No more panic tidying! 5 Effortless home organization tricks for a guest-ready home (kid-inclusive strategies) #119

🚨 Ever find yourself scrambling to tidy up when guests are on their way? Tossing clutter into closets, shutting doors to hide the mess, and hoping no one peeks inside? Been there!

But what if I told you there's a way to never panic tidy again? That's exactly what I’m diving into on this week’s episode of ‘Living Clutter-Free Forever’: “No More Panic Tidying! 5 Effortless Home Organization Tricks for a Guest-Ready Home (Kid-Inclusive Strategies)”. 🎧

·         Does the thought of last-minute visitors send you into a whirlwind of stress?  

·         Are you overwhelmed by clutter and disorganization, especially with kids running around? 

You're not alone. But here's the thing: It doesn’t have to be this way. I used to live in a constant state of overwhelm, always feeling like my home wasn’t good enough for guests. Then, I found solutions that not only got rid of the clutter but made organizing easy —even with kids in the mix. 

In this episode, I’m sharing 5 game-changing strategies to turn your home into a peaceful, guest-ready space—without the chaos. And yes, these tricks are simple, practical, and totally kid-friendly. 

Imagine your family (yes, including the kids!) pitching in effortlessly. No more mess. No more stress. Just a home that stays tidy, welcoming, and organized—all the time.

Trust me, these tips will change your life. Ready to stop the overwhelm and reclaim your time? Tune in now!

Thanks for listening! For more organizational motivation, support and free resources:
Join my online membership Clutter Free Collective
Join my podcast Facebook group Living Clutter Free Forever Podcast: KonMari® Inspired Organizing | Facebook
Visit my website www.caroline-thor.com
Come and say 'hi' on Instagram @caro.thor
Follow me on Facebook @carolineorganizer

Chapters

• 0:00 Organizing Tips for Busy Moms
• 15:48 Creating a Clutter-Free Entryway

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi there, I'm Caroline Thor, professional organiser, konmari consultant, teacher and mum of three. I started off my life as a mum feeling overwhelmed, disorganised and desperately trying to carve out some time for me amongst the nappies, chaos and clutter. One day, one small book called the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying changed everything and I began to learn strategies for making everyday life easier. Today, I have the systems in place that means life can throw almost anything at me, and I want to share them with you. If you're an overwhelmed mum struggling to keep it together, then this is the podcast for you. Grab a coffee and settle in for a quick chat with someone who gets your reality. Hello. It's time for another episode of the living clutter-free forever podcast. Welcome back. I am super happy to have you joining me today, and I have been wanting to do this episode, this particular episode, for a long, long time, because it is something that I used to really suffer from. But before we get into all of that, I have got so much going on for you in September. There is going to be a really exciting announcement next week, so make sure you tune in to next week's episode, because I can't wait to share with you what I have got coming up.

Speaker 1: 1:27

Okay, I would like you to imagine me in my home 10 years ago. My kids were really little at the time they were all five and under and I was always panic tidying If someone phoned to announce that they were going to drop round in 30 minutes, there would be a grab a washing basket and run round throwing stuff into it that was lying all over the house, all the clutter, and then hiding it up in my bedroom and closing the door quickly, opening cupboards and drawers and throwing stuff in there and shutting them. And if I didn't get enough warning, I was that person that sort of leans across the doorway making it quite clear that I am a barrier and you are not coming in because I did not want people seeing the state of my house. Now, looking back, it actually wasn't all that bad. It was cluttered, it was messy, but it wasn't absolutely horrendous. But my mindset was that it wasn't good enough and I was going to be judged and I hated feeling like that and that's what was causing this panic tidying, plus the chaos of trying to tidy up with kids underfoot. It's like how on earth do you actually get everything in order without all the stress? So that's what today's episode is going to be all about. I don't want you panic tidying anymore. If that's you, and if you don't need to do a panic tidy, you will still find the five tricks I'm going to share in this episode super useful. So let's get started.

Speaker 1: 3:13

I would like to first acknowledge that it's really challenging juggling work and family and personal time, and it is no wonder that our homes get slightly disorganized and chaotic and they start to feel overwhelming. But these strategies that I'm going to share with you today are designed for busy working women and they're going to be easy to implement, even with kids around, so I hope you find them super useful. Now, panic tidying is actually a sign of underlying disorganization. You wouldn't be needing to panic tidy if things were organized and put away. And when we get into this panic mode, our kids pick up on this stress and that makes the situation even more chaotic, because they then see the clutter lying around as something that's really bad and it needs to be sorted out. And mum's stressed and then perhaps we don't talk to our kids in the best way because we are and by the time the guests arrive, we're feeling completely frazzled and we can't actually relax and enjoy the situation. So I would like to introduce the idea of you viewing your home as a peaceful sanctuary where everyone plays a part in maintaining the order. I would like you to see home organisation as a team effort that can reduce stress and actually bring the family closer together.

Speaker 1: 4:49

I got back from holiday a week ago and I'd left my eldest daughter at home for two weeks on her own. This time She'd decided she didn't want to join us on the family holiday this time. She quite fancied being at home on her own and she got five animals to look after and she'd got some friends coming over to keep her company. But she did an amazing job. She'd actually taken my bedding off the bed and washed it and put it back on while I was away so that I came home to a clean bed. She'd been tidying up. She deep cleaned her brother's bedroom because she just felt his room was just getting a bit too grim. So she'd done a deep clean of that while we were away and she'd managed to water all the plants both indoors and outdoors, and it had been really hot while we were away really hot. So she did an amazing job with all of that and we got home to homemade pizza prepared and the house really tidy, and this was without me being there to remind her that these things needed being done. And all this has happened because of the I like to call it well, it's not really, I suppose it is training really but the work we've done over the years at getting them involved in things in the home.

Speaker 1: 6:06

So I would love that that is your future and that we can help you with these tricks today. So trick number one I am always always going on about this, but if you can do a five to ten minute reset every day where everyone in the family pitches in to tidy up key areas of the home each day, it is going to mean that you stay on top of things so that if someone is coming over, there won't be a ton of stuff lying around that's accumulated over a week because each day it's getting put away. You can assign age appropriate tasks so young kids can pick up toys and throw them in bins so that they get put away. Older kids can help with the living room or the kitchen and turn it into a fun family routine If you start when they're really little, perhaps playing a song and seeing who can clean up their area in the time of the song or create a chart where kids can track their daily contributions, then this can really be motivating and make it something that everyone's looking forward to doing, rather than it being seen as this oh, we've got to tidy up again. That's when they start to become resentful about it. So I would really recommend you doing this five minute reset.

Speaker 1: 7:30

I'm going to be really honest. If you have already applied the KonMari method in your home and decluttered and kept only what sparks joy for you and everything has got a place to go back to, everything's organized and has a home to go back to, it makes the five minute reset much, much easier. Because if you haven't done that, where are you putting the things? This is when they start to get just like a drawer open and put them in there, because no one actually knows where it's meant to be going back to. Once you have applied the KonMari method in your home, then everyone starts to learn that that's where this thing lives and if a kid's got it in their hand, they learn over time, with your help and support, that this is where that item needs to go back to, so they can actually properly help with the tidying up. So, to start with, you could perhaps give them a container that they put their things into and take them back to their bedroom, and then you could spend five minutes helping that child putting those things away in their bedroom in the right place. But, as I say, once you have applied the KonMari method in your home and everything is organized, it does make the five minute reset a lot, lot easier.

Speaker 1: 8:45

Okay, my second top trick is the power of containment. Now, what do I mean by this? I really do find that having boxes, containers, bins, whatever you call them, whatever part of the world you live in, it makes life so much easier. If you open a drawer and you have small boxes in there that you know. Okay, scissors go into this compartment, sellotape goes into this one, pens go into this one. It stops everything just being thrown into the drawer and it falling back into chaos and disorganization again. So this is where containment, having a space, a box that the thing actually goes into, really helps, and I use these everywhere. I use them in drawers, I use them in the kitchen, especially in drawers, and there I'm using food containers that I've washed and recycled. I'm using those to keep my small items in drawers collected together. You do not have to be spending a fortune on going out and buying boxes.

Speaker 1: 9:53

I use a, something that is going to make a difference and does not need to cost you money. If you have got young kids having fun colourful bins that they know okay, the red bin is what the Duplo goes into, the yellow bin is what all the Barbie stuff goes into, the red bin is what all the cars go into Then they can very quickly tidy up. They'll learn by colour what goes where. Some people don't want a load of colour bins in their home because it doesn't match the aesthetic that they would like to have. That's fine. Then you can put labels on the outside, perhaps with a picture, so that the children can see what goes where. But having it so that the children and the whole family know this container is where this item goes back to makes the world of difference. And if you, as parents, let the kids pick out their own storage containers, it's going to give them a sense of ownership and they will be really proud and feel responsible then to be putting their things away.

