10 Decluttering Tips for Moms to Reduce and Simplify

Sometimes I feel like I spend my whole life decluttering and organizing, and it wasn’t until recently that I realized I think that is just part of life when you have kids. Forever. (Or at least until they move out.) Somehow kids just seem to come with “stuff” no matter how minimalistic you are (or want to be) as a mom. (Thankfully, they’re worth it times a million.)

Between well-meaning relatives, regular co-op or school projects, trinkets from friends, the one item they get to pick out from the thrift store, and always, always, more crafts, the stuff just sort of compounds. 

As I’ve pondered how to manage it all, I’ve found a few methods that make a huge difference in helping me to manage our house in general and the kids to be able to manage their own stuff (more or less). 

I’ve realized that if my 4-year-old can’t manage her own clothing, toys, and bedroom, it’s actually more on me than on her. I’ve let too much come in. And it’s just as overwhelming for her as it is for me (even if she can’t articulate it). 

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You don’t have to be a professional organizer to have a tidy home or to make your space feel more welcoming than overwhelming. 

Sometimes a small change can make a big difference. I’m still learning what all of those “small changes” are for our home, and I think the learning will be ever-evolving. Thankfully, these 10 practical tips that I’m going to share with you are simple ways that we’ve been able to create systems that work for our family. While the stuff might never stop coming in, it’s not collecting, and that makes it all so much more manageable. 

Why Declutter?

Not convinced yet? Here are three reasons to consider decluttering:

1. Decluttering Gives You More Time

One of the main reasons I find myself constantly decluttering is because as a mom, I don’t want to spend my time cleaning up. I want to spend time with my kids! I’d rather be playing with them, reading them a book, or just watching them play make-believe together instead of constantly asking them to pick up a roomful of toys or digging through drawers to find the right pants. 

Everything in your home is something that you have to manage. Less stuff, less management. More time for family activities and other things you want to be doing. Taking a little time to declutter can give you so much more time in the long run! 

2. Decluttering Gives You More Brain Space

Most moms know the feeling of having one child pulling on your leg, dinner on the stove, and another calling for help from the other room. This can be overwhelming. But it’s way more overwhelming when there are also toys strewn in every corner, excess papers piled on the counter, and piles of laundry in the next room waiting to be folded.

Having too much stuff makes it very difficult to have a clean home, especially for busy families. And having a lot of stuff, especially in a small area, can make daily life very overwhelming. 

I find that having “a place for everything, and everything in its place” makes it so much easier to be patient with my kids, to think through what needs to be done next, and just to complete daily tasks.

(Of course, this doesn’t mean that everything will always be in its place, but that it’s not so much that it can’t be put away in 10-15 minutes.)

3. Decluttering Allows You to Enjoy What You Have

I’ve found that the less toys we have in our house, the more our kids enjoy them. Having too many choices makes it hard to enjoy what’s it’s in front of you. Whether it’s clothing, toys, or kitchen utensils, having too many things makes all of us overwhelmed.

10 Practical Decluttering Tips for Busy Moms

I think decluttering is sort of like a muscle—the more you practice, the easier it gets! At first, the decluttering process might feel really difficult (parting with stuff can be hard), but if you stay on top of it, it doesn’t take much time at all. 

As I’ve pondered how to keep our home full of littles without it being full of stuff, I’ve found the following to be the best tips for staying on top of it all. 

Simple strategies like donating regularly, keeping small bins and boxes, and having a place for everything have given us the ability to be able to pick up our entire home in 15-30 minutes at pretty much any given moment. It simply can’t get that messy when there’s not an overwhelming amount of stuff in it. I hope these tips help your home, too!! 

1. Donate regularly
2. Keep small toy bins, boxes, and dressers
3. Stay on top of clothing
4. Have a toy rotation
5. Have a “craft spot”
6. “On display, off display, in the trash”
7. Get your kids on board
8. Simplify birthdays
9. Stop buying
10. “A place for everything, and everything in its place”

1. Donate Regularly

At the beginning of this year, I made a New Year’s resolution to fill one box per month with items to donate. This was after I came to the conclusion that stuff will never stop coming in, and so it can’t stop going out!

I keep a medium-size file box on the top shelf of my closet and regularly throw in items that we no longer need – clothing, toys, stuffed animals, kitchen tools, books…you name it. 

With little kids, the “top shelf” method is vital! Out of sight, out of mind. The items I throw in the donation box are usually things that they completely forget and never ask for again… but if they saw them in the donation box, of course they’d want them back! 

About once a month, I pack up everything in a box or non-see through trash bag and drop it off at the local Goodwill or VOA. Sometimes I’ll list a couple things on Facebook Marketplace if they’re somewhat valuable items in good condition.

Having a regular donation box (with realistic goals to keep filling it) has gone a long way in helping to keep our home clutter-free.

A note on sentimental items: Seeing things go can be hard. What if you want it again?! A simple rule is to ask yourself: “Will I really remember this?” “Is the space this is taking up worth it, or could I easily replace this for less than $20 if I decide I want it back 2 years from now?” Sometimes things BECOME sentimental the longer you keep them around, when in reality, they’ve never actually been used and never will be.

One more thought: If *too much* stuff is coming into your house, it’s also helpful to consider whether you’re buying too much. While crafts and gifts from relatives may be out of your control, there are many things you can control. 🙂 

2. Keep Small Toy Bins, Boxes, and Dressers

Small bins make a huge difference, especially in small spaces. No, its not just that they take up less space (although that does help, of course), but they hold less stuff, and most of us need less stuff. 

One of my favorite “small space” spots in our house is the doll and stuffy basket. If they’re falling out, we’ve collected too many and one or more needs to go! 

