Anyone else feel desperate to get your house in order this New Year’s week? Luckily, Jennifer Bardorf, a professional personal organizer and owner of Neatspaces, in Wellesley, MA, has been here all week to solve common family organizational dilemmas. Check out our home page for Jennifer’s advice earlier this week.

Q. I feel like I am constantly telling the kids to pick up their playrooms or their rooms. I never know whether to assign one day of the week to the task or teach them to clean up before they move onto the next thing. What are some ways to get kids to clean up their spaces more frequently, without so much nagging and fussing?

A. I think it’s a job that needs to be done on a near-daily basis in order to have a mostly-picked-up home, but—I don’t know if there are ways to ensure they clean up their stuff before moving on to the next thing without our intervention. It’s a nice but an unrealistic expectation. Getting them to pick up their rooms doesn’t have to include nagging (ours) and fussing (theirs). Again, I think it comes down to be disciplined and consistent with the kids.

When it’s clean up time, try allotting more time than you think they should need—20-30 minutes—in order for them to do a reasonable job.  When I ask my kids to pick up, I give them specific instructions: please pick up the stickers and drawing pads, please put the crayons and glue away. They do most of the work, but I’m usually alongside them, guiding them and arranging things as well.

Kids will be much more successful following through if there are designated spots for the things you are asking them to put away. If there aren’t, that could be the root of the problem. They can’t pick up and stay tidy if they’re not quite sure where things should go. Get some bins and designate a spot for everything. Clear bins make it easy for them to see where to put things. I almost always rely on clear bins from The Container Store, which come in a variety of sizes and stack neatly. Use the bins without their lids for current favorite toys, and stack bins with lids for less frequently accessed toys, like specific craft materials. (The shoe box size boxes are perfect for these items).

I probably go through my kids’ rooms once every two weeks and throw away random stuff that I know (and hope) they won’t look for again. But since they’ve gotten into the habit of picking up their rooms and playrooms regularly (not perfectly), when I go in to tidy up it isn’t such a huge job.

Have an organizing dilemma of your own? Check out Jennifer’s website and contact information, here.

Anyone else feel desperate to get your house in order this New Year’s week? Luckily, Jennifer Bardorf, a professional personal organizer and owner of Neatspaces, in Wellesley, MA, is here ALL WEEK LONG—yay!—to solve common family organizational dilemmas. She’ll tackle one HHK reader dilemma each day this week. Check in every morning as we transition from 12 Days of Christmas to 5 Days to Organize—I promise you’ll be inspired.

Q. With my kids playing various sports, we have numerous sport bags/backpacks. For my daughter: soccer, lacrosse and swimming. For my son, baseball, football. They each have cubbies in our mudroom but not enough space for all these bags! Any suggestions? —Julie, Malvern, PA

A. Lots of people try to cram sports gear into the mudroom cubbies, and it’s usually a mistake. I’d suggest keeping only bags used on a daily basis, like school backpacks, in here. It will simply get too crowded if you try to keep anything else in these tiny nooks, and you need easy access to school supplies and outerwear to keep mornings running smoothly.

Elfa system, The Container Store

I suggest hanging a designated row of hooks in the garage, basement, mudroom, or your child’s room—wherever there’s a big portion of free wall space— for sports gear. I really like the Elfa system from the container store. You essentially mount a custom-length track ($8 each at The Container Store) horizontally on the wall and add as many hooks as necessary to get the stuff up and off the floor. There are a variety of hooks to accommodate various types and sizes of bags (try these small bag hooks at $6 each, larger bag hooks at $10 each (a must for large hockey bags), and these $12 holders for bats, sticks, and racquets). Hanging the hooks on the track allows versatility as the type of gear changes. The track gives it a more utilitarian look, but you can also mount hooks directly into the wall. Regardless, the hardware nearly disappears once bags are hung. Then, designate a separate bag for each child for each sport that’s currently in season. Keep equipment in the bags or near the bags, and offseason stuff in a closet out of the way.

