This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scott Tube-Free for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
I’m always on the look out for ways to reduce clutter around the house.
So, when Scott Tube-Free bath tissue (a Happily Ever Mom Sponsor) asked us to learn more about their tube free bath tissue, I was intrigued. Scott Tube-Free bath tissue eliminates the cardboard tube which is something that has been used for over 100 years. Instead, Scott Tube-Free unrolls just like any other toilet paper, but there’s no wasteful tube to toss at the end. Not only that, but think of the environmental impact! We use a lot of toilet paper each week and that means with every roll, we wouldn’t have any waste. That got my attention. I started to think about all the things that clutter up my house (like empty toilet rolls) and I had to share with you guys what we’ve done about the 8 things that are cluttering up our house and what we’ve done about it. Can you relate??
Toilet Tubes
This is a big one. Since we go through so many rolls of toilet paper each week, we end up with a lot of rolls around the house. I’m a big fan of recycling them or turning them into a craft, but often they get left around the house – on the back of the toilet, the floor, or as our dog’s chew toy. Here’s a picture of the difference between Scott Tube-Free bath tissue and what I’ve used my whole life. What’s amazing is that I haven’t seen this before! The toilet roll when right on even without the tube. Not only that, but by switching our toilet paper to Scott Tube-Free, we can save approximately 150 tubes per year (that’s how much the average household uses annually!). That’s a 150 times that I don’t have to pick them up! You can actually grab a Scott Tube-Free coupon to try out the tube-free bath tissue too. And, check out the video about how paper tubes are impacting our world.
Shoes
With two kids and parents, we’ve got a ridiculous number of shoes cluttering the house. From tripping on them while I’m walking through a dark house to the bathroom or finding them as yet another chew toy for our dog, we decided that only 3 pairs (sandals, tennis shoes, & boots/warm shoes) can be out at one time. Everything else is stored in our bedroom closet. For easy access, the 3 pairs of shoes are stored near our door and inside of an ottoman. This helps us to take off our shoes when we get home and put them away before we get settled in the house and slip off our shoes!
School papers
I struggle with this one. Every week when Friday folders come home, I wonder if I really need to go through all of those papers. My daughter is normally thrilled to see what’s inside, beats me to the punch, and opens the folder inside our car on the way home. It’s no wonder I’ve missed important papers. Our compromise has been that she has to wait until we get home and then we’ll go through the folder together as soon as we walk through the door. It’s hard for her to wait, but it allows me to recycle papers right away and she gets to show me everything that she’s proud of.
Artwork & Art supplies
We have a lot of art supplies. Whether or not you have a lot of supplies like we do, I’m guessing at least one of your kids loves to make artwork. And, lots of it. This is a tough one because kids are so proud of everything that they make, but it can easily clutter up the house too. We pack all of our art supplies in plastic tubs away in a closet. And, my daughter gets to choose what we display in our artwork frame (these are so cool!). You could easily let kids hang things on the fridge or a cute clothesline too, but the trick is that there can only be a certain number. Once that number is reached, kids have to decide if they want to keep those or replace one or two with a new picture that they’ve done. If that doesn’t work for you, taking photos of their artwork is an easy way to keep a portfolio of all of their work on your phone or computer without having to keep the paper.
Toys
A tough one! We’ve got lots of toys in our house, but we try to keep most of them in the closet to rotate. We also have a stuffed animal shelf (our kids have a hard time getting rid of stuffed animals) and if those animals are not taken down to be used by the time we do another donation, they are donated to go to a new home. While my kids were resistant at first, this has worked really well and you could easily use it for any toy that is cluttering your house.
Clothes
I had no idea what it would take to go through my kids clothes. They seem to grow out of clothes so quickly and it’s hard to keep their drawers stocked with clothes that actually fit! Check out their shoes. As soon as my kid’s shoes start fitting tightly, I go through their clothes, donate the size that is in there, and put in the new size. For my daughter, this has been really hard as she loves her clothes (particularly her dresses). We found that letting her donate to someone she knows has really helped her! Of course, we only passed along clothes that we in really great shape.
Food containers
Each week, it feels like my kids blast through our berries and leave me surrounded with empty plastic containers. If it’s like that in your house too, try dumping all the fruit into a strainer, rinse, and store in a tupperware. It’s less clutter that will end up on your counter and you can easily clean the tupperware when your kids are all done!
Paper piles seem to build without us even noticing. In an effort to cut down on mail piles, we have a designated mail retriever – namely, my husband. He is much faster and more efficient at grabbing the mail and sorting/recycling the mail that we don’t need. Then he stacks my mail for me and I’m still working on how to keep my pile nice and small. Hey, we can’t have everything figured out right??
Taking Steps to a Clutter-Free House
Above all, remember that it takes time to change habits and get a handle on clutter. That’s why I love making simple changes like using Scott Tube-Free toilet paper. It’s an easy change that helps to keep my house more manageable. Scott Tube-Free can be found at stores nationwide and online. Visit to find a store that’s near your home. And start thinking about how many toilet paper rolls your family uses each week, month, year? What an easy change that will have such a huge impact on your home!
Emily @ My Love for Words says
Yes, toys! They’re everywhere. I swear they multiple behind our backs. It’s maddening. I’ve never tried a toy rotation, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I may have to finally give it a shot.