The long days of summer are slowly getting shorter and it’s time to get back to a time of routine and chaos. Beat the craziness of the beginning of a new school year by taking some time to get your whole home prepared.
Here are 5 tips for preparing your house for back to school:
Here are 5 tips for preparing your house for back to school:
Set up a home base
One of the best ways prevent the chaos from taking over is set up a home base. This will be the landing station for paperwork, homework folders and empty lunch boxes. Ideally you want the home base to be somewhere close to where you enter the home. Find a nook where you can install a simple desk, a few shelves and maybe a few drawers. Build a section for each of your kids and install hooks nearby for backpacks. To keep this running smoothly you will need to clean it up weekly so it doesn’t get overrun with stray papers. Here’s one great idea for a neat backpack station.
Clean out the closets
Before you bring home back to school clothes for the kids to wear, clean out their closets. It’s easy to let old clothes stack up, so take an afternoon to have everyone try on their whole closet. Clothes that don’t fit, have holes or are faded and pilled should be thrown away or donated depending on their condition. Consider implementing a hanger system to make a clean out easier in the future. Hang all clothes up with the hangers backwards, as they are worn and put back, turn the hangers around. After 6 months, clothes still on a backward hanger can be given away.
Update your laundry room
Use clearly market baskets so the kids know where to put their dirty clothes. A common system is a basket for darks, a basket for lights and sheets/towels basket. Consider getting one basket for each family member to return their clean clothes in. Create a ‘lost sock bin for socks missing their mates. Go through it each time you fold clothes to see if you find the match. Add hooks or an indoor clothesline for clothes that can’t be dried.
Give the house a deep clean
It’s easier to keep a clean space clean than it is to clean up a dirty space. Before school starts get the whole family together to do a deep clean. If you need some guidance on getting things nice and shiny, take a peek at the Spring Cleaning Checklist (it may not be spring anymore, but the cleaning checklist works for any season).
Put together a snack station
Before school starts set up a couple of snack stations, one in the pantry or cabinets and one in the fridge. Grab a plastic container for each space and fill it full of your kid’s favorite healthy snacks. Keep healthy grab and go items in the pantry and stock your fridge station weekly with pre-sliced fruit, veggies and yogurt. When everyone knows where the snacks are, life is easier!
We hope you fly back into the school year with ease!
One of the best ways prevent the chaos from taking over is set up a home base. This will be the landing station for paperwork, homework folders and empty lunch boxes. Ideally you want the home base to be somewhere close to where you enter the home. Find a nook where you can install a simple desk, a few shelves and maybe a few drawers. Build a section for each of your kids and install hooks nearby for backpacks. To keep this running smoothly you will need to clean it up weekly so it doesn’t get overrun with stray papers. Here’s one great idea for a neat backpack station.
Clean out the closets
Before you bring home back to school clothes for the kids to wear, clean out their closets. It’s easy to let old clothes stack up, so take an afternoon to have everyone try on their whole closet. Clothes that don’t fit, have holes or are faded and pilled should be thrown away or donated depending on their condition. Consider implementing a hanger system to make a clean out easier in the future. Hang all clothes up with the hangers backwards, as they are worn and put back, turn the hangers around. After 6 months, clothes still on a backward hanger can be given away.
Update your laundry room
Use clearly market baskets so the kids know where to put their dirty clothes. A common system is a basket for darks, a basket for lights and sheets/towels basket. Consider getting one basket for each family member to return their clean clothes in. Create a ‘lost sock bin for socks missing their mates. Go through it each time you fold clothes to see if you find the match. Add hooks or an indoor clothesline for clothes that can’t be dried.
Give the house a deep clean
It’s easier to keep a clean space clean than it is to clean up a dirty space. Before school starts get the whole family together to do a deep clean. If you need some guidance on getting things nice and shiny, take a peek at the Spring Cleaning Checklist (it may not be spring anymore, but the cleaning checklist works for any season).
Put together a snack station
Before school starts set up a couple of snack stations, one in the pantry or cabinets and one in the fridge. Grab a plastic container for each space and fill it full of your kid’s favorite healthy snacks. Keep healthy grab and go items in the pantry and stock your fridge station weekly with pre-sliced fruit, veggies and yogurt. When everyone knows where the snacks are, life is easier!
We hope you fly back into the school year with ease!