Something I've concluded is that when you have little children you have the option of having a cluttered home, or a stressed showcase. In order to keep the house looking nice you'd be spending 90% of your time griping at everybody to put it up, leave it alone, stop touching it, don't set that there, get your feet off that, use a coaster, clean that up, don't eat in here, watch out that's dripping, wipe your feet, make your bed, don't sit there, go make your bed again it's not done right, clean this room, put that in the hamper, quit leaving this out, just stay in there till it's clean, take your plate to the sink, and last but certainly not least -- clean this mess up right this minute!
A home has harmony. Being a complete mess will certain interfere with that harmony, but so will constantly griping. There's a balance. The balance isn't folloiwing your kids around and doing everything for them, because then they'd never learn to take care of themselves. The balance comes in delegating enough chores so that they will have a part in establishing the harmony. The trouble is, with kids, as with all people, the boundaries are constantly checked, which means there will always be some friction, but there will always almost always be some (usually more than just some) mess.
Some families grow accustome to the mess and choose it over the constention. Some families choose the friction over the clutter. Personally I would prefer a peaceful mess than a contentious museum any day of the week. My wife on the other hand gets frustrated at almost any mess, and can send the rest of us quickly scurrying for that corner of the rooftop. Slowly we are approaching a happy medium. She has learned to tolerate some clutter, and I have worked with the kids to make sure as much gets done as possible, so that I am the one dealing out the friction. It's not a percet solution, because they kids like to see what they can get away with. I'd prefer they learn to simply do what's expected of them, but they seem to think dragging their feet is preferable to getting it over with.
One thing to my advantage is that when I walk, I make absolutely no sound whatsoever. They never hear me coming. That keeps them on their toes, some, but they are risk takers, and will goof off if they think they can get away with it.
They are just beginning to learn the frustration of cleaning a room, only to find it a mess half an hour later. They've learned the frustration and I'm waiting for them to apply the lesson it to their own mess making potential, which they have yet to do.
In the end, I've been able to convince my wife that there's more to a home than clean floors and neat beds. There's love, and joy, and happiness, and belonging, and griping about a mess can be as offensive and disharmonious as the mess itself.