I’ve had a couple comments and questions from readers asking me how I keep my house clean. With three kids running around and summer in full swing, they wanted to know how I keep it tidy and neat. The short answer is… I don’t. 

A perfect example of this are the pictures I took the other day showing some new artwork in my mudroom. 

After I took a couple steps back, this is actually what you would have seen…

Then from another angle…

I’m not by nature a neat person. There are five people living in this house. We have piles of paperwork, magazines, pens, coloring books, toys, and everything in between. Add to that dust and crumbs. The one thing I have going for me is that my house is on the smaller side and cleans up fast. Everything has a place so I can actually de-clutter pretty quickly. 

If something new comes into the house (mainly toys) there is room for it. When it gets to be too much I grab a black trash bag and purge. I have a “black bag in the closet” system which has worked well for me. Black bags are best because the kids can’t see what is in it. I choose items that are already broken, missing pieces or not played with and put the bag in the closet for about a month. If no one notices the items are missing then I either trash the broken pieces or donate them. (If you are local, a great donation organization is Cradles to Crayons.) 

So to all my readers who asked how I keep it clean, my home is not always camera ready. Far from it.