August is a good time to tackle your laundry area zone. You may still have some laundry left over from vacation. Depending on where you live, you may be washing and storing your summer clothes – here in Georgia, not so much. You may have new school clothes and sports clothing that needs washing. You want this zone under control before fall season hits.
Laundry zones can be large or small and can be located in many places. Some older homes have a laundry zone in the basement. Some are located off the kitchen. I have seen them in closets in the hall or at the top of the stairs. I have even seen them right off master bedrooms. What you don’t want to see are piles of clothes migrating into surrounding areas. Mounds of clothes are not enjoyed by anyone but the family cat.
Keeping up with the laundry becomes less a chore with a well organized space and a plan for keeping on top of the mountain of laundry. It helps to have designated times scheduled to do laundry instead of waiting until an item is needed. “Mom, where are my soccer shorts?”
The idea is to keep laundry moving. Only bring to the laundry zone, the items you intend to wash right now. Leave everything else in the designated laundry baskets. As soon as clothes are dry, get them back to their “home.”
Some laundry zones (like mine) are also used for other purposes than just doing laundry. I have my cleaning products stored here along with my laundry products. I have ironing supplies, pet supplies, recycling bins and cabinets for entertaining supplies. The important thing is to decide what goes where and keep the different zones from running into each other. What you don’t want is something that was just stuck in this zone “just for now.”
During this month I look at my cleaning products and toss and consolidate. If I have a product that I am no longer using – out it goes. If I have ended up with two partial bottles of Woolite, I consolidate them. If I have a large container of soap that I store on the floor, I transfer some into a smaller container that is easier to handle. I want everything in this zone intuitive and easy to find and use.
Having this zone organized may not make you love to do laundry but it certainly will make this task less of a chore.
Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer