Guest Post - Leanne from Organising the Four of Us

Hi everyone,

I'm Leanne from Organising the Four of Us. A big thank you to Liz for letting me share my top 10 organising tips with you today. Can I start by saying that this is my 'highlight reel'. The house doesn't always look this perfect - life gets in the way and that is totally ok. While I type this I have dishes that need doing, washing that needs hanging and a whole lot of housework to do, but life is short - so I'm choosing to spend the next 15 minutes here with you.

My Top 10 Organising Tips 

1) Meal plan and grocery shop once a week. Try to do the groceries on a day that you will have time to pack everything away properly. Spending the extra time during the week to cut and prep your fruit and vegetables will be a lifesaver on busy days or nights.

2) Try to keep your bathrooms clutter free. Find clever storage solutions that (where possible) allow everything to have a place preferably off the benches.

3) Less is more. The more clothes/toys/stuff you have, the more there is to clean, wash and put away. Simplifying your home and closets will save you time in the long run.

4) Everything needs a home in the kitchen. Making sure that everything has its place makes it a lot easier to put things away at the end of a busy day. If your family can learn where things go, even better!

5) Put dinner into lock down (read more about that here.). Sometimes the meals that my family enjoys best are our easy dinners. If it is a busy week - don't feel that you need to slave away in the kitchen for hours. Spend the extra time with your family and try something easy. If you have a Thermomix, you might like to try one of these recipes.

6) When planning birthday parties - try to organise it so that once the party starts - you don't have anything left to do. I am a firm believer in being able to enjoy the party with your child, rather than running around trying to organise food and games. For this reason, I don't serve hot food.

7) If the house is trashed - start cleaning in the kitchen. I always feel much better if the kitchen is clean. Having a clean and tidy kitchen motivates me to tidy the rest of the house. Let's face it - the kitchen is the heart of every home.

8) Organise your pantry so that it is easy to find what you are looking for. Again - everything in it's place. Want pretty labels for your pantry? Kate from Pretty Paper Label is your lady - find her on Facebook.

9)  Have a room where there kids can create mess. All the toys are in our playroom and where possible we try and teach the boys to keep them in there. This keeps the toys out of the rest of the rooms. Believe me - the playroom very rarely looks this tidy! I cleaned it just in time to catch this shot ;)

10) At the end of the day - the state of your house is much less important than your family and your own mental state. It's ok if your house is a mess and you have no motivation to tidy it. Boil the kettle, pour a cuppa and sit down and spend some quality time with your husband and/or kids. The mess will wait and when you feel up to it, you can try again!

Thanks for having me

L x

To see 'The Four of Us' facebook page click HERE, and wonderful blog HERE