Family-Friendly Chic: How to Make Your Home Classy Despite the Kiddie Clutter

Kids are life’s greatest joy, but they also create some of the biggest messes. It’s tough to keep your home looking tidy when you have a little one or three running around. What family-friendly chic ideas can you use to cut the kiddie clutter and keep your home looking classy?

Fortunately, you don’t have to do a deep clean weekly, what mom has time for that? There are speed-cleaning ideas to make your house appear tidier, even if it could use a thorough scrub from the attic to the basement. That day will come when your little one outgrows the sippy cup.

In the meantime, you need to keep your pad looking presentable, if only to keep yourself from losing your mind. What should you do? Here are five family-friendly chic tips to make your home classy despite the kiddie clutter.

1. Keep Dust at Bay

Deep cleaning can be a study in frustration when you have tiny tots running around. You no sooner get off your hands and knees in the kitchen when your 2-year-old drops their sippy cup, popping the lid and splattering red juice everywhere. Your answer: speed cleaning.

What is speed cleaning? It’s a method where you wipe up surface dirt, making your home appear tidy in minutes. Here’s a sample schedule of what to do:

Bathrooms: Squirt toilet rim, wipe down sink, tub and shower with disinfectant wipes, then scrub the toilet, wiping outside with wipes. Run a Swiffer over the floor and fluff carpets. (5 minutes each)
Living room: Quickly stash toys (see below), run a feather duster over tables and pictures, run a damp rag over furniture, arrange remotes, etc. Vacuum rug or Swiffer. (10 minutes)
Kitchen: Unload and load the dishwasher, pickup and stash toys, tackle any handwashing, spray down counters and stove top and wipe clean. Swiffer.

Finish the job with a few spritzes of essential oil spray or set your diffuser.

Pro-tip: Do look up! Dust bunnies in high corners make your home look spooky, but high ceilings hide them from your line of sight when stressed. Use a dust extender and set a schedule for cleaning items like chandeliers and ceiling fans. Take care of giving these items the white-glove touch while your baby naps, it takes only a few minutes.

2. Become a Master of Disguise

“Okay, smarty pants,” you might be thinking, “Speed cleaning sounds great, but do you realize the size of the toy bomb that exploded in my living room? Running back and forth to put them away takes forever.” Not if you become a master of disguise.

The right family-friendly chic helps you hide those toys in a jiffy. What are some ideas? Check these out:

Basket hangers: A tree of hanging baskets is a stunning eyecatcher in your farmhouse-style kitchen and provides the perfect place for stashing those Legos scattered in your kitchen.
Convertible ottoman: Sure, a zafu makes a cozy ottoman, but save yours for meditation. Instead, use storage versions that provide stash room.
Couch baskets: Baskets everywhere! Use long, flat ones under your couch as a quick toy stashing place or set out pretty ones around your living room where you can toss scattered items in a pinch.

3. Use Easy Organizing Tools

Stuff piles up when you have kiddies. They outgrow things so fast, inevitably piling up in their closet before you can hand them down to a friend in need or donate it. Before you know it, you fear opening doors for the chaos it might unleash.

Get organized. Make it a family project you do with your partner. The right storage spaces, such as shelving units, dressers and carousels within closets keep them looking tidier even when loaded top to bottom with toys and old clothes.

Your garage is another place to tackle, and it need not cost a bundle. Pegboard is cheap and provides the perfect place to hang small garden tools. High shelves or locking cabinets are a must for dangerous toxins like antifreeze, but there’s a less expensive way to get them. Check local surplus stores and junk yards for old school lockers, the aesthetics matter less than functionality in this part of your home.

4. Integrate It Into Your Decor

One route to family-friendly chic begins at your baby shower. While plenty of bright plastic walkers and playpens exist, designers have noticed parents don’t necessarily want their decor to scream “baby.” You can now find elegant wooden playpens, swings and gates that coordinate with your other furnishings for a polished, classy look. Add a few storage cubicles and baskets in a matching hue, and guests will hardly notice your infant, outside of her adorable coos of contentment.

5. Designate Clean Zones

Finally, take a tip from generations past. Many older-style homes featured a parlor separate from the main living area ladies used to entertain guests when their children did their studies. It was a designated clean zone.

You don’t have to decorate a special room for meeting guests for afternoon tea, unless that’s your yen. However, it’s okay to designate one or two kid-free “clean zones” where you can retreat when the kiddie clutter threatens your mental peace. For example, your home office or bedroom might be a “coloring books only” location.