She plays Jennifer Knight, mom to Kendall and Katie, on Nickelodeon’s hit musical-comedy Big Time Rush, but Challen Cates is no stranger to real life parenting chaos.

The mom of two (son Colton, 7, and daughter Jasper, 5) knows it can be super challenging to keep a clean house with little ones running around! 

That’s why she’s shared five great ways to keep “the kid zone” from taking over your home:

1. Buy a blank white canvas at any art supply store and tape or glue art work or photos for a chic gallery look.

2. Keep one room or area completely toy and clutter free. Enlist your kids in the idea of a toy free zone. Trust me, you will breathe easy when you enter this room.

3. Corkboards are an amazing way to display artwork, certificates, photos, cards, etc in constant evolution. Pick one with a beautiful frame to compliment your décor and incorporate the board into your design. Make sure that you move pieces off as you add new so as to not clutter your space.

4. Learn to love boxes and baskets. As pieces come down off of the cork board or home from school, place keepsakes in decorative boxes. I labeled my boxes with my kids names so I can pop things in their respective keepsake boxes with ease. Tip: ‘The Container Store’ has some great boxes and ‘Pottery Barn’ has adorable liners.

5. Enlist the help of your children in selecting items to donate to charity that they have outgrown. It teaches them the importance of giving and gives them a sense of pride to help those in need. One of our favorite children’s charities is www.baby2baby.org.

Challen lives in Los Angeles with her husband, famed acting coach Aaron McPherson (clients include Seth MacFarlane, Dolph Lundgren) their two children (son Colton 7 & daughter Jasper 5) and two dogs (Greta & Judy). You can follow her on Twitter @ChallenCates

Image credit: Bobby Quillard