Over the past few years I have been on a decluttering journey in my home. It seemed that suddenly after having kids, my home completely exploded with clutter. I saw minimalist homes and Montessori playrooms online and felt like I had to get rid of 90% of our stuff and never have a plastic toy visible at home. Ha!

I tried buying new bins, spent hours purging toys and rearranging the “toy rotation closet,” and was constantly rearranging things in different rooms but not really purging anything. I noticed I had days where I was frantically purging followed by days of complete exhaustion.

Through multiple iterations of this cycle I realized that no matter how much I was decluttering and organizing, there was literally always going to be things out of place with 3 young kids who are home every day. This process felt like trying to shovel during a blizzard!

This post will outline some realistic ways to start decluttering that do not involve multiple hours spent purging, buying matching aesthetically pleasing containers, or needing to create an intricate toy storage system. We are going to do this in a slow, intentional way with the Sort of Crunchy Mom goal of progress and not perfection!

What Didn’t Work for Me

I’ve tried many different decluttering methods/hacks/tips/strategies and I can outline what clearly did NOT work for me. First and foremost, I was trying to do “feast or famine” decluttering. If my kids were at preschool for 2.5 hours I would try to have a decluttering marathon. Same thing if they magically were asleep early. I would spend 1-2 hours at night when I was already exhausted trying to panic declutter as much as possible. This left me exhausted and burnt out quickly.

Another big mistake I made was buying cute bins and organization tools before actually decluttering. I am not a naturally organized person and would pretty much immediately forget where I put things away and would end up creating even more work for myself in the future. Yikes.

I’ve been waiting for a free weekend to declutter my garage since my twins were born almost 6 years ago 😂😂 You will likely not be getting a “free weekend” anytime soon and this strategy will most likely not work for you. Especially if you have multiple young kids!

I also made the mistake of decluttering on days when I felt motivated and energized. I would completely over-do it on those days and then be exhausted and the daily clutter would pile up. This was not sustainable.

What Actually Worked in My House

So what really made a difference for me? Below I outline the top strategies that helped me move my house from overwhelmed plastic toy explosion to a functional and tidy (but not perfect!) home.

1. One Small Area at a Time

I started with broken toys or toys missing pieces. This also included random papers that made its way into the toy parts. Think dried out play doh, broken crayons, a toy that is missing a major piece or literally just broke in half, half used sticker sheets or crumpled paper (there is always crumpled paper hiding somewhere in my house  😂). This removed a lot of decision fatigue for me and let me get rid of items quickly.

Other areas that are usually in the small win category:

• Bathroom products (expired, old, not used, etc)
• Old medications/vitamins
• Clothing that is excessively stained or with holes that are beyond repair
• Shoes that no longer fit you or your kids

You get to decide if these items are going in the trash or you want to put a trash bag in the trunk of your car to be donated. The goal is moving things out of your house.

2. Removing Before Reorganizing

I wanted my pantry, linen closet, and clothes closets to look like they came out of an HGTV organization show so I got pretty bins. But guess what? Pretty bins that are stuffed full of junk aren’t that pretty! I missed a key step-decluttering before you attempt to organize anything.

My brain also doesn’t categorize well so I would end up putting things in the bins that didn’t belong in those bins and nothing was organized or decluttered.

Less stuff to organize=less time spent organizing! woo!

If you don’t know where to start with decluttering check out my trash bag hack!

4. Fewer Toys Out at Once

Ok I know this one is trite but it is so true. My kids play best when less toys are around. We once spent a long weekend away and only brought a bin of magnatiles and some crayons and paper. The kids had a blast and played for hours. I’m not saying that there won’t be growing pains if you go from toy store level toys to a smaller selection, but your kids will adapt.

Also if you have any kids (like my youngest) that like to dump random bins of toys, when there are less toys out, there is less to dump. I don’t have much storage in my house so I don’t have a huge basement full of toys for a toy rotation. I do have a small closet but mostly rotate bigger toys in there. Magnatiles, cars, play blankets/silks/dress up toys, and characters are typically always in our playroom.

5. Lowering the Standard of “Organized”

I used to aim for a Pinterest perfect Montessori playroom. It made me go crazy and meant I was literally re-organizing and cleaning the play areas daily. So not worth it. The layout of my house is a gift in terms of play because we have an extra room upstairs which we have deemed the playroom. I try to keep 90% of the toys up there so the main living areas looks less cluttered. We do have craft supplies, paper, crayons, etc downstairs and of course the kids bring toys downstairs throughout the day but having a designated playroom on a different level than the main living area has been a game changer for us.

I also keep wicker baskets downstairs and in my kids bedrooms to toss random items in that are out of place. At some point during the week or on a day where I have higher energy I return items to their homes. I do the same thing with school papers/art projects/doodles.

What Changed After Simplifying

I notice that my kids consistently play more and longer with less toys out. They also get overstimulated by massive toy piles dumped everywhere. If there are fewer toys and more space to roam they create scenarios for their little characters to act out and play in different ways.

It is also easier for me AND most importantly the kids to clean up. When we clean I either put on music or a Yoto timer and give each kid a specific job.

Examples:

• “Hey you have magnatiles please put them in this bin!”
• “Please put the characters away in the basket”
• “Ok, buddy, time to put all your cars in the special cars backpack”

Cleaning is much smoother if everyone has a specific and defined task. I hear a lot of whining if I say “clean up the playroom.” But if each kid has a specific task(s) depending on age, I get less push back. The Yoto timer (a visual timer would work great too) really helps make it a little bit more fun too.

What I Still Struggle With

I am 100% not perfect and still struggle to keep my home tidy and organized. I try to reframe for myself that I want a functional home. Perfection and aesthetic is less important to me than function. Being able to find things when I need them and knowing that I can generally tidy my main living space and playroom in under 20 minutes to a decent state is helpful and reassuring for me.

Some areas I am trying to improve are paper clutter and kids artwork. Paper tends to pile up around here and I sometimes don’t want to toss paper afraid I will forget about an event or birthday. I have a large paper storage basket inside of a craft cabinet that I currently place kids art in. It works as long as I remember to declutter it weekly.

Laundry works in our house some weeks but not others. If I work multiple shifts in a row it seems that laundry gets completely out of control. My twins are independent in dressing which also means sometimes they throw clean clothes in the hamper instead of putting them away. We’re working on this but it can make the laundry basket multiply overnight.

I try to do 1 load of laundry every day I am off. Sometimes I put it away the same day, other times it stays in the clean basket in my room. I try to be realistic and not perfectionistic with the laundry because it is truly never ending!

In Closing: Sustainable > Extreme

I’ve learned during my early years of parenting multiple little kids that attaining a minimalist, curated, aesthetically pleasing and Pinterest perfect home is an extreme goal for a family home. I’ve reframed my thinking to aim for functional tidy. I am not a minimalist, I’m an overwhelmed mom who needs less visual clutter to feel calm!

If you’re looking for more tips and tricks on moving towards a calmer home check out my post with out simple evening routine.

Thanks for reading this post. I would love to hear about what has worked for you decluttering with little ones at home. Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

Meg