Clean clothes sorted

I have six young kids. There are a LOT of clothes in my house, and the thing I hate the most is sorting them and putting them away.


I used to put it off as long as possible, then when the clothing mountain threatened to topple and smother us all, I'd take a deep breath and start folding and sorting. On a good day, I'd get all of it folded into neat, fairly high piles on the couch. Then a whirlwind child or two would run past, knocking the piles down for me to begin again.



There had to be a better way.

I improved the system by adding boxes. I bought one box for each family member, and rather than folding them, I'd just sort and throw them into the boxes. There was still an issue, though. Eight boxes take up a fair amount of room, and the only room big enough to hold them all was the lounge room. I tried storing them in each person's bedroom, but that created lots of extra work, carrying them all out on folding day. I needed a central spot where they could be accessed easily whenever I needed them.

Problem: Where does one store eight boxes when one's laundry is fairly tiny?

Answer: A shelving system!

IKEA had a perfect unit, with eight square openings. All their boxes fitted into the openings, so it was only a matter of choosing the most appropriate (and prettiest) boxes for the job. I tried to find one cheaper, but really it wasn't that expensive and it was money well spent.



I can now sort a load of clean clothes in five minutes, and I'm in the process of training the kids to fold and put their own clothes away. They each just take their box into their room, empty it (into their drawers, one would hope) and put it back in the shelf.

The other secret to my success is to be choosy about what to fold. I see no point in folding pyjamas or underwear. Some may disagree - perhaps they like tidy drawers, but I figure anything that is not going to be seen by the public (and they've only seen me in my pj's a couple of times this year!) can be crinkled without consequence.

The best part is, if you don't have time to put them away, they are nicely hidden and not taking up any room on my couch, so I can enjoy my coffee nearly guilt free!

#laundry
#organising
#sorting
#clothes
#organisation

%homegenius