Speaker 1: 11:01

Okay, trick number three declutter by category, not by room. So this is really what the KonMari method is rooted in and what makes it very different to other methods of tidying up. We're going by category. So, for example, when you first start with the KonMari method, you would do your clothes, but you can within a room like a kid's room. You can start by saying, okay, we're going to do all the clothes in your room, then we're going to do all the books in your room, then we're going to do all the papers in your room. I do this so often when I'm working with kids in their homes and I'm doing a kid's bedroom, I will apply the KonMari method in full, but in mini in their homes. And I'm doing a kid's bedroom, I will apply the KonMari method in full, but in mini in their bedroom, and they absolutely love it because then you can sort of keep their attention because you're working on a specific category of things rather than trying to tidy everything at once and put everything back away at once.

Speaker 1: 11:58

Now, when you do this, it stops this panic tidying that's needed when people come over, because then people know exactly where things need to go back to and it means that you have perhaps during the week managed to keep putting stuff away as it's used and you haven't got this accumulation of clutter lying around. While you're doing this, you can also teach kids the importance of donating items that they're no longer using, and this will help them understand the joy of giving as well. It's not just about them always receiving stuff. They can also donate things so that other kids can get joy out of the things that they have finished using. Now I mentioned trick four right at the start, because this is something that I used to do having a guest ready basket. So if you have a basket around that, if you know someone's coming over, you can quickly gather stray items together before they arrive. You could even assign each member of the family their own small basket to collect their belongings, so that you're making tidying up a shared activity.

Speaker 1: 13:10

Before in my life, it used to be just me running around collecting everything into the washing basket. But if you have got a home that you've not yet applied the whole KonMari method to and things are getting a bit disorganized during the week, then give each child a container and say okay, I need some help here. We've got auntie so-and-so coming over. We need the surfaces to look a bit clearer and it needs to look a bit tidier. Can you go around and find everything that belongs to you, put it in this basket and take it up to your bedroom for me and we will get this sorted out later or take it back to the playroom, if you have a playroom, so you can get the whole family on board helping you and put a basket in your other half's hand and ask them to go around and pick up their stuff as well.

Speaker 1: 13:57

You are not responsible for tidying up everything that the whole family has left lying around, and this is a really important opportunity to teach everyone about the importance of putting things back in their proper place, and once the guests have left and you've perhaps had this panic tidy where everyone's gone around and collected everything. You've now got it clear. That's a really good point to now start with. Okay, from now on, this is what we're going to do each day. Rather than just shifting the clutter around, everyone's going to, each day, pick up the things they've left here in the main living spaces and take them back to where they should be living spaces and take them back to where they should be. It is so important, though and I can't emphasize this enough to make this process as light-hearted as possible. If you are standing there, making it into a chore, making it clear you're not happy about the state of things, it just gives out a negative energy that make people think this is a really arduous thing to be having to do. What you need to do is try and make it fun that you appreciate the help. Make sure you perhaps say later again to a child wow, that was really great that you helped me with that earlier this afternoon. I so appreciated that and it made my life so much easier. And now you know where your things are again as well, and that will instill in them the idea that this is a good thing to be doing. And my fifth and final trick is the clutter-free entryway. I don't know about you, but if I open my front door and my entryway is looking tidy, it makes me feel a lot more confident about inviting people into my home.

Speaker 1: 15:48

I recently switched out a rug that we had in the entryway because the one we had there was a plain light. Well, it wasn't that light. It was sort of a plain brownish colour. Sounds awful, but it actually looked quite nice. But the problem was the dog was always going and lying on it and it was getting full of dog hair every day and you could see it. It looked absolutely awful. So I was having to vacuum the hallway every single day because otherwise it just looked terrible, and as we came in and took our shoes off, we were then picking it up on our socks and trailing it off through the house. So I have recently switched that rug out for one that's got a really bright pattern on it. You cannot see a dog hair on it. It's still there. She's still lying on it, but you can't see it anymore, and it makes me feel so much calmer about coming in. It used to just make me feel really tense if I walked through the front door to be greeted by this rug that just looked so, so awful. So having an entryway that makes you feel calm and makes you feel confident about inviting people in is going to really help alleviate this feeling of panic when people arrive. So try to keep the entryway clutter free, because it sets the tone for the entire home.

