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Let’s Get Moving! |
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While some home-organization gurus will tell you to
start in the kitchen, I’m going to advise beginning
in another area. The kitchen will be the third place
we attack and this doesn’t make it less important,
but I will explain why I’m starting elsewhere.
First, if you look around your home, you probably
see lots of clothes. Am I right? You’ve got clothes
in closets, you’ve 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
you’ve got clothes in laundry baskets. You might
even have rumpled clothes in the dryer or (heaven
forbid!) the washer. If it’s the former, the clothes
are only rumpled. If it’s the latter, they’re
probably rumpled AND smelly and (potentially)
mildew-y. Yuck! Somewhere in this Mt. Vesuvius of
laundry, dirty, clean, or otherwise, is your home.
And I’m 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 don’t have a
laundry room but have a laundry closet (with room
for the washer, dryer, and some shelves), I’m
betting you haven’t seen the top of your dryer for
weeks or even months. It’s covered in rumpled
clothes and towels, right?
Have you guessed where we’re starting? That’s right!
The laundry area of your home. And here’s why: if
you get your laundry room cleaned and organized,
you’ll be much more apt to actually DO the laundry
that plagues you and helps your home to be
disorganized. And because you won’t want to undo the
work you’ve done in the laundry room, you’re more
likely to fold the laundry when it’s done, and put
it away. There’s something that’s a breath of fresh
air about a straightened laundry room—sort of like
when you walk in to a closet where everything is
hanging neatly.
So start with small steps:
Can you see the floor? No? Then pick up what’s on
the floor and put it in laundry baskets. If you
don’t 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.
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 bags—one to
collect junk, and the other for later. Dust the
dryer from the lint-leftovers and use a little
window-cleaner if it doesn’t come off readily. Don’t
neglect the area where the “start” button is—that
can be grimy, too!
Can you see the top of the washer? If not, repeat
the steps in #2, using the window cleaner if
necessary.
Okay - now you’ve got your washer & dryer cleaned
off. Congratulations! Let’s continue to take small
steps in the laundry room….
Now take a critical look at your supply-shelf. Do
you have empty bottles or boxes lying around from
spent detergent and/or fabric softener? Clean those
out. Use that grocery bag that you’ve put excess
dryer lint in and pitch those empties. Then organize
what’s left. If you need to add things to your
shopping list, now is the time—now you know what
you’ve 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 dryer—why reach more than you have to? If
your shelves are higher than you’d like, use the top
ledge of your washer & dryer to hold supplies! I’ve
never seen a washer and dryer that don’t 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 supplemental you have. Put
the dryer sheets on the top of the dryer so you
don’t forget and end up with a load of static cling!
If you have wire-shelves above your washer & dryer,
you’ve 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 it’s full, cut it down and put it in the trash
and put up a new one.
Now look at your floor. Does it need sweeping? If
so, grab a broom and sweep. It won’t take you more
than 5 minutes and you’ll feel much better about
your room and your work—especially if something
you’ve just washed falls on the floor as you’re
transferring stuff to the dryer.
Congratulations! You’ve done the preliminary work of
organizing your home—you 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 you’ve been collecting—one pile at a
time. When the first is done, swap it out
immediately to your dryer or to hangers, if that’s
more appropriate. Take it one pile at a time—in
other words, small steps! Soon, you’ll 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 here—keep up on it
(one load every day) and you’ll win the war against
the Mt. Vesuvius of clothes in your home.
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