A Proverbs 31 Wife

Becoming the Wife God Created Me To Be

  • About
    • Popular Posts
    • Shop
      • Food Preservation Made Simple
      • Becoming a Virtuous Woman in a Modern World: Set Apart
      • Beautiful Hair ~ Lilla Rose
    • Advertise
    • Contact
  • Faith & Family
  • Recipes
  • Home and Garden
  • Healthy Living
  • Frugal Living
  • DIY -Crafts & Decor
   

Busy Mom’s Guide to an Inviting Home

Disclaimer: A Proverbs 31 Wife uses Affiliate links and ads to support this site. Read full disclosure here.

March 6, 2015 by Kendra 8 Comments

Ever walked into your home, saw the mess and wanted to go hide under your sheets? Yeah, me too. But I have a system for creating a home that is welcoming instead of repulsing. Today I’m sharing the busy mom’s guide to an inviting home.

Creating an inviting home doesn’t require a huge cleaning spree, nor do you need to spend a ton of money. Instead, you must spend a little time each day to insure a home that welcomes you.

The Busy Mom’s Guide to an Inviting Home

The busy mom's guide to an inviting home. how to enjoy walking in your front door instead of wanting to run from the mess.

Step 1:

Welcome visitors (and yourself) inside.

Start at the front door. Consider your front door the door that most people enter through.

The busy mom's guide to an inviting home. Start at the front door.

If you like seasonal decor and have the time for it, let your front door announce the season (or holiday if you really have time) to the world. If you don’t have the time, creativity, or money for seasonal stuff, just hang a simple welcome sign. You could really simplify and place a vinyl “Welcome” decal (affiliate link) to your door and be done with it once and for all.

Whatever you choose, have something that makes you smile when you see your front door.

Step 2:

Locate trouble areas.

Step inside. Stand right inside your front door and look around. What is the first thing you see? Is there an area that falls right into your view that is quite frankly an eyesore?

The kitchen table becomes my trouble area. I come in the garage door, visitors enter by the front door. Both doors offer a full view of the kitchen table. Over time I’ve noticed that if the kitchen table was messy, the entire house looked cluttered. A clean, or at least organized kitchen table makes the rest of the house looked better too.

In your home it could be the table, a counter, or even a couch. Once you’ve located your main trouble spot, you can then began to fix it.

Step 3:

Clear and organize trouble spots.

busy mom's guide to an inviting home

In our house, and I will guess yours is the same, trouble spots are where you dump everything when you get home.

Mail, work related papers, half-finished projects and even books like to take up residence on our kitchen table. This is basically where everything gets dropped the minute I walk in. What doesn’t get dropped on the table, lands on the couch.

Over time, stuff really adds up. The challenge is to find a place for it all.

When my table gets snowed under, the easy way to clear it is pull the trash can over. Kidding! While that may actually be the easiest, it’s definitely NOT the wisest.

Instead, I sort through the mess. Generally I have a few piles: mail, trash, clothes (don’t judge!), and books. Next I take each pile to the room it belongs in, sometimes I put everything away at that point, other times I just dump it and finish clearing my table before returning to finish putting things away.

While clearing your trouble area, I recommend the sorting and dumping into each room for one reason only. You are busy. You don’t have time to painstakingly put everything away at the moment. Your current goal is to clear your trouble spot.

Step 4:

Creating better habits.

Most days my table is still a little cluttered, however I’ve been able to create habits that keep it clean. I walk in, drop stuff like normal, but there’s a slight change. I hang my coat and scarf right away instead of dropping them on the couch.

Once Kolton is out of his seat, I immediately park it where it belongs. Finally, I return to the table and put away everything I just dropped there.

It’s become a pretty good routine for us.

Once you know your trouble area and know what causes it, you can create better habits as well. Place children’s papers in a box at the door, or in a drawer. Only place the ones you need to do something with right away on your trouble area. Better yet, create a strategic place for things that need attention (teacher’s slips etc).

Step 5:

Don’t bring it in.

If junk mail and trash filled your trouble area, consider placing a trash can beside your door. When I go out to get the mail, I sort through it while walking back to the house and often make a short stop at the trash can. By taking a simple detour, I keep most of the junk mail out of our house completely.

Final Thoughts:

If you have kids, toys are inevitable. Instead of fighting that battle (they do need something to play with), work to keep toys contained in a designated area. Focus on keeping dirty clothes, general clutter and trash out of immediate view when you step inside and your house will appear so much more welcoming.