Speaker 1: 17:14

Assign the kids responsibility for hanging up their coats and bags and putting their shoes away as soon as they come in, and this is something that's going to take time. If they've not done this before, it's going to take you, showing them where you would like them to put their stuff and then gentle reminders each day that they need to do that. And I found that as they come in and they take their stuff off and it gets dumped and they've just got home from school it's not a great teaching moment because they're hungry, they've perhaps had a bad day at school. The last thing they really want to hear is you going, could you please hang your coat up? You haven't put your shoes away. Put your shoes away before you come in. That just ended up causing tension and resentment.

Speaker 1: 18:01

What I have found works really well is letting them come in if they have forgotten to put them away. Let them get something to eat, perhaps, tell you how their day's gone, offload and then, before they go up to their bedroom, or if they go straight up to their bedroom, I perhaps go up to them a bit later and say by the way, when you came in, your shoes and coat are still in the hallway. I'd really appreciate you finding a time to put them away again later. And that has worked much better, and it doesn't mean they're necessarily going to go and do it straight away. Perhaps the next time they come downstairs I I say oh, don't forget, there was your shoes and your coat that needed doing. I do not do it for them because if I do then they just get into the habit of thinking mum's going to pick up after them all the time. They don't need to worry. So that has worked really well with me.

Speaker 1: 18:53

I am very well aware that every child is different. Every personality is different. I could be saying something here and you're thinking, yeah, right, that wouldn't work for my kid and maybe it wouldn't, but you can give it a go. And if it doesn't work then you need to tweak it a bit and keep going until you find the thing that does work for you. There is no one size fits all solution to these things because everyone has a different personality and I have three kids with very different personalities and very different needs and I've had to, over the years, work out what way works with each of them. It's different, it's very different for each of them, but we've found it and it means that things are much, much more harmonious and I can support them in helping to keep the home tidy.

Speaker 1: 19:41

So setting up kid-friendly storage solutions in the entranceway by that I mean low hooks and baskets if they're not very old yet. How on earth can you expect them to put their coat away at adult height if they're only three years old? And yes, a two and three year old, if they've got a hook there can very easily learn that they come in. You can help them take their coat off if they can't do it on their own anymore, and then you can support them in encouraging them to put their coat on the hook, and they can do it at that age, and if that becomes the habit, then they will automatically do it as they get older, and so that is really important, though that they can access the storage. Otherwise, you're making it impossible for them to be successful there. Okay, so those are my five tricks for stopping needing to panic tidy when you have got people coming around.

Speaker 1: 20:40

The five minute reset, the power of containment. Having boxes to put things into. Declutter at some point your whole home by category, because it's going to make it so much easier to keep it tidy in the long run. Having a guest ready basket so that, if people do suddenly announce they're coming and there is a bit of clutter around, you can quickly collect it together. And then the clutter free entryway so that you don't have this awful feeling of having to open the door to a pile of shoes and coats and chaos, which just makes you feel tense. I do think it is so, so important to involve the whole family in this. It not only lightens the load for you, but it's also teaching them valuable life skills and it's going to contribute to a much more peaceful home environment.

Speaker 1: 21:33

So take one tip that I have given today and give it a go. It's never a good idea to try and implement five new things at once. The family are just going to get overwhelmed. You are going to get overwhelmed. You'll forget what it is you're meant to be doing and working on each day. Choose one thing like the five minute reset or setting up a guest ready basket, and I would love if you could share your experience on social media, if it works and tag me or share that you're trying it, and you can tag me on instagram at carothor. I would love to see what you and your family are up to and if it is working for you. So next week I am going to be focusing on what to do if you're feeling overwhelmed, under-supported and resentful about decluttering and organising in your home.

Speaker 1: 22:34

Thank you so much for listening today in your home. Thank you so much for listening today. Leave a review if you found this episode helpful. It makes such a difference to how many people end up finding this podcast and I would be so, so grateful. Until next time. If you've enjoyed this episode, please send the link to a friend you know would appreciate it. Subscribe and leave a review. I look forward to bringing you more organizing tips next time. Enjoyed this episode? Please send the link to a friend you know would appreciate it. Subscribe and leave a review. I look forward to bringing you more organizing tips next time, but if you can't wait until then, you can go to my website or find me on instagram, at carothor, or on facebook at caroline organizer. Thanks for listening and I look forward to guiding you on your journey to find your clutter free ever after.