One thing I do a lot of lately is laundry! With 4 small kids (3 of whom love dirt), 2 adults, and various towels, bedding, and miscellaneous items (tablecloths!), we end up doing at least 1 load most days. And with a split level and lots of stairs, it is a lot of work to carry the laundry around. I was really struggling, trying to do what I’d always done when I decided to try something different.
I bought a high set of wire shelving from Target on clearance, and 6 laundry baskets. I labeled one with each of our names (turned around for the photo, sorry–but they’re cute and laminated!), and set the shelving up a few feet from the laundry machines. Now I can reach the shelves from the machines. There is also a small, plastic shoe box sized bin each for socks and kids underwear (which they sort.) I have hangers up top for my husbands no-iron dress shirts, which get shaken out and hung up hot.
So here’s what works for us now. We have a laundry chute to get laundry down to the machines. It gets put in without sorting most days, and usually on cold (frugal tip!). Once it comes out of the dryer, I fold it into each person’s basket, usually after the kids are in bed, and a little bit every day so it never builds up. My dh delivers upstairs to each room twice a week or so. Eventually, the goal would be to have the kids take care of their own laundry, but since the baskets are bigger than they are right now, they take it once it gets to their rooms.
And we have a working laundry system! (See a lot more details in this post.)
Now if only we could slow the volume a little… 😉