When you have a special spot that’s designated just for sports and individual bags for each activity, it will not only help contain all the gear, but make for quicker turnaround when it’s time to head out to a practice or game.

Have an organizing dilemma of your own? Check out Jennifer’s website and contact information, here.

Anyone else feel desperate to get your house in order this New Year’s week? Luckily, Jennifer Bardorf, a professional personal organizer and owner of Neatspaces, in Wellesley, MA, is here ALL WEEK LONG—yay!—to solve common family organizational dilemmas. She’ll tackle one HHK reader dilemma each day this week. Check in every morning as we transition from 12 Days of Christmas to 5 Days to Organize—I promise you’ll be inspired.

Q. It is so hard to keep our car clean. We try to limit snacks, but sometimes need to eat on the go. The kids always seem to leave jackets, wrappers, toys, etc. in the way back despite being told to clear everything out of the car. What are some ways to keep up with the mess in the car?

A. I have a newish car and I thought for about 10 seconds that I wouldn’t allow snacks in it, but it’s just not realistic for us. We’re on-the-go straight to activities from school and the kids need to eat. There are also clothing changes that need to happen at times, and lots of other stuff that comes in and out of the car necessarily. But that doesn’t mean your car needs to look like a cafeteria or mud room. There are a couple very simple things you can do to motivate kids to keep their spots in the car clean.

First, you have to be disciplined to remind your kids to take their stuff out of the car every time you arrive home. I am constantly reminding our kids to take their things and trash out of the car. The more consistent you are with reminding, the more they’ll do it, and the more they do it, the sooner it will become a habit for them. Plus, if all of you are removing things from the car everyday, when you do a bigger clean once a week or month or whatever, it won’t be such a big task.

Second, make it easy for kids (and yourself) to get rid of trash. We tell kids to throw their bags and wrappers away in the nearest trash can as soon as they’re done with a snack in the house or in public; why don’t we make it easier for them to do this in the car? There are a few trash “systems” specifically for this purpose, like the TrashStash Car Litter Bag ($15 at The Container Store).  But I just keep a stash of plastic grocery bags in the glovebox of the car and just “hang” one from my glovebox door at all times. It’s not the most attractive solution but it might be the simplest and least expensive one. When it’s full I simply tied it up and throw it in our household trash bins.

 Have an organizing dilemma of your own? Check out Jennifer’s website and contact information, here.

Anyone else feel desperate to get your house in order this New Year’s week? Luckily, Jennifer Bardorf, a professional personal organizer and owner of Neatspaces, in Wellesley, MA, is here ALL WEEK LONG—yay!—to solve common family organizational dilemmas. She’ll tackle one HHK reader dilemma each day this week. Check in every morning as we transition from 12 Days of Christmas to 5 Days to Organize—I promise you’ll be inspired.

Q. As my kids get bigger, their toys seem to get smaller. We have a zillion little building blocks and gears and little pieces floating around the house. I’ve tried to dedicate a space for them but when they are stowed away, they are forgotten. When they are found, they start to appear all over the house. What’s the best system for keeping tiny toys?

Nilo Multi-Activity Play Table

A. I assume you are talking about that dirty four letter word, L-E-G-O. But the same problems and solutions that apply to Lego will apply to other small toys, from K’nex to Calico Critters.

I like centering toy storage around a small activity table, because it will encourage kids to play with their toys on it and therefore reduce chances they’ll spread all over the house. The best I’ve found is the Nilo Multi-Activity Children’s Table, which comes in two sizes and five different stains and will last forever (large size is $229 with free playmat at nilotoys.com). Bins can fit easily underneath, and roll-out ones on casters are best. Nilo makes two roll-out toy boxes that fit underneath the larger size table perfectly. You can store Legos and other building pieces in both of these large boxes—and here’s a revelation—don’t stress out about keeping the toys sorted by color or size or anything. Most kids care less about that then you do. That means it’s easy-peasy when you ask the kids to clean up: they can just pick up the small toys and dump ’em in. Less stress, less mess.