There are a few things that typically stay on my table. I like to keep flowers or a candle there, as well as the salt and pepper shaker. It’s easiest to keep the bible and Jason’s stuff that he takes back and forth each day there as well. The key at this point is stack. I stack my books in one stack and Jason’s papers in another. It looks nice, it looks organized, it looks inviting.

Busy mom's guide to an inviting home

If you must keep things in your trouble area, stack them when possible. Even multiple stacks will always look better than a general pile.

Keeping my home in a state of welcome takes me about 5 minutes each day. What can you do in 5 minutes to create a more welcoming home?

Share the encouragement via Twitter: “@aproverbs31wife is sharing how to make your home more inviting in just 5 minutes a day!“

(Visited 3,350 times, 1 visits today)
Tweet
Pin411
Share11
422 Shares

Filed Under: Home and Garden Tagged With: cleaning, home, home decor, organizing

Respectful opinions are always welcome

  1. Carrie says

    March 6, 2015 at 9:59 am

    What great tips! Our trouble spot is the end of our counter because it is basically right at the top of our stairs so everything lands there and stays there… we’ve had a few busy weeks so it has been seriously neglected & in need of some attention. I think I’ll take your advice on creating a better habit and create an organization system this weekend! Thanks for the project 🙂

    Reply
    • Kendra says

      March 6, 2015 at 2:15 pm

      Awesome! Just being able to keep that one spot your eyes see right after coming home can really make the whole house look so much better! I’m so glad I was able to give you a little inspiration 🙂

      Reply
  2. Gail Akeman says

    March 8, 2015 at 7:16 pm

    Ours is the kitchen island. Thanks for sharing on the Small Victories Sunday Link up . Hope you join us again.

    Reply
    • Kendra says

      March 8, 2015 at 9:58 pm

      Thanks Gail! I’m going to try linking up more on the weekends as I have time. They are a lot of fun and I enjoy visiting new blogs, but my goodness,how quickly it takes up my time!

      Reply
  3. Cheryl Smith says

    March 8, 2015 at 9:22 pm

    Wonderful advice and ideas, Kendra! It is amazing big a difference it makes to just set a routine and stick with it. Thank you for sharing these wonderful suggestions….so timely and helpful. 😉

    Reply
    • Kendra says

      March 8, 2015 at 9:52 pm

      Having a routine really makes a difference for me. I’m working on for blogging now, since I feel like I’ve been going in circles with it for far to long.

      Reply
  4. Amy says

    March 9, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    I do the same thing with mail! I always go out the garage to the mailbox, sort it on my way back, and all ads/junk mail go right to the recycling bin. I only take in bills, real mail, and pesky credit card offers that need shredded. This takes no extra time but my kitchen island is clear of mail clutter now. However, like you, today we also have clothes and toys cluttering our problem area 🙂

    Reply
    • Kendra says

      March 9, 2015 at 3:51 pm

      At least the trouble area is free of junk mail right? 😉

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


about-small Hello, my name is Kendra. I am married to an amazing young man named Jason, and together we have 3 boys! Here at A Proverbs 31 Wife, you will find posts on homemaking, natural living, marriage, and motherhood. My goal is to uplift and inspire Christian wives and Mothers. {Read More}

 

300x250 Affiliate Planner Ad

 

 

DHgate cheap fashion jewelry

RawGeneration.com!

Reader Favorites

  • How to Get Rid of Washer Stink - Front Loader MoldHow to Get Rid of Washer Stink – Front Loader Mold
  • Best Sloppy Joe Recipe ~Your New Family Favorite!Best Sloppy Joe Recipe ~Your New Family Favorite!
  • Packing an Organized SuitcasePacking an Organized Suitcase
  • Don't Let a Drowned Phone Ruin Your Summer Fun!Don’t Let a Drowned Phone Ruin Your Summer Fun!
  • How to Remove the Stink from Kitchen TowelsHow to Remove the Stink from Kitchen Towels


Terms and Conditions

All content belongs to blog owner and may not reproduced in any form without permission. Please click through to see full terms and earnings disclosure.

A Proverbs 31 Wife is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking A Proverbs 31 Wife to (amazon.com, or endless.com, MYHABIT.com, SmallParts.com, or AmazonWireless.com).

Grab my Button!

AProbervs31Wife.com
<a href="http://www.aproverbs31wife.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://aproverbs31wife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Jason-and-Kendra-1.jpg" alt="AProverbs31Wife.com" width="150" height="150" /></a>
Copyright 2021, A Proverbs 31 Wife. All Rights Reserved.
Custom design by Pixel Me Designs