It really helps to just have less stuff around. You can just take half their toys (could even be chosen randomly) and box up and put in the garage. If they really miss something go get it or tell them they can have it next month.

Later donate the stuff that hasn’t been missed.

Throw their stuff away. Donate what’s useable. No, not the toys they adore but the broken stuff, the stuff they don’t use anymore, all the big clunky items they got for Christmas years ago and have forgotten about. Or at least box it up and put it in the garage if you want to save items for future kids.

Once you go through their stuff you will see for yourself how much crap they have accumulated and it is so refreshing to get it out of the house.

I live with my husband, two sons (1.5 and 3.5) and a large dog. We own a 2000sqft 4bed/2.5 bath but are currently living elsewhere in a rented 900sqft 2bed/2bath. In my opinion, extra space only matters to a point. It helps to have the ability to store things out of sight but, with young kids, there is often going to be a mess regardless of how you organize things.

I clean throughout the day, use storage bins to hold toys and, and vacuum the living room daily. The kids keep the majority of their toys in their bedroom and, when I’m cleaning out the living room I just throw all the toys in there and worry about it later.

It takes a lot of work to keep a home looking presentable with kids, in my opinion. I say sacrifice some rooms to the mess (their bedrooms or a playroom) and try to keep a very limited amount of toys/kid stuff in shared spaces.

Only have two kids, 7 & 3.5. I worked really hard on minimal toys and storage so in theory it is possible for all rooms to be neat. Not like magazine photo neat but like nice enough that family pictures don’t have a pile of crap in the background neat. Every once in a while I do a super clean and that helps a lot... purge ruthlessly.

I think you have to cut kids a little slack to be kids though, especially now. Today our couch cushions were everywhere and they had built several elaborate structures in the middle of the living room and made pretend “food” of every toy. I said not a word and before lunch they initiated a clean up of the mess in the middle. Couch cushions are still forts. It’ll be ok.

Anonymous wrote:It’s hard - so hard - when you’re naturally an organized and anal person like me. And having more room doesn’t help.

Here’s the kind of thing that torments my soul: Little wooden puzzle letters O and D are currently lost way under a heavy couch where nothing reaches them. Aside from spending hours initially looking for them, I now have to watch DC play with an incomplete toy and give up on him ever learning to spell “dog”.

We have a place for almost every toy (damn excavator doesn’t fit in toy cabinet) and every amazon box arriving from grandma sets my teeth on edge because there is no place for it whatever’s it might be!

We have labeled bins, shelves, cabinets and canvas stand-up bags (for stuffed animals).

Of course I’m exaggerating but my only true solution is to relax about it all. My perfect home, like my perky breasts, are gone forever. We have kids. Kids have stuff. We’ll have nice homes again when they’re away at college (and maybe get a boob job).

Ha! This kills me, we lost the “R” and one of my kids needs it in their name. No clue where it went. So long, R.

Anonymous wrote:We have 6000 sq feet and have made all toys go in the basement after preschool age. It’s glorious not to have tj see that plastic crap anymore.

Same here. We have 3500 square feet and things are much much tidier than when we lived in 2000 sq feet. We have closets snd a separate playroom and there are places to put away the toys.

It doesn’t end until they leave home and then, you miss them like crazy!

I bought a whole bunch of nice matching storage baskets and my kids have gotten pretty good about putting everything away when I tell them to. They just randomly dump toys into the baskets.

Anonymous wrote:Plenty large. Purge, get storage and have kids clean up. We have 1000 square feet.

+1. OP, you would only increase the mess with a larger home. If you can't handle your current space, what would the difference be with the larger one?

It just sounds like you feel cramped. Eliminating visual clutter (after ACTUAL physical clutter) fixed that for us.

We went from toys and books everywhere, to books and hoodies everywhere, to ear buds and shoes everywhere.

We have 4 weeks each summer, when they are all at sleep away camp, of cleaning the house and it staying clean, which is very calming for me.

When they are off at college is when the house will stay clean. Until then, embrace the mess, and enjoy the time together.

Joining the chorus of "it's not about size." We're in 1500 sq ft. It's being home all the time. No matter how organized you are, at those ages, you are just straight up outnumbered when it comes to managing mess. My mom, a SAHM when we were little, says that the only families she knows with clean houses are working parents whose kids spent most of their days and weekends in childcare and sports, so there just wasn't time to make as much mess. Obviously, we're all home making messes now.

Our big quarantine Xmas break project was building shelving in the kids' bedroom closet so we could fit toys and art supplies more efficiently. It helped! Planning to build more cabinets and shelves in our tv/playroom as well, if ikea ever restocks. We also put a bunch in big Rubbermaid bins in the unfinished basement because the kids don't actually play with everything every day - out of sight is out if mind, they can either be rotated or purged.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I do sympathize, but I think that 2,600 is plenty large for a 5 person family, and I don't think a larger house would actually solve your problem. The mess would just be spread out among a larger area.

How old are your kids?

They should be cleaning up after themselves to some extent. Depending on their ages, I can offer some suggestions.

Also, if you are in NW DC with that size home, you could absolutely sell it and move somewhere with a huge house and a lot of land, if that's what you really wanted.

Because its THAT easy.

It’s hard - so hard - when you’re naturally an organized and anal person like me. And having more room doesn’t help.

Here’s the kind of thing that torments my soul: Little wooden puzzle letters O and D are currently lost way under a heavy couch where nothing reaches them. Aside from spending hours initially looking for them, I now have to watch DC play with an incomplete toy and give up on him ever learning to spell “dog”.

We have a place for almost every toy (damn excavator doesn’t fit in toy cabinet) and every amazon box arriving from grandma sets my teeth on edge because there is no place for it whatever’s it might be!

We have labeled bins, shelves, cabinets and canvas stand-up bags (for stuffed animals).

Of course I’m exaggerating but my only true solution is to relax about it all. My perfect home, like my perky breasts, are gone forever. We have kids. Kids have stuff. We’ll have nice homes again when they’re away at college (and maybe get a boob job).

Same. This is what I most look forward to when kids go back to school: purging and deep cleaning.

Today has been a pearler bead extravaganza. I’m tempted to take the vacuum hose to the kitchen table and suck them all up forever.

My whole house has aged 10 yrs. Moldings and doors are all need touch ups. Basement playroom carpet needs replacing.

I found your "1960s 2600 sq ft house with five of us" hilarious. That said, I'm sure you know the favorite toys your kids have. Put the rest in the basement and keep two or three each upstairs. If they want to get a new toy they trade it for one in the basement. This helps them learn to make choices and keep the crap out if sight. You may find you can get rid of a lot of toys. I did this with my 5 y.o DS and he has literally been playing with jenga blocks, magna tiles and a small space kit since before Christmas. I have read that having so many toys to choose from overwhelms kids as much as the clutter overwhelms adults.