Tips and tricks on maintaining a tidy and organized home 

Let me start by saying that I really love it when our home is clean and tidy. Our home is in constant need of organizing, cleaning, and maintaining, and sometimes the mess drives me completely crazy. However, with a toddler, a neurodivergent child, a dog, and two careers, we can’t and don’t want to spend all our time and energy cleaning up. Our time is so valuable, but so is an organized home. Our space can affect our mood and energy, hence I felt that I need to find that balance in a way that works for me, my family and my schedule. Naturally, some days it works better than others, but in this post and the next one that will follow in a few weeks, I’ll share how we do it in our home. You can also jump to my 

, where I gathered all my videos on this subject.

Even though we wake up early, our mornings can be quite chaotic, therefore it does not include any tidying up. We are focused on our breakfast, first cups of coffee, and getting both kids to daycare fully clothed and with snack boxes in hand. However, I have chosen two small things to clean up before I start my workday that don’t take me more than 5 minutes to do - making the bed and cleaning up the dining table, which doubles as my workspace during “office hours”. Those two small things help me start my day more organized and with the feeling that I’m in control. Because I work from home, I have the luxury of doing that after the kids are already in daycare, but even if that wasn’t the case, I am certain that I would manage to squeeze it in before we leave.


Choose two small things around the house that are meaningful to you and that you can get done in a few short minutes during your morning routine. It can be the bed, desk, kitchen counter, or whatever provides you with that sense of calmness and comfort. Make sure to check those boxes before you start your day. If you work from home, it will provide you with a better organized and serene environment, and if you work outside the home, do it for your future self, who will feel better coming back to a slightly more organized home.

To keep myself sane and maintain a peaceful atmosphere in the house, I do my best to tidy up before we start our bedtime routine. We don't do it every day, I must admit. When we had one child it was easier to maintain, but now with two our evenings can be overwhelming and terribly messy. Still, our routine usually works to some extent. One of us is there with the kids, and the other one cleans up, usually after dinner and before bath time. We try to involve the kids but don't push too hard on it. Most of the time it takes 10-15 minutes, and it allows us to feel more relaxed and comfortable, and enjoy what's left of our evening.

I work from home, and as a mom of two without a substantial support system, my time is very limited. Therefore, I really try not to get sucked into housework and chores during my workday. If the house is extremely messy, then I'll set a timer for 10-15 minutes and tidy up whatever I manage to, within that time frame. You could decide on any boundary that suits you, for instance until your coffee is ready, until your meeting starts, etc. As long as it is limited and you stick to the time frame that you established.

Every once in a while, there is a specific area, shelf, drawer, or corner in the house that gets really messy and screams for attention. When our environment is constantly chaotic and disorganized, it can seem overwhelming and almost impossible to get things back in shape. So my suggestion - do it one at a time. When you have a few minutes, use them to dive into that specific area that drives you crazy whenever you look at it.

This tip is about all of those little misplaced items around the house. We constantly have stuff that's laying around out of place - an animal figurine under the sofa, a lost piece of paper in the hall, a dirty towel on the floor, a missing puzzle piece in the kitchen, and the list goes on. Next time you walk around the house and notice such an item - pick it up and put it away. When you do it on the go, like when you go to the kitchen for some water or to the bathroom, you don't need to make time in your day for it. It takes a couple of minutes and you can go on with whatever you were doing.

A big part of keeping an organized home is finding a regular place for every item or group of items, such as craft materials, office supplies, kitchen utensils, towels, etc. It makes everything easy to find and put back into place, and everyone knows exactly where everything is. When every item has a specific place, shelf, box, basket, hanger or drawer, you don't have to waste time figuring out where everything goes. You just do it, without even thinking about it. Store things where it makes sense to you and in a way that best fits your routines. Preferably, every object will be stored in the space where it's usually used.

It's no secret that kids can be messy, but there are a lot of different approaches to dealing with it, involving them in house chores and getting them to clean up after themselves. Our kids are still young (4.5 and 2 years old) and our approach will most likely change and evolve over time, but for now we don't force them to put things back or to help us tidy up. We teach them that a clear and tidy space is better and important to our well-being by modeling it. We do it with them, we talk to them about it, explain that it's important to us, and make sure that they see us doing it. We ask for their help by giving them very specific tasks, and do our best to not get mad when they refuse and leave us to do all the work ourselves. However, when they do agree and cooperate, we encourage and compliment them for being helpful, kind and responsible.

Organization tips for busy parents - Part 1

Learn how to communicate through the language of design

As you may or may not know, my native tongue is Hebrew. When we decided to move to Germany, I knew that the language barrier would be one of our biggest challenges. Since we moved here, almost three years ago, I did a bunch of different language courses - intensive and relaxed courses, in a classroom, at a friend's apartment and via Zoom, in private language schools and the VHS (which is funded by the government). Even though we can get by in most cases with basic German and good enough English, It is still very important to me to keep improving my language skills.

