Back-to-School Home Organization Tips

Back-to-school means many wonderful things happen: friends reunite, activities restart, and kids grow and learn. It also means your home can quickly become cluttered with all the things kids need and use in school.

If your home is more chaotic than smooth, now is the perfect time to implement an organizational plan to keep your home and family running like a well-oiled machine. With a few simple strategies and systems, your kids will understand the flow of the house and keep the home tidy.

Organize a “Drop Zone” Entryway

If your home is like most families, when your kids get in the door, they start to shed their belongings at the front door. Backpacks, shoes, lunchboxes, and homework get dumped into the “drop zone.” The idea is to organize this space so it is streamlined and ready to go.

Here are some ideas to organize your drop zone entryway:

• Get a shoe rack with enough space to fit all the shoes they use regularly.
• Keep the storage low, so kids of all ages will be able to reach and use it.
• Use sturdy hooks to hang jackets and backpacks.
• Corral loose supplies in baskets or fabric boxes.
• Store offseason supplies higher up or in a different location to minimize clutter.

Controlling and organizing your drop zone will go a long way to making your morning run more smoothly. It will also help give your home an instant feeling of tidiness and flow.

Control the Paper

If there’s one thing that all school students have in common, it’s the amount of paper they bring home. From lunch menus to field trip permission slips, your home could quickly be drowning in paperwork if you don’t have a system to organize everything.

An excellent way to manage the paper, especially for families with more than one child, is to give each child a place to keep their “outgoing” paperwork and a space for every child to put their “incoming” work.

You can use:

• Tiered file organizers
• Hanging file organizers
• Desk paper organizers
• Stackable paper bins
• Binders
• Letter organizers

Whatever method is best for your family, the main objective is for your children to organize the paper load and for you to go through it every day.

Prep the Kitchen

Your kitchen layout is essential for streamlining your back-to-school organization plan. You need a system to make lunch prep quick and easy.

Think through the foods you usually put into your kids’ lunches. You want to keep those foods easily accessible. To make your options easier to see, consider using:

• Bins
• Baskets
• Racks
• Stackable shelves
• Individual organizers

Keeping everything you regularly use at hand will help you grab and go, and it will help you notice when supplies are running low so that you can add them to your shopping list.

Create a Study Area

To be effective and efficient, your kids need a place to study. When you’re planning and creating your kids’ study area, consider including the following items:

• Baskets for office supplies
• Bookshelves for textbooks and baskets of supplies
• Bins and crates for project supplies
• Trash can
• Outlets or power strips for laptops, tablets, etc.
• Task lighting
• Reading chair

Making an inviting study area will help your children focus. Plus, having the necessary supplies will reduce their time looking for things.

Address the Bedrooms

Back-to-school time is a great season to tackle organizing your kids’ rooms. By controlling the clutter and streamlining the flow of their bedrooms, you’ll minimize their overall disorganization and help your mornings go more smoothly.

The first step is to eliminate the things they can no longer use, including too small or worn clothing, old toys, and broken items.

Then, tackle the actual organization of the room. Consider using supplies like:

• Underbed storage
• Large, colorful baskets and bins
• Low storage shelves
• Modular closet organizational systems

Hire a Professional To Help

A back-to-school organization plan is vital because it’s easier for parents and children to function in a well-organized and structured environment, but it can be daunting. A professional organizer can help you meet your organizational goals more quickly and efficiently.

With more than 15 years of experience in the industry, our team at Potomac Concierge can help free up time for you and your family. Our talented problem-solvers will work with you until you’re satisfied with the flow and system.

To get your home and life back-to-school ready, speak with our specialists at Potomac Concierge today. Call us at (240) 200-4824 or contact us online.