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Thursday, January 23, 2014

An Organized Laundry Folding Station

A Laundry Center that Holds Everyone Accountable ;)

with Free Printables {in 6 colors!} to Make Your Own

 

 

When we moved into our new house last year, we had to make some adjustments because it was a smaller space. And while I'm perfectly happy to downsize (in general I think we've come to rely on more things and space than we actually need), I did have some struggles getting used to my new "laundry room" (i.e., a closet with stackable machines).

Since the laundry closet is located in our upstairs hallway, I did inherit the convenience of not having to haul our laundry up and down the stairs for each load. On the other hand, I had no space to fold or organize anything when it came out of the dryer (well, that's not entirely true. I would often toss it all on top of one of my daughters' beds, but that created a whole bunch of other issues).

http://thrifterindisguise.blogspot.com/2014/01/milk-paint-drop-leaf-table.htmlI decided that what I needed was a drop leaf table somewhere in the hallway; I wanted a piece that wasn't overwhelmingly large but had the versatility to accommodate more space when I needed it. Now that I knew what I wanted, I watched Craigslist for months to find the perfect piece (this was harder than it sounds. I needed a specific size in a specific price range--I didn't want to spend more than $30). Finally I found the right table, negotiated it to the right price ($20!), and after a little makeover, my Laundry Station was finally coming to life!






Creating a Laundry Station


As happy as I was with my new space, I still had more work to do. Living with three little kiddos, I feel like a ridiculous percentage of my days are devoted to cleaning up after them. And they're still young, so I give them some slack... but it's about time they started taking more responsibility for their things, and I thought this would be an easy way to start. Now, when clean laundry is folded and sorted by person, it's placed into a nice, clean laundry basket with a personalized label. Neat, organized, and pretty! And so so so easy. And to make it just a little more fun for the kiddos, I chose to use their FAVORITE different colors for the tags.



To Create This Laundry Station, You'll Need:


  • Small Laundry Baskets from Dollar Tree
  • Closepins
  • Laundry Letter and Icon Tags (Free Printables Below)
  • Printer and Printer Paper
  • Scissors 
  • Hot Glue Gun and Glue

A Few Tips on the Process
  • I used cardstock (125 lb) to print the tags, but if you don't have any, you could attach the tags to some thin cardboard (like from a cereal box) to give them a little more stability. If you have access to a laminator, you may want to consider laminating them, too, just to add extra durability.
  • I used regular ol' scissors to cut out the letter and icon tags.
  • Use hot glue to attach the tags to the closepins.



I like this system because it allows me the flexibility of labeling the baskets ONLY when I need to. This way I don't have a bunch of baskets hanging around for no reason. When the tags aren't in use, I just clip them onto a little basket until I'm ready for them.

 

 

Download Your Own {FREE!} Laundry Letters and Icons Here


Yes, they are free! All I ask if that you leave me a comment in this post letting me know which color you're choosing and/or how you'll be using them! Not a "commenter"? That's ok! Follow me on Pinterest instead! And enjoy!!

Laundry Station Letters {in Blue}
Laundry Station Letters {in Olive Green}
Laundry Station Letters {in Violet}
Laundry Station Letters {in Pink}
Laundry Station Letters {in Orange}
Laundry Station Letters {in Turquoise}


I hope you enjoy the tags (and that they help you recruit some new laundry helpers)!

 Let's connect! I'm most active on Pinterest and Instagram.




Featured On:
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20 comments:

  1. What a great idea! I am saving this for a weekend project and then we'll see if my family puts their stuff away.

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  2. LOL I hope they do! Thanks for stopping by, April!

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  3. wonderful idea. My kids are grown now but I can share this with my kids for their families.

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  4. Love those labels! Thanks for the printable!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Colleen! Have a great weekend!

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  5. I love the labels, with five kiddos at home this will come in handy

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    1. Holy moly, 5 of them?! I hope the labels will help! I literally cannot keep up with the laundry for 3 of them. Thanks for stopping by, Shannan!

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  6. What a great idea - I love those clip-on labels!

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    1. Thanks Staci! They're holding up pretty well so far!

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  7. Why didn't I think of this...hate doing laundry but this is a great idea!

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  8. This is so great. I love how you make organizing so easy. It is definitely not one of my strong points. Thank you for sharing on Create Link Inspire and I have featured you! I would love for you to stop by and grab a feature button. Thanks for sharing your talents. http://www.thecraftyblogstalker.com/2014/02/create-link-inspire-featuring-you.html

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    1. Thanks so much, Katie! That's fabulous :) Although, I have to be honest. I am not always this organized! In fact, I would never allow anyone to see my craft room in its current state!! Thanks for the feature!

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