by:David Anderson
While some home-organization gurus will tell you to start in the kitchen, Im going to advise beginning in another area. The kitchen will be the third place we attack and this doesnt make it less important, but I will explain why Im starting elsewhere.
First, if you look around your home, you probably see lots of clothes. Am I right? Youve got clothes in closets, youve got clothes in piles (meaning to put them away and not having time, eventually just pulling them out of the pile and wearing them), and youve got clothes in laundry baskets. You might even have rumpled clothes in the dryer or (heaven forbid!) the washer. If its the former, the clothes are only rumpled. If its the latter, theyre probably rumpled AND smelly and (potentially) mildew-y. Yuck! Somewhere in this Mt. Vesuvius of laundry, dirty, clean, or otherwise, is your home. And Im guessing that if you have a laundry room, you keep the door closed, as there are multiple Mt. Vesuvii piling up in there. If you dont have a laundry room but have a laundry closet (with room for the washer, dryer, and some shelves), Im betting you havent seen the top of your dryer for weeks or even months. Its covered in rumpled clothes and towels, right?
Have you guessed where were starting? Thats right! The laundry area of your home. And heres why: if you get your laundry room cleaned and organized, youll be much more apt to actually DO the laundry that plagues you and helps your home to be disorganized. And because you wont want to undo the work youve done in the laundry room, youre more likely to fold the laundry when its done, and put it away. Theres something thats a breath of fresh air about a straightened laundry roomsort of like when you walk in to a closet where everything is hanging neatly.
So start with small steps:
1) Can you see the floor? No? Then pick up whats on the floor and put it in laundry baskets. If you dont have enough laundry baskets to accomplish this, then just sort the things in to piles outside the laundry room. I make piles of light clothes, whites, darks, and towels/rags.
2) Can you see the top of the dryer? If not, put the excess clothes in the aforementioned piles. Grab one rag to dust and have two plastic grocery bagsone to collect junk, and the other for later. Dust the dryer from the lint-leftovers and use a little window-cleaner if it doesnt come off readily. Dont neglect the area where the start button isthat can be grimy, too!
3) Can you see the top of the washer? If not, repeat the steps in #2, using the window cleaner if necessary.
Okay – now youve got your washer & dryer cleaned off. Congratulations! Lets continue to take small steps in the laundry room .
4) Now take a critical look at your supply-shelf(ves). Do you have empty bottles or boxes lying around from spent detergent and/or fabric softener? Clean those out. Use that grocery bag that youve put excess dryer lint in and pitch those empties. Then organize whats left. If you need to add things to your shopping list, now is the timenow you know what youve got and what you need to buy. When you organize your supplies, I recommend putting the detergent and any liquid softener above the (gasp!) washer. Make it easy to reach. Put the dryer sheets over the dryerwhy reach more than you have to? If your shelves are higher than youd like, use the top ledge of your washer & dryer to hold supplies! Ive never seen a washer and dryer that dont butt up to a wall for the electrical plugs they need. So use that space to your advantage. Put the detergent box or bottle on the top of the washer, along with whatever other washing supplementals you have. Put the dryer sheets on the top of the dryer so you dont forget and end up with a load of static cling!
5) If you have wire-shelves above your washer & dryer, youve got a built-in place to hang a trash bag. Use that extra grocery-sack and cut one of the handles in half. Then tie those two ends around some of the wire-shelf and use the bag to collect dryer lint and empty containers from your emptied laundry supplies. When its full, cut it down and put it in the trash and put up a new one.
6) Now look at your floor. Does it need sweeping? If so, grab a broom and sweep. It wont take you more than 5 minutes and youll feel much better about your room and your workespecially if something youve just washed falls on the floor as youre transferring stuff to the dryer.
7) Congratulations! Youve done the preliminary work of organizing your homeyou won the battle in your laundry room! Take a 15 minute break and enjoy this victory. Then start the task of doing the excess laundry that youve been collectingone pile at a time. When the first is done, swap it out immediately to your dryer or to hangers, if thats more appropriate. Take it one pile at a timein other words, small steps! Soon, youll find that it really only takes 5-10 minutes to fold warm clothes from the dryer and put them in laundry baskets, ready to transfer to the appropriate rooms, closets, and drawers. The rewards are huge herekeep up on it (one load every day) and youll win the war against the Mt. Vesuvius of clothes in your home.
For more information on how to organize your home and also how to increase the value of your home please visit http://www.organizemyhome.wordpress.com
David Anderson
For more information on how to organize your home and also how to increase the value of your home please visit http://www.organizemyhome.wordpress.com
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