Yet ANOTHER "help me figure out the clothes situation" post.

[crunchymum]

:doh Just when I got things figured out at out last place... We moved.


Here's the sitch: laundry is now in the basement. There are 3 bedrooms and the bathroom on the top floor (2 story house).

Dd has her own room, but it's the sest room and there is NO closet. She has a dresser in there.

The boys have the largest bedroom, and there is 1 closet. It's just your average shelf with a bar closet. No dressers.

My bedroom is smaller than that bedroom, but it has 2 closets. :shifty


Right now it's just chaos. So far I have 1 large hamper in the hallway between all the bedrooms and bathroom. I need a laundry schedule of sorts, and some way to keep the hand me down clothes rotating smoothly. And also the most efficient storage solutions (especially for dd).


Help?

[abh5e8]

we had closets just like that in our old house. i found some medium size clear plastic storage boxes and put them in a row across the kids closet. then i installed a simple wood shelf a few inches above the boxes, and used it to hold another row of boxes. they filled the space really well, so were much more efficient then a dresser. another bonus = kids could dress and put away clothes themselves. i used the same boxes on the shelf above the hanging bar and added an additional one above that, again to maximize the space. in those clear boxes i kept out of season and 1 size bigger clothes. its awesome! i could always just look up there and see what i had coming up next. i had a 1 of the boxes just for shoes.

not a lot of help re the laundry situation...i'm struggling with that myself!!

[FaithHopeLove]

Do you have room for three hampers in the hallway? I have always done this and laundry is sorted as it is put in the hampers. Might get more of it out of their rooms when it's dirty.

Are captain's beds an option? Could your dh build some?

[mamaKristin]

Some form of shelving in the closets/non-closet would be helpful. :think Even just a couple of plastic units could make a difference.

We've got a small-ish house with laundry in the basement. I have one laundry basket in the hallway at all times, 3 overall, and I keep them in a rotation. If the one upstairs gets full, I add the second one to catch clothes. I sort between the baskets upstairs, and take one load down at a time, and use that same basket to transport the laundry back up again. I don't know if that makes sense, or helps at all. It helps contain the clutter in our not so large main floor though.

[crunchymum]

Oh, I like the clear bin/shelf idea. :think I also need a "too small" bin, I think.

We used to have 4 hampers in our hall - but honestly, no one ever would sort, so I just had to sort 4 hampers instead of one. :-/ the two hamper thing might work, though. :yes


Dh is adamantly against building any beds. :lol I tried, because I know that would solve a lot of issues... but I totally understand, his work is really ramping up and he has a ton on his plate.

[Blue Aurora]

I have a weird laundry solution. I have bins by the washer in the laundry room. At night we pile the dirty clothes in the hallway upstairs and in the morning one the kids chores is to take the small pile of clothes to the laundry room and sort them into the right bin. I really like not having dirty clothes piled in our rooms since half the time they were thrown on the floor and not into the bins.

[abh5e8]

Blue Aurora, i love that idea. we have bedrooms on the 2nd floor and laundry on the main floor and i've not yet come up with a good plan. in our old house we had laundry in the basement, but i had a huge hall/linen closet, so i kept 2 baskets there that we all sorted dirty clothes into.

I just sort into: hang up clothes vs dryer clothes (and I wash towels, sheets and kitchen linens separately) and both my 5 and 4 y/os are very good at the sorting part

[JessicaTX]

I don't suppose building clothing racks and changing rooms in the basement is a plausible idea. I have this dream of all clothing being centrally located so its easy to wash dry and put away without spreading everywhere.

[crunchymum]

Jen, I actually really like that idea! :yes though I wonder if a small basket would work ok instead of on the floor... :think Of course, it's true that 90% of the time stuff goes on the floor anyway. :doh


A family changing room sounds lovely! I've thought of that. :think I don't know that that will happen in this house. :think


I have to somehow figure out our rhythm - Dd is for sure able to do her own laundry, she just needs nudging. I want ds1 to start doing his own laundry, too, and ds2 can at least help with things like loading and even folding/putting away.

I just got a long "valet" hook for dd, for know. I would guess she can hang a handful of hangers on there, at least. :think I wonder if I should do something like this: http://m.pinterest.com/pin/275634439665780454/