Little habits that keep our home running smoothly

Wooden kitchen countertop with breakfast foods laid out — (Image credit: Lara Winter)

Home decorator Lara Winter is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on revamping a 200 year old cottage to make it right for modern family life. See the rest of her articles here.

I’ve always been the sort of person who likes a tidy home. Mess doesn’t relax me, it stresses me out. Over the years, I’ve realised that keeping a house organised isn’t about heroic cleaning sessions or magically making everything disappear.

It’s about tiny habits that make life run a bit more smoothly and, honestly, make me feel a little smug along the way.

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Clothes are my first big win. I have a small clothes rail where I lay out my outfits for the week. Jackets, tops, trousers, all ready to grab in the mornings. It sounds a bit over-organised, but it saves a surprising amount of time and mental energy.

The boys get the same treatment. Every evening I lay out their clothes for the next day. They know the routine, it makes the morning calmer and it stops the usual chorus of 'where are my socks?'. Small effort, big payoff.

Kitchen counter top with a range of foods laid out for breakfast

Breakfast is another spot where a little planning goes a long way. I prepare the boys’ oats in bowls the night before with milk and maybe some fruit. They’re ready to eat straight away, and I don’t have to referee a chaotic cereal explosion at the kitchen table. It’s quick, healthy, and for some reason feels like a little treat, even on a grey weekday morning.

Meal planning in our kitchen is very low-key. I have a small chalkboard where I jot down breakfasts and dinners for the week. I’m not going full Pinterest with fancy charts or themed nights. It’s just a quick visual reminder for me so I’m not panicking about what’s for tea at 6pm. The boys occasionally glance at it and seem mildly interested, which is a bonus.

Entrance hall showing interior of yellow door and striped door curtain

Storage solutions are surprisingly helpful. By the stairs we have a 'stuff' basket. Anything the boys leave lying around, from shoes to random toys, goes straight in. The rule is they tidy it the next day.

It keeps the house from slowly turning into a chaos museum and saves me from nagging endlessly. In the bathroom, labelled jars for hair accessories, cotton pads and other bits stop anything floating around.

Organisation isn’t about eliminating mess entirely, it’s about making it manageable.

Wooden and glass fronted dresser in living room against pink striped wall

One luxury habit that keeps the house looking presentable is our robot vacuum (from Shark). It whirs around while we’re out, picking up dust and crumbs – and it even mops!

It doesn’t replace tidying, but it does mean the floor never gets too far out of hand and the house always feels a bit more polished.

Bed with patterned cushions, cat curled up on duvet and vase of flowers on bedside table

Evening routines make a huge difference. Spending ten minutes tidying the kitchen and living areas before bed means mornings feel calmer. The boys help with this too, which makes it feel more like a team effort and less like I’m running a domestic boot camp.

Tiny repeated actions like this create a rhythm and keep the home functioning without stress.

Kitchen area showing striped upholstered corner banquette around wooden table

Finally, surfaces are easier to maintain if each item has a place. A tray for keys, a bowl for loose change, a vase on the table. Giving things a home of their own stops clutter creeping in and makes the space feel calmer instantly.

Corner kitchen banquette in striped fabric with mix and match cushions beneath red shelf

Of course, life is messy sometimes and there will always be piles of laundry or stray toys. That’s fine. These are the habits that make the house work for us rather than the other way around. Clothes ready on the rail, bowls of oats, the boys’ laid-out outfits, the chalkboard, the stuff basket, tidy evenings and the robot vacuum.

Little habits, repeated consistently, make a surprisingly big difference and help the home feel calm, practical and just a little bit magical.

Lara is originally from Germany, where she studied Special Educational Needs before moving to England in 2016. She now runs the instagram account What A View Cottage which has over 240,000 followers, who tune in to be inspired by her modern take on rustic style.

Lara has always had a creative streak and the urge to experiment with colours and different layouts made her rearrange the furniture of her childhood bedroom constantly. These days she lives with her husband, their two sons and their fluffy, ginger cat Gizmo in a modern cottage in Wiltshire. She loves to create cosy, lived in spaces with lots of texture and the use of colour. Her specialty is to give rooms that cottage feel with a modern and sometimes unexpected twist and she's not afraid to mix interior styles.