Dressers are another big one! Our first baby had a large dresser with about 5x more clothes than she needed. Everyone says babies go through a lot of clothes, and I had no idea what to expect! By the time we got to baby #3 and #4, I realized that a small, 3-drawer plastic dresser was all they really needed. If they had more clothes than fit in those 3 little drawers, I didn’t end up using them much anyway. Plus, it was just more to manage! A few shirts and pants that match are all kids need! (Now, our two boys share a medium-sized dresser and our two girls share another, plus a few hanging items.)

Toys are the same! If you have a big bin, it will get filled with toys. If you keep small toy bins or cubbies, it will naturally limit how many toys you can collect and make the home feel so much more manageable.

3. Stay On Top of Clothing

Clothing is one of the easiest items to collect a lot of, especially with growing kids. The rule passed down from my mom and her mom that we still (try to) stick to is 1 clothing item in, 1 clothing item out. 

The more clothing you have, the more laundry, folding, and overall management you have to do. Another easy rule to go by is that if you haven’t worn it in a year, it’s time to get rid of it.

Other clothing tips

• We do have a bin for each clothing size in our basement. If there’s too many clothes in a drawer but I still like the item, I’ll stick it in the basement for the next kid who will need it. (Especially the boys, who go through so many clothes!)
• Consider keeping seasonal items in storage if you have the space! Winter clothes can take up a lot of room!

4. Have a Toy Rotation

A toy rotation is an easy way to help keep a clean space without having to get rid of special items that the kids may still play with. Go over to your reduced-size toy bins (see #2 above!) and pick out half the toys to store in a bin in the basement or attic. 

After a few months, you can switch everything out (the best time to do this is while the kids are sleeping!). They’ll wake up to fresh favorite toys, and your living room or toy room will feel much simpler with less items in it. 

(An important part of this method is also limiting your toy rotation. For us, one tote in the basement is plenty. If it gets to be too much for one tote to hold, it’s time to give some toys away!)

5. Have a “Craft Spot”

If your kids are anything like mine, the endless crafts can become so. overwhelming. 

The coloring pages, school papers, cut-out snowflakes and general paper clutter can quickly fill up kitchen counters and other flat surfaces. And how long as you supposed to keep them, anyway?

Our best solution has been to have a “craft spot” where kids can put whatever they make each day that they aren’t ready to throw away. Ours is on the piano, which is tucked in the corner of the back living room. Every time they finish a coloring page or make something, they can set it on that spot on the piano.

My kids make so many crafts that they don’t usually remember from day to day what they’ve made. Every day or two, I go and clear it off (aka throw it away).

Having one or two specific areas where they can store their special crafts makes the kitchen table and counters (and the entire house) so much less stressful on my brain! They also each have a desk drawer where they can store crafts until they drawer is full – then something has to go! 

(Of course, you may want to have another place for special projects, but this is a great solution for everyday papers that they don’t want to toss right away.

6. “On Display, Off Display, In the Trash”

This was another rule that my mom always had for keeping our “treasures” when we were younger. Don’t worry, she saved plenty of the little projects we worked so hard on! But the daily creations get to be a lot. 

The first day your child comes home with a project they made, pin it up on the fridge. A few days later, move it to the back room. Out of sight, but not gone. If they mention it, you still have it. If they don’t mention it for a month, it’s time to go.

7. Get Your Kids On Board (for Harder-to-Get-Rid-of Items)

For bigger items, or if you have older kids who are more observant, sometimes you just have to get them on board with you to make progress in the decluttering process.

Find a fun way to get the whole family on the same page to help get stuff out so you can enjoy your home and each other more. 

Find a good cause to donate to and collect good-condition or unused items to give away.

Teach them how much easier it is to clean their room or keep their clothes folded when there are less items to take care of! 

Or collect items to sell in a garage sale or on Facebook Marketplace to earn a few dollars. 

Setting your kids up with good habits will make it easier to keep the house less cluttered in the long run. 

8. Simplify Birthdays

Birthdays are some of the best days of the year, but they can also create a lot of unnecessary clutter in the home. Instead of showering each other with gifts that won’t last for a long time anyway, consider buying one or two more expensive, quality gifts or clothing items that will last and actually bring a lot of value to the birthday boy or girl. Or, go for an experience instead! 

Kids birthdays in particular tend to be a magnet for clutter. We love celebrating our kids’ birthdays and inviting as many family members as can make it, but we found out early on that this can be really overwhelming (and expensive!) when everyone brings gifts. 

Thankfully, our family is super gracious and understanding, so the last few years we’ve asked for only grandparents to bring a gift. Any aunts, uncles, cousins, or great grandparents who come are welcome to bring a book if they want to. The kids enjoy each toy and book way more (it’s a lot less overwhelming for them!), our family doesn’t have to spend a fortune on all the cousins birthdays, and there’s a minimal amount of stuff added to our house. 

9. Stop Buying

Is it really this simple? Yes, it can be. 

Consider keeping a list of things you need or maybe even want. If it’s not something urgent (like groceries or household items), wait a bit before buying it. This is good for your budget and your space! 

Spending less decreases clutter, saves you money, and saves you time in having to manage more things.

10. “A Place for Everything, and Everything In It’s Place”

The other day I asked myself why I keep seeing my 4-year-old’s camera out all over the house…?

Oh, duh.

It doesn’t have a place. 

Neither kids nor adults can manage items well when they don’t have a home. 

As a simple rule, everything in your whole house should have a spot. Picking up a room shouldn’t take a lot of mental effort. When everything has a place and entire family knows where that place is, things find their way back “home” much easier.

If you find yourself with items that you keep finding around the house, ask yourself where they actually go. If something doesn’t have a place, it either needs a place, or you need new storage systems to serve your current season, or maybe it doesn’t need to be in your house in the first place.