Back to School Organising
The Ultimate Guide to Resetting Your Home After the Summer Holidays
The last bottle of suncream has been packed away, the sand is finally out of the beach bags, and somewhere under a pile of forgotten permission slips is your kitchen table. If your home spent the summer holidays in a state of joyful chaos, you’re not alone, and the back to school season is the perfect natural reset point to bring it back under control.
Organising after the school holidays isn’t just about tidying up. It’s about creating systems that will carry your family smoothly through the busiest months of the year, from the first day of term right through to the December break. Below, we’ll walk through exactly how to organise your home after the summer holidays, room by room, so the new school year starts on the right foot and stays that way.
Alix x
Why Back to School Is the Best Time to Organise Your Home
There’s a reason professional organisers see a spike in bookings every August and September. Psychologically, the start of a new school year functions almost like a second New Year. Routines reset, schedules tighten, and families are primed for change in a way they simply aren’t in the middle of summer or the depths of winter.
Practically speaking, this is also when the clutter is at its worst. Summer holidays tend to bring a wave of new belongings into the house: day camp crafts, outgrown swimwear, half used suncream bottles, holiday souvenirs, while normal routines (and the tidying that comes with them) take a back seat. By the time September rolls around, most homes need more than a quick tidy. They need a proper reset.
Getting organised now doesn’t just clear the clutter; it sets the tone for how smoothly mornings, homework time, and after school activities will run for the rest of the year.
Start With a Hallway and Drop Zone Reset
The hallway is ground zero for back to school chaos. Bags, shoes, lunch boxes, and sports kit all funnel through this one space every single morning and afternoon, so it’s the highest impact place to start.
What to do:
Clear out anything that doesn’t belong to the current season, such as summer hats, beach towels, and pool toys, and store them out of the main traffic zone.
Assign each family member their own hook, bin, or cubby for bags, shoes, and outerwear. Labelled systems work particularly well for younger children who can’t yet read full sentences but can match a name or a colour.
Create a designated “outgoing” bin or basket for library books, signed forms, and lunch boxes that need to leave the house each morning.
Add a small landing zone, such as a bowl, tray, or drawer, for keys, wallets, and anything else that tends to go missing at 7.45am.
A well designed drop zone doesn’t just look tidy. It removes the daily friction of hunting for shoes or forms, which is often where morning meltdowns start.
Tackle the Wardrobe Clear Out
Children grow fast, and by the end of summer most wardrobes are a mismatch of ill fitting clothes, holiday outfits, and last year’s school uniform. A back to school wardrobe edit is one of the highest value organising tasks you can do this time of year.
A simple three pile method works well:
Keep: items that fit, are in good condition, and suit the coming term (weather appropriate, uniform compliant, and so on)
Hand down or donate: outgrown or unused items in good condition
Retire: anything worn out, stained beyond saving, or simply never worn
Once you’ve pared down, organise what’s left by category or by day if your child struggles with decision fatigue in the mornings. Some families find success with a simple “outfit of the day” system: a small hanging organiser or set of labelled drawers with enough options for a full week reduces morning arguments significantly.
Don’t forget uniforms and sports kit. Laying these out in a dedicated section of the wardrobe, separate from everyday clothes, makes early starts far less stressful.
Set Up a Homework and Study Station
Whether your child does homework at the kitchen table or in their own room, having a defined, well stocked space makes a noticeable difference to focus and follow through.
A functional homework station needs:
A clear, uncluttered surface
Basic supplies within reach: pens, pencils, a ruler, scissors, glue, a calculator
A designated spot for in progress and completed work
Good lighting and minimal visual distraction
If space is tight, a portable caddy or rolling cart can create a “station” that lives in a cupboard and comes out only at homework time, ideal for smaller homes where a permanent desk isn’t practical.
Organise the Paperwork Avalanche
Few things generate more clutter during back to school season than paper: permission slips, reading logs, school newsletters, activity schedules, and enrolment forms all arrive within the first few weeks of term.
