Well, now, this post about organizing laundry promises to be light and airy compared to yesterday’s, doesn’t it?

It’s just that I’ve been wanting to share with you a laundry idea that works well for me, and here it is Wednesday. I’d rather write something deep and thought-provoking. Instead, I’m going to write about folding and putting away laundry.

I’ve never liked doing the laundry–especially for six people–but what aggravated me the most were two particular steps in the process: finding a temporary location for the clean-and-folded clothes, and getting the kids to put those clean-and-folded clothes away.

One day I bought something like this:

Mine has a fourth drawer so that I have one for each child (clearly labeled with their names and decorated with stickers-of-choice).

Now when I’m doing the laundry, I pull the drawers open, staggered, so that as I fold, I can simply place each item into the appropriate drawer. When I’m done, I shut the drawers and move on.

Later, when I call the kids to put their clothes away at a more convenient time, say, at bedtime, they trot down to the laundry room, pull their personalized drawers completely out of the cart and easily carry their clothes upstairs–the drawer doubles as a lightweight basket, or tote. The kids put away their very modest clothes and carry the drawers back down, slip them back into the cart, and the cycle continues.

I like this system because the kids don’t have to be ready to put their clothes away at the instant I’m done with laundry. Also, I don’t have baskets–empty or full–stacked here and there in the laundry room. This stackable system looks neat and tidy whether the drawers are empty or full.

And here’s an amazing bonus use:

We use them for camping vacations instead of duffel bags or suitcases.

We have a pop-up camper, so it’s good to go vertical with storage whenever possible, yet whatever we use has to travel somewhat compressed. The stackable unit we bought is perfect for this. We have the kids pack their clothes into the drawers (sometimes they have to use an overflow bag for some category of clothes, but for summery trips they can still fit it all in their drawers), unstack them for transport so that they fit in the back of the van or the camper.

At the campground, when the pop-up camper is cranked up and ready for us to move in, we stack the drawers on top of each other again and set them on the countertops. Everything stays much more contained and organized during the week than when we used bags.

I even have one extra drawer for some of my own things.

Double-duty drawers for laundry and vacation.

They really work for me.

** Updated to link back to Rocks In My Dryer **

Please visit Rocks in My Dryer for more great ideas!

My previous Works-For-Me-Wednesday