when i was younger, my mom had this method of “cleaning” my room for me. i despised it. it was infuriating. it was one of the things i swore i would never, EVER do to my own kids.

famous last words, right?

this was before my type A, organize-all-the-things days. yes friends {and husband}, there was a time when i could actually look past the mess.

here’s how this method worked when i was younger. my mom would ask me to clean my room. i would clean a little bit. she would ask me again. i might pick up a few more things and shout down that i was done. a few days later, i would come home to something that looked a lot like this.

my blood pressure is rising just thinking about the frustration i felt at coming home to that pile {my sisters are nodding their heads in agreement as they read this, i just know it}. that pile meant you had to clean. you absolutely had to. no way around it. no cheating. no halfway cleaning. no ignoring it. my mom took every single little thing that was out of place and put it in a pile on your bed. you weren’t allowed to do anything until it was all thrown away or put back correctly. she would come back and inspect.

i couldn’t stand that pile, but secretly? i loved the way the rest of my room looked because of that pile.

i am reluctant to admit that these days, when i just need to get a room, ANY room, cleaned up quickly? my best and fastest method is my mom’s method. the one i swore i would never inflict upon my family, let alone myself.

here are three reasons why this method can work for you AND your kiddos. spoiler – my kids actually don’t hate this as much as i did because we added a trick.

{1} this method makes cleaning up less overwhelming. they key to this being LESS overwhelming is using a basket. this is a small way i tweaked the system from when my mom used it on me. instead of piling everything in a central location in the room, we use clothes baskets.

last friday, my kids came home from school to one clothes basket of things sitting in the middle of their rooms. i’d taken everything in their room that was out of place and put it in one basket. {they are 5 and 8. i also have a 1 year old but she doesn’t have to endure this yet.}. E and K were told they couldn’t play until it was all put away. they weren’t happy, but their reactions were better than when i don’t use this method. here’s why.

the basket method actually makes the job feel more manageable. when my kids walk into a WHOLE messy room that i’ve asked them to clean, it immediately feels too hard. if i asked my older kids to clean the basement right now? they would both have a complete meltdown. looking across the playroom, where the floor is barely visible, would feel super overwhelming. to me too. but if i pointed to a basket in the basement and told them they had to put everything from the basket away? THAT would feel more manageable. this is why we like to use baskets:

• baskets make the job feel doable.
• baskets give the kids a place to start.
• an empty basket tells the kids when they’re done.

{2} this method makes things feel cleaner, faster. part of what drives me crazy about cleaning is cleaning amidst the mess. today my house was a disaster. this always happens when my kids are sick. it’s all i can do just to keep up with the sickness and the laundry and the lysol spray. forget picking up. when i finally got to straightening i was continually overwhelmed just looking around as i worked. the clutter seemed endless. i didn’t use the basket method, but i should have.

if i put everything in a basket FIRST, then the room is clean while i am cleaning. my blood pressure is lower. the room looks clean because i have removed all the clutter into the basket. now i just have to put the basket stuff away. it is so much easier to clean when i have room to breathe as i work. progress is inspiring!

{3} this method makes it easy to donate/get rid of/throw things away immediately. if you get to the bottom of the basket and there are five things you just don’t know what to do with? or trash? carry that basket down to your donate bag or trash can and pour it in. i get rid of things every time with this method. without the basket, i would just leave that stuff i don’t need, wherever it was in the room, until i got to in someday.

the secret’s out. moms are always right. i might have dreaded this method as a child, but as an adult, with a small LITTLE tweak, it has become the most effective way i know to clean a room.

it’s one thing to tidy up a room, but if you need to really organize some of your family’s most used spaces, this cheat sheet will take all the guesswork out of the process. not to mention the overwhelm. these are the 5 steps i use to organize the spaces we use most often in our home {closets, cabinets, drawers, desks…even the freezer!}. grab your own copy of 5 steps to organize any space here. for me, getting started is always the hardest part. these steps will help you fight that dread, because well-organized spaces create room for your family to thrive! snag your copy here in the LITTLE printable library and experience JOY in your LITTLE organized spaces.

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