Closet Experiment

I'm not the best housekeeper in the world...just ask my husband he gets to see the house destroyed most days. I don't mind picking up or cleaning but there is one chore that I HATE above all else...putting away laundry! I will do laundry and fold clothes all day long but I detest putting it all away.

My husband thinks I'm crazy, but in a dream world if we lived in a dream house I would have a family closet in a large laundry room. Then I could fold and put things away immediately without having to make stacks of clothes, carry them upstairs and distribute them to the appropriate drawers. I probably sound really lazy, but truly I think this would help the laundry situation. Currently I do laundry every 2 weeks. I do it all in 1 day then the folded clothes sit in baskets for the next 2 weeks until I have to empty them for the next round of laundry...see not so efficient or easy to find our clothes.

To compound the issue our kids clothes and laundry hamper are upstairs in their room but 98% of the time they get dressed for the day and put on their pj's at night in the basement. This creates a huge pile-up of dirty clothes in the family room.

the original storage unit

In an attempt to corral the laundry situation I decided it was time to make an attempt at a family closet, a mini family closet if you will. I didn't want to invest a lot of money in case the experiment failed, so I cleared off a shelving unit we had in the basement laundry room. Then I purchased a few storage boxes. I also brought down a laundry basket that had just been sitting in the guest room for years. Each child has 1 storage basket with their everyday clothes. The 3rd storage basket has both of their pajamas. Then they each have a small box that fits their underwear and socks. Their off season clothes and church clothes still reside in their bedroom, but I figure going into their room once a week for church clothes isn't too big of an issue :) The top shelf is the kids art supplies and the bottom shelf is currently empty.

The family closet

It's not pretty to look at, but it is oh so functional and literally within feet of the family room (out the door pictured) and the laundry machine (to the right of the shelves).

I am happy to report that the 1st laundry cycle was a success for the family closet...the same cannot be said for the adult clothes of the house as days later they still sit folded in the basket downstairs. As I was folding the laundry I brought out the storage cubes and as I folded the clothes I put them in their respective baskets. Then all I had to do was put the baskets back on the shelf...so easy! I know this doesn't sound revolutionary, but when you have a busy, expanding family anything to make life more efficient is a wonderful thing!

And just because I like to add some fun color to any project I made fabric name tags with scrap fabric. This also makes identifying the baskets easier for the kids. Now they can get their own clothes.

a look inside Nora's basket, one stack of pants and one stack of shirts