One thing I refuse to have in my house?
Piles of paper on my counters.
Now, before you picture a perfectly organized home, let me stop you. We have systems for a lot of things, but our house is very much lived in. Half-built LEGO creations stay on the table for days, baby dolls somehow end up in every room, and there's almost always evidence that four kids live here. We just try to have a system for the things that tend to create the most stress, and for me, paper is one of them.
Paper has a way of multiplying.
Between school projects, coloring pages, worksheets, and the dozens of pictures my kids bring home every week, it can take over a house if you let it.
After years of trial and error, here’s the simple system that’s worked for us.
This is the most important part of the whole system.
The biggest mistake (at least for me) is creating an “I’ll go through it later” pile. Because later turns into tomorrow, tomorrow turns into next week, and before you know it there’s a stack of papers taking over the counter.
So when my kids come home from school, everything lands on the counter, but it doesn’t stay there.
We sort it right away.
Forms or papers that need my attention go into a basket I keep just for that purpose. Homework has its own designated spot, and the kids know we’ll work on it at a set time later in the day. (That’s a whole separate system for another post.)
Then there’s the artwork.
Instead of letting it pile up, I sort every piece into one of three categories: Toss, Temporary, or Forever.
Let’s start with the easiest one.
Not every piece of paper is a keepsake.
If it’s a quick scribble, an unfinished coloring page, or something that doesn’t have any sentimental value, it goes into the toss pile.
Now, I don’t throw it away immediately. I leave it on the counter through dinner, bath time, and bedtime. If one of my kids wants to tell me about it or show it to someone, they have the chance.
The next morning, once everyone leaves for school?
Straight into the recycling bin.
(And yes, the recycling bin is in the garage, not the kitchen, because kids have an incredible ability to rescue artwork once it’s been spotted in the trash. 😂)
This is probably where most of their artwork ends up.
These are the cute seasonal crafts, funny drawings, and school projects that we want to enjoy for a while, but not forever.
Each of my kids has their own bulletin board in our kitchen, and this is where those pieces get displayed.
We love seeing their artwork around the house, but every few weeks, I rotate things out as new artwork comes home.
Not everything needs to become a lifelong keepsake to be meaningful.
Then there are the pieces you just know you’ll want to keep.
Handprints.
Special holiday projects.
The card they made for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
The drawing they worked so hard on.
The note that makes you tear up a little.
Anything that you feel like you will want later in life or that they may like to have. Those are the pieces we keep. But…
Before I put anything away, I always write their name, the month and year, and if it makes sense, the occasion or teacher’s name on the back of the art. This is something I learned from my Nana. She always did this with photos and art and I am so glad she did!
Then we file it away. Each child has their own memory box, and that’s where those special pieces live.
One box per kid.
No overflowing bins. No random folders. Just one place for the things that really matter. We may need a bigger box or second one down the line but so far 1 has worked out well.
One thing I’ve learned as a parent is that not every piece of artwork is a memory.
Some are just Tuesday’s coloring page.
The goal isn’t to keep everything. It’s to make room for the things that truly matter.
And having a simple system means I can enjoy what my kids create without feeling like it’s taking over our home.
And my kids know that every piece of artwork will be looked at, celebrated, and appreciated, even if it doesn't stay in our house forever.
I’d love to know: What’s your approach to kids’ artwork? Are you a save-everything parent, a ruthless declutterer, or somewhere in the middle? Tell me your system in the comments, I always love hearing how other families make it work.
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