in one place, creating even more space is sure to make a room look less cluttered and space-saving furniture will open up a room. The toy box is also a bed and it just so happens to be where they spend most of their times- it’s the perfect solution for keeping clutter in once place. Those pieces of furniture with clean lines and minimalist shelving rather than cabinets with hundreds of ways to shove items into every nook and cranny are preferable. The clean, contemporary look will complete the spacious look you’re looking for.
Kon Mari
The Japanese art of decluttering might just be the inspiration you need to make the most of your home’s potential space. This might seem like the most brutal way to de-clutter your home, but it has become world-famous as a technique that gets the job done. The method is simple; if an item makes you happy, serves a purpose and you truly love it, then it has a place in a home. Those items that you are attached to for insignificant reasons or that you could see being eaten by a hungry dog and not feel any emotion, can all go. Once you’ve brutally culled your possessions, those items left need a designated home that cannot be interchanged, making everything easily locatable. Those who don’t stick to this notion often relapse and revert to their old hoarding ways. Kon Mari states that clothing should be stored upright with as many folds as possible, rather than laying items flat in a draw. It’s all part of the ultimate plan to de-clutter.