Learning a language like German is much more than vocabulary and grammar. It's subtext, slang, context, subtle differences between different phrases, cultural aspects and references like humor and etiquette and much more. Learning a new language is learning a new culture and in order to feel more fluent and comfortable in different social situations, you need to read, write, hear and speak A LOT, in addition, to continue practicing and improving your skill sets.

After moving to Berlin I found that in other languages (meaning English and German) I’m a slightly different and somewhat reduced version of myself. In Hebrew, I can be sharper, funnier and more creative. My English is good, but it’s my second language, so naturally, there are gaps to fill, and my German is, well, pretty basic. Even day-to-day conversations with other parents at the playground or with a salesperson at the storer could be quite challenging.

In Hebrew, we use the phrase "design language" to describe a certain designer's point of view or the style and concept of a specific space. But it's actually much more than that. The phrase embodies the color palette, design features, style, concept and materials - all under one holistic definition.

After thinking about this phrase and trying to figure out if this term also exists in English and if so, is it used in the same way, I realized that we actually use many words from the language field to describe design. For example, we use the term "

" to describe how different elements relate to each other and create a cohesive space. We also use the Hebrew term for 

 (or phrasing) to describe the way a designer creates a design concept and formulates different elements and motifs. And we could also apply the concept of 

 into the design world, when discussing the ideas behind a design, such as inspirations or abstract ideas, and the specific form that a designer gives them in his or her creation.

I really love that, because design really is a language and a form of expression. It’s a language of modules, materials, colors, shapes and much more. And, like any other language, it's a language you can learn on different levels and after you are familiar with the basics you can really start having fun with it and be more creative.

This process that I'm about to share is the same as I do with my clients at the beginning of our design journey, with the goal to find out what they like and what styles they are naturally drawn to. Here’s how you can discover that on your own:

In addition to following different design blogs and magazines, I particularly love Instagram and Pinterest and use them as sources of inspiration and as tools to collect ideas that I can later reinterpret myself. 

Here are a few accounts that I love, followed by some tips on how to use those platforms wisely: 

 to look for specific things that could be relevant to your home and design, such as different styles, rooms, colors and elements.

 of influencers, designers, architects and brands that have a similar aesthetic as you.

Create Pinterest boards and/or Instagram collections to 

. Create an organized system that best suits YOUR needs, for example, if your goal is to restyle the interior design of your home, then the best method would probably be to divide the images according to rooms - living room, kitchen, bathroom, nursery, bedroom, home office, etc. I use this system as well as saving accessories, artworks and creators that I like (and also recipes, but that's for a different post).

we take photos using our mobile devices ALL THE TIME, and we can use that habit in our favor when we’re exploring our personal style. In addition to taking photos of your family, friends and morning coffee, start snapping photos of different objects, shapes, textures and spaces that you see around you and that speak to you. Later, when you have a few moments to yourself, organize these photos in different albums, so you could find them easily and use them as inspiration. To do so I use 

, but naturally, any similar photo organization app will do the trick.

after you've spent all that time and effort collecting inspirations, now is the time to use them in order to formulate your personal design language.

Look through the photos and look for similarities and repetitions

. It could be a color palette, an element, a design style such as industrial or bohemian, or a specific material like wood or concrete. The photos, in general, could be very different but I assure you that you can find details that connect one to the other. if you look at them with the right perspective. 

Make a short list of the similarities that you find.

 Try putting it into words and add specific descriptions, such as “open wooden shelving system in home office” or “glazed partition between master bedroom and bathroom”. This list could later become useful when you go shopping or try to communicate your ideas and wishes to others.

 a mood board is a great visualization tool that allows you to see how different elements, colors, materials and shapes fit together (or don’t). Unlike the infinite feeds of Instagram and Pinterest, a mood board exists within a predetermined frame size and therefore forces you to make decisions and choices, even before you start browsing your favorite shops and vendors.

Creating mood boards can and should be exciting and fun! You should give it thought, but If you are not a professional designer, who might need it as a presentation tool, then it really doesn’t need to be perfect. Don’t spend too much energy on creating the best possible layout and focus on adding images that are most important to you and to your concept.

. Those allow you to add elements like texts and color swatches in addition to your photos, as well as to easily download and share your creations. 

I used to give lectures to designers about creating mood boards and using them as a design tool, so I could really talk about this for hours. But in a nutshell, here are a few short guidelines:

Don’t try to fit everything into one mood board. If you need to, create different mood boards for each room/space/idea.

Be selective and choose the images that are most important and that portray your concept most accurately.

Use basic photo editing tools to make your ideas pop. For example, you could crop an image to better emphasize the specific elements that you would like to feature.

A mood board could help you communicate your ideas, wishes and styling choices to family members, team members, craftsmen and salespeople, however, it doesn't speak for you and you will still need to explain it and the ideas behind it. To do so, your previously made textual list could come in very handy. That is why I would recommend saving all your "design language" materials somewhere handy that allows you to open it whenever and wherever you are.

Have fun discovering your personal design language and style and make sure to share your amazing mood boards with me via email or social media!

Category: Tips and Tricks