Build a simple paper system before it builds up:
A wall mounted file sorter or accordion folder near the entryway for incoming forms
A shared family calendar (physical or digital) where key dates get logged the moment they arrive
A “sign and return” clipboard or tray so forms don’t get lost between the school bag and the kitchen counter
A separate folder or binder for each child if you have more than one at school, colour coded to avoid mix ups
Digitising recurring paperwork, such as school calendars, meal plans, and activity schedules, into a shared family app or calendar can dramatically cut down on paper clutter and missed deadlines.
Also check out my other blog: How to Organise Paperwork and Finally Tame the Paper Pile
Reset the Kitchen for Packed Lunch Success
If packed lunches are part of your routine, the kitchen deserves its own back to school organising pass. A well organised lunch packing zone can shave real time off your morning routine.
Consider creating a dedicated lunch station with:
A low, accessible shelf or drawer stocked with lunch boxes, containers, and reusable snack bags
A designated fridge and pantry zone for lunch friendly foods, so packing doesn’t require searching the whole kitchen
A small bin for ice packs, kept in the freezer door for easy grab and go access
Batch prepping snack portions on a Sunday, dividing crackers, fruit, or trail mix into grab and go containers, is a small habit that pays off all week.
Also check out my other blog: The Best Way to Organise Kitchen Cabinets
Create a Family Command Centre
A command centre is a single, central spot where all the moving parts of family life come together: calendars, schedules, chore charts, and reminders. It doesn’t need to be elaborate; a section of wall in the kitchen or hallway is often enough.
A good command centre typically includes:
A monthly or weekly calendar visible to the whole family
A rotating chore or responsibility chart
A spot for keys, back to school forms, and reminders
A weekly meal plan, if that’s part of your routine
Involving children in maintaining the command centre, even young ones, builds ownership and reduces the number of things falling entirely on one parent’s shoulders.
Don’t Forget Toy and Bedroom Decluttering
Summer holidays often mean more time at home, which usually means more toys, games, and activities dragged out and left in every corner of the house. Before the after school activity season kicks in and free time shrinks, it’s worth doing a bedroom and playroom reset alongside the wardrobe edit.
Quick wins here include:
Rotating toys so only a manageable portion are accessible at any time
Donating outgrown toys and games while they’re still in good condition
Setting up simple, labelled bins so tidying up is something children can genuinely do themselves
Clearing surfaces and floor space to make room for the homework and reading routines that pick up again during term time
A tidy bedroom also supports better sleep, which, as any parent knows, has a knock on effect on how smoothly school mornings go.
Check out my other blogs:
Build Routines, Not Just Systems
Organising physical spaces is only half the equation. The other half is building routines that keep those systems working once the initial back to school motivation fades.
A few routine building tips:
Do a five minute reset of the entryway and kitchen each evening rather than letting mess accumulate over the week
Lay out clothes and pack bags the night before to reduce morning decision fatigue
Hold a short weekly family check in to review the calendar and flag anything new
Revisit your systems after the first few weeks of term. Notice what’s working, what isn’t, and adjust rather than abandoning the whole approach
The goal isn’t a perfectly organised home on day one of term. It’s a home that’s easy to reset, week after week, as the school year settles into its rhythm.
When to Bring in a Professional Organiser
Some families tackle back to school organising in a weekend; others find the sheer volume of decisions, such as what to keep, where things should live, and how to build a system that actually sticks, is easier with outside help. A professional organiser can bring an outside perspective, hands on support, and systems tailored specifically to how your family actually lives, not just a generic template.
If your home feels like it needs more than a quick tidy this September, working with a professional organiser can turn a stressful, overwhelming reset into a manageable, even enjoyable, one, and set your family up with systems that last well beyond the first week of term.
Alix and Georgina
📞 Call: 07973 957599
📧 Email: declutteringcrew@gmail.com
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