"A place for everything and everything in its place" is a good saying to keep in mind when trying to clean up your home. Unfortunately, homes with small children often seem to have a lack of places for all of the belongings they've accumulated.

Clutter can very easily spread from a child's room to other parts of your home. The living room might be colonized by dolls, action figures, and other toys. Drawings can take over the refrigerator, while bath toys fill every available space around the tub.

Establishing a few rules on cleanliness early on can help you keep your home organized. You can also look into a variety of storage solutions to wrangle a child's belongings.

Toys and other clutter can be irritating, and even dangerous, when left out in heavily traveled areas. Tara Aronson, author of the blog Clean Organized Family Home, says you should set a few firm rules to let your kids know where their belongings do not belong. Make sure they know that toys should not be left around doorways or at the top of staircases.

Create a few other rules to fit your schedule. You might set up a specified cleaning time, perhaps 15 minutes before bedtime, to tidy up their room and any other places where they have brought their toys.

You can also nip clutter in the bud by keeping your child from accumulating too many belongings. Periodically go through their collection with them and see which items can be stored and which can donated. Lisa Johnson Mandell, writing for the National Association of Realtors, says some companies even allow you to rent toys or donate a share of a child's presents to charity.

The classic toy chest is a good place for a child to keep their belongings during the evening, but it can also contribute to a messy room during the day. If a child can't easily find the toy they are looking for, they might take several items out of the box and leave excess toys strewn around the room.

One alternative to the single toy chest is a series of clear plastic containers. It is easy to store them in the closet, and a child will only have to open the container with the item they are looking for. Finding the right item is easy, since you can see inside the container without even cracking it open.

You might consider letting the containers set limits on the number of toys or other belongings a child can have. The magazine Real Simple says this will allow a child to choose their favorite items; once the container is full to bursting, it's time to find a new home for some of them.

Boxes that are divided into various storage chambers can also help a child keep smaller items organized. Mandell says things like tackle boxes and toolboxes can be useful for this goal. They can also give a child a greater sense of responsibility, since they'll have their own version of something used by their parents.

Families with more than one child should try to set up separate storage areas for each sibling. Singular storage areas can still allow shoes, toys, and other belongings to get mixed up. By setting up cubbies or other separate storage areas, you can head off squabbles and keep items from getting lost.

Children's drawings can easily take up a lot of space. Real Simple says one option is to display them on the walls with painter's tape. This tape will come off without leaving a mark, allowing you to create a rotating display of artwork. You can also scan the paintings and drawings into a computer or tablet so you have a single place to keep them.

The walls of a child's room can be especially useful for storing items. Jennifer Noonan, writing for home improvement professional Bob Vila, says you can use wall-mounted storage solutions such as planter baskets to hold a variety of items. A strip of Velcro can keep fabric items in once place, while pegboard creates a versatile way to hang up items or create shelving.

Even the ceiling can play a part in storing a child's belongings. Boxes can be mounted on rope-and-pulley systems, allowing them to be raised and lowered from the top of the room as needed. This setup is visually appealing, and also makes it more fun to clean up at the end of the day.