Ikea Trofast storage system; bins come in lots of other colors

If sorting is important to you or your child—say, if they like to rebuild sets in their original designs—the Ikea Trofast storage system is great (check out the two-column configuration which will fit four large and four small bins that easily slide out, for $88 at ikea.com). It comes in lots of different sizes, configurations, and colors that can match your kid’s bedroom. Sort pieces by color or size along with your child, so he or she knows where to put everything at future clean up times. You can even take a picture and tape it on each plastic bin to make it easier for pre-readers.

Have an organizing dilemma of your own? Check out Jennifer’s website and contact information, here.

Anyone else feel desperate to get your house in order this New Year’s week? Luckily, Jennifer Bardorf, a professional personal organizer and owner of Neatspaces, in Wellesley, MA, is here ALL WEEK LONG—yay!—to solve common family organizational dilemmas. She’ll tackle one HHK reader dilemma each day this week. Check in every morning as we transition from 12 Days of Christmas to 5 Days to Organize—I promise you’ll be inspired.

Q. Here’s a basic mom organization question: If it’s not in front of you, how do you know it exists? When we stow away forms and papers and bills in order to declutter, we so often forget that the paper reminders even exist and then we end up missing deadlines. How do we train ourselves to sit for five minutes on a regular basis and check the “inbox” of hidden paper when there are a trillion directions that we’re pulled in? —Dana, Wallingford, PA

A. First off—I’m so honored to be asked to be a guest on Kelley’s blog! Hope I can share some helpful and perhaps inspiring thoughts. Before tackling this question specifically, there are two things I always stress to my clients. Discipline and attitude. To achieve your goals, you have to be disciplined to do what you need to do even if you don’t want to do it. Having a positive attitude will improve your health and productivity. Yes, it’s not just fluffy stuff to think positively, there are scientific studies on it!

Let’s keep that in mind when discussing this first, very common dilemma: the paperwork trail. As a mom, there are so many pieces of paperwork that require an action or a response. Party invitations, bills, field trip permission slips, school work and on and on. I suggest to clients that they keep paperwork in a file folder NOT tucked away in a desk or drawer, but out where they typically tend to these items—the kitchen, your desk, whatever. File them in order of priority: what needs to be responded to first goes to the top of the file folder and what isn’t so time sensitive is in the back of the file folder.

Reisenthel wall-mount organizer, The Container Store

Good file holders help: A wall-mounted system is great because it keeps files at eye level, which is a good visual reminder, and also prevents crowding on your desk or countertop or wherever you work. I like the Reisenthel Wall-Mounted Organizer because it has lots of pockets that can also include space for my kids to keep their homework or artwork-in-progress too. It’s fabric, comes in great colors, and is just $15 at The Container Store. If you prefer something sturdier, Pottery Barn’s Daily System has a nice-looking file holder in white, black, or two different brown wood shades for $59, here.

Separately, I keep a box-style desktop file bin for “my” papers such as school directories, stamps and envelopes, grocery lists and flyers, and one file per child with notes and numbers I need to keep with sports rosters or information on their individual activities. You can get one to match your decor at The Container Store for as little as $10, here.

But you really don’t need anything fancier than a file box and some folders for this system to work. What is critical is that you become disciplined enough to actually go through the papers on a regular basis. Like every day or every other day so stuff doesn’t fall through the cracks. Plan what time you will do this work every day or every other day. After drop-off or after the kids are in bed. Literally, set your alarm on your phone titled “paperwork”. You may have to tweak the designated time to tend to the paperwork but I predict it will become habit for you to do this task after 2-3 weeks.

Have an organizing dilemma of your own? Check out Jennifer’s website and contact information, here.