How I Manage...Big Laundry in a Small Space.

Laundry is such a pain. Over the summer we moved from a huge laundry room to a very small laundry room, and I think we just about have it worked out. With five kids and two adults, we need to keep it moving at all times. We keep the kids outfits for each day rolled up and stored in an over the door shoe hanger with a row of six slots for each kid. Sunday outfits are in a different row. I load up all of the pockets on Sundays and the kids are set for the week. We also keep swimsuits and hair bows in the organizers.

 

As far as the rest of the laundry room goes, the kids' jeans and slacks are on hangers over the dryer, and they have masking tape labels on each hanger so I know which jeans go to which kids. We try not to have more than two pairs per style of pants, because we don't have the space to store it AND because we keep laundry running constantly. Most clothes are clean and stored at all times. 

 

Daddy likes the boys to wear collars most of the time, so collared shirts are hung above the washer.

 

All other kids clothes are stored in labeled basked opposite the machines. No clothing storage upstairs. They each have a dresser or wardrobe for special things, extra linens, etc, but the rule is that any clothes found outside the laundry room are on bodies or dirty. In the evenings I take one laundry basket and collect up any clothes around the house and they go straight into the washer. Anything in the dryer is immediately sorted into baskets or pockets. Andrew and I keep our clothes in our closet, because I can trust Andrew not to change his clothes 247 times per day.

 

We usually have one catch-up day every couple of weeks because when you have so many people, so system is perfect. That day usually falls very close to "Linens Day," when I change all of the sheets in the house. Kids' linens are changes once every two weeks, master linens every week. (Because the kids like to go from the sandbox to our bed. Every time. I just don't get it.)

 

I also hang some things to dry rather than use the dryer. Sheets and towels, mostly. Anything heavy or potentially tangly. It makes my loads go faster AND it looks dreamy and smells like productivity.

 

 

 Shoes go in $5 Home Depot stackers and can be thrown directly down the stairwell and into a bin. The kids love that. The "don't throw things from the second floor" rule is all but gone these days. Whatever.

 

But really, that's it! Right now our laundry situation is WAY under control, so I feel pretty confident sharing this. Of course, it's not Linens Day...