A couple of months ago I was absolutely overwhelmed by laundry. I have a little laundry room. Where my upright freezer, all the tools, the cat box, and a million other items that don’t fit anywhere go. Oh, and laundry. There’s definitely laundry in there. After our dryer died for about the 10th time we bought a new washer and dryer set. We bought it online like we do everything and I refused to pay the ridiculous amount they wanted for those little stands underneath. We can always build a stand for them later. For much less.
We also used to have an oversized chair/couch thing just outside my laundry room in an area that drives me crazy in our house. It’s at the end of my kitchen just before my laundry room. It’s by the back door. Open, odd shaped and, for our needs, useless. I would love to build shelves and close it in. Extend the laundry room. Make it a laundry room/pantry kind of place. But that’s for my dreams.
Laundry had gotten out of hand. I just don’t have time. So I would keep it clean and dump pile after pile of clean clothes on that catch-all couch. I wanted to do differently, but didn’t know how to make myself. And then I read on Brenda’s blog about how you should change your house, not your habits. That made SO much sense to me. So I moved the couch out to my front porch. Hoping to haul it off or burn it. But then we had a local arsonist who put a kink in my burning plans and unfortunately there it still sits, like the white trash that we are. But I digress.
I moved the table to the corner, found some empty shelves around the house and gathered what baskets I could find. It ain’t pretty, folks, I don’t have the budget for pretty. But it was free and practical. And it WORKS!
So, here it is.
Yes, that’s my oldest sitting on top of the folding table doing his math work. He needed “alone time” – works for me. And, yes, that is gum you see sticking out of his mouth.
I dump the clean clothes onto the table and sort them into the baskets. I don’t fold them. The 3 older children sort and fold their own clothes right there in that big open area on the floor. They do it when it gets full, when they run out of clothes in their room, or when I tell them to, whatever. I throw all the hang up clothes onto the dryer to hang up when I’m done with all the rest. I fold the towels and have the kids put them away. I fold mine, Matt’s, the baby’s, and the 3 year old’s as I put them away – I carry them to their dressers in the baskets.
I put an “Outside Shoe” bucket by the back door. When they come in or when they’re cleaning up, only the “outside shoes” can go there. Then they know where they are when they need them and they don’t wear their “go to town shoes” in the mud.
That basket up on top is for all those things that get left at my house by friends or hand-me-downs for outside our immediate family. The clothes that aren’t designated for anyone goes to a bucket in my room to donate to the local goodwill.
This is the inside of my laundry room (one side of it).
Aren’t those pretty machines? My honey did so good! My dad built the shelf and put in the bar at the top. The big bucket is for all those clothes that are off-season, but didn’t get put up with the rest (because there’s always some, right?) and clothes the kids constantly outgrow but will go to the next child down. This way, I don’t have to go into the stored bins every time I wash an item that needs to be put away. I plan to let this fill up and then next season sort it all as I change the seasonal clothes out.
And this part, it requires a lot of imagination. Are you ready? I want these containers. Eventually.
Plastic, about 18 inches high and 2 feet across each, stackable and in these colors, preferably. I want them to sit in my laundry room and when my children bring dirty clothes from the four corners of the house they can immediately put them into the corresponding container. Pinks, oranges, reds – red container, lights – white container, darks – black container. When the container gets full I can just dump it right into the machine. I’m on the lookout for these. And my oldest 3 children (8, 7, and 5 year olds) all bring laundry from their assigned areas to clean everyday.
So, how do you do it? What’s your laundry area look like?
I’m linked up with:
