AN EASY LAUNDRY SYSTEM

I would LOVE a laundry room that looks like either of these shown here!  How about you?  As you're dreaming about what YOUR new laundry room might look like, I'm going to share with you here a SYSTEM for assuring that your laundry routine will be smooth and effortless. You see it's not just about having nice organized spaces... as nice as that would be!  You also need an organized  plan or SYSTEM for  assuring that your laundry routine is SMOOTH AND EFFORTLESS! So here are FOUR STEPS TO...

AN EASY LAUNDRY SYSTEM 

1)  Make sure there is a laundry basket in each bedroom, preferably hidden in the closet. Each person is responsible for putting his/her own laundry in his/her own basket. If you have younger children you might want to find a kid's laundry basket like the one shown here. These cute decorative baskets can be set out in their rooms as decor. You can purchase this one and others through Amazon.com by clicking on the Amazon button on my right  sidebar. For  less expensive options you can just pick up plastic laundry baskets at Walmart or even the Dollar Store. Make sure you either have a different color for each family member or put their names on their baskets. Towels, sheets, and other misc. can either be put in individual baskets or in separate ones provided in the laundry room. Here also is an example of a French style basket from Pottery Barn. There are other less expensive options available elsewhere of course.

2) Assign one day or more a week as" Laundry Day". You might even need to post a memo on your FAMILY COMMUNICATION STATION to remind everyone when laundry day is. On that day, each family member is to take his/her basket and put their clothes in one of three hampers ( white, light, dark ) provided in the laundry room. Delicate items and dry cleaning items can be handled separately. See one of the laundry rooms above for an example of the three hampers.  Make sure the laundry is done on that day by an assigned family member. Older children can be taught how to do laundry so this  need not always be done by Mom. Just make sure the person assigned this chore knows what their responsibility is and that it is posted as a reminder.       

3) The laundry person for that day does the washing and drying and then puts the laundry in each person's basket. Accounting for age appropriateness, each person is responsible to fold his/her own clothes and put them in their drawers. Towels, sheets, etc. can be put where they belong. This must be done on laundry day as well as each person  has to now use the laundry basket for the next round of dirty clothes.  

4) The delicate and "dry cleaning needed" clothes can be taken care of by the adults in a timely fashion.  

5) After washing and drying is complete, the person responsible for this chore should also take a bottle of spray cleaner and a rag ( left near the washer and dryer for this purpose ) and clean off the top of the appliances. This keeps things tidy and clean for the next wash day.  

Done this way, LAUNDRY DAY should not be an impossible burden for one person. If you have a large family and you have to do laundry often to get it all done, that's OK too. Just don't wait until you have so many clothes needing cleaning that you have clothes overflowing everywhe.re!  

It goes without saying that each person is responsible for folding neatly and putting away his/her own clothes. Small children will need to have someone do it for them. This also will have to be assigned and posted on the FAMILY COMMUNICATION  STATION. Clothing organization in each room is another topic for another day. This system helps families to work together and  teaches older children life skills as well as responsibility. It also helps Moms out who work full time and need the help! It's a win/win for everyone!