Putting off cleaning your toilets, scrubbing out the last bit of mac and cheese from your microwave, or vacuuming under your couches are all easy chores to forget – out of sight, out of mind. But when it comes to laundry, it’s impossible to ignore the ever-growing mound of single socks, old t-shirts, and kitchen rags that seems to get bigger every time you leave the room. For college students, parents, and everyone in between, laundry room organization is a daunting task – but with the right preparation, it doesn’t have to be. There are a few simple fixes anyone can do to make organization a breeze.
Keep Up with Your Clothes
No one wants to hear what the first tip is, but it’s the most important: stay on top of your clothes! Although this is the simplest task, everyone who’s ever had to deal with their own washing knows that it’s one of the hardest. There’s no replacement for simple self-discipline, but if you stay on top of dirty clothes as they come in, the rest is a downhill battle. Whatever it takes to keep yourself disciplined, even if it means setting a reminder on your phone or on your calendar to make one day a week laundry day, keeping up with your laundry room organization is so much more manageable if there’s less to organize.
Be Strategic About Hamper Space
Another tip to keep your piles of laundry low is to organize the room with different hampers for every load. The easiest way to simplify your laundry room organization here is by having hampers that correspond to each type of load you would ordinarily run. For example, if you generally wash all your white clothes together, all your dark clothes together, and all your colored clothes together, then have a hamper for each of these labeled “white clothes,” “dark clothes,” and “colored clothes.” That way, all you have to do when the time comes is to dump the hamper into the washing machine, and you’re ready to go.
Assign Space for Each Family Member
Of course, as most mothers and fathers with children of any age know, if laundry room organization was just a question of dirty clothes, it would be significantly easier. The truth is, in many homes, it becomes the place to store everything that doesn’t really have another place, from cleaning supplies to footballs to bubble juice and everything in between. The easiest way to manage this is to give each member of the family their own cubby or shelf to store what belongs to them. Assigning certain areas for the belongings of each family member will make everyone more likely to pay attention when their sections overflow.
Designate a “Lost and Found”
Though this may be for more “found” than “lost” objects, it may be helpful to assign a small bin or bucket for items that family members don’t know where to put or that don’t fit into any specific person’s space. Once or twice a week, it can be helpful to go through this bin as a family and find out what belongs to whom or what items should be relocated or donated.
