How to organise your home better

When you get a baby, along with it comes clutter – something you really didn't plan for. Why are babies so tiny but they have so much stuff? And the clutter doesn't get any less the older they get.

Soon your house is overrun with toys, clothes and various paraphernalia and you have no idea where it all came from.

And that’s not to mention the chaos that reigns on your calendar when the kids hit school and have signed up for all the extracurricular activities they could fit into a week.

Here are some tips to help organise every facet of your family life:

Command centre

I’ve seen these on numerous Pinterest boards – Americans are obsessed with command centres and I can see why. Look how beautiful these are:

Pic credit: Beneath My Heart

Pic credit: The homes I have made

But they don't have to be as fancy as these ones, you can make yours really simple. The thing about command centres is that you can customise them to your family’s needs.

You can add a meal planner, a weekly planner and monthly calendars to note in birthday parties, travel trips and extramurals.

We just have a weekly planner and shopping list on ours:

Baby organisation

When you have a baby, you’re constantly changing nappies. Buy a little basket and keep a couple of nappies, a pack of wipes and bum cream in there, so you never have to look for anything. You can also take it around the house with you.

Play room

Whether you’re lucky enough to have a play room or the toys just live in your kid's bedroom, here are some great ways to organise toys.

Get big see-through tubs, label them and stack them.

You can have a custom-built shelf made for them or simply stack the boxes on the floor or in a cupboard.

You can also get inventive with the labels like this mama did:

Bathroom organisation

Bathrooms can be a big old mess. Especially the bath after the kids are through with it – toys everywhere! Buy a handy bath hammock and it’ll be easy to stuff the toys in there after bathtime.

Pic credit: Amazon

To avoid having multiple shampoo bottles (we like Johnson’s Baby No Tears Shampoo, because who likes tears?) cluttering up the bathroom, decant the near-empty bottle into the new one. To get out the last golden drops, swish a little tap water into the empty bottle and pour it into the bath water for bubbles.

Kitchen organisation

One thing I am obsessed with is kitchen organisation, even though my kitchen is probably the least organised place in our home.

If you’re not into storing things in plastic containers, then glass jars are a great way to go. Download these gorgeous free labels here, print them on some transparent stickers and apply to airtight glass jars.

Family binder

This is one of the most important things in our home. We have a family file – just a good old plastic one – where we keep all important documents. Besides having everything in one place if ever you're looking for it, if there’s a fire this should be one of the first things you grab.

Important things you may want to keep in the folder:

• Birth certificates
• Passports
• Insurance documents
• Marriage certificate
• Road to Health clinic cards
• Pet's vet cards
• Emergency contacts

Download some free family binder printables from DIY Mommy’s blog here.  

How organised is your home? Send us your organisation tips to chatback@parent24.com.