Laundry Tip

A few weeks ago, I posted about my new washer & dryer. These fabulous new machines have definitely eased the laundry burden at this house. But as I said in the post, they don't fold! :-) So I still had clothes for seven people gathering in folded piles on my coffee table, sofa, or wherever I folded a particular basket. No sooner would I have all the kiddos pick up their pile and put it away, than another load would come out of the dryer! We always had folded laundry lying around no matter what we did!

Here's the solution I came up with: I purchased the cart in the picture at Ikea for about $20. It lives in my laundry room and will eventually be part of a cute storage/desk combo and my new "sewing corner." (More on that when we actually get it finished!) Each of the "big kids" gets one drawer and the 2 toddlers share. As I fold the laundry, I put it into their drawers (which hold way more than you would think!) Once a day, at bedtime, they carry their drawer up to their room and put their folded laundry away. Throughout the rest of the day, I merely add to their drawer in the cart, and it stays neatly out of sight. (Laundry for my Sweetie and me, plus towels, gets an actual laundry basket that I take up once a day and empty. The basket sits either on top of the cart or neatly in a corner of the laundry room.)

The washer and dryer are awesome, but in many ways, it is this little cart that has truly revolutionized my attitude toward the laundry! (I even enjoy folding now, sitting on the stool and listening to my iPod!) As a bonus, we bought the little hook attachment that neatly holds the diaper bags and my purse, giving them an actual "home" rather than whatever surface I drop them on when I come in the door.

(On a related note: I recently found a fun new blog, full of tips from other moms. Check it out! Multi-tasking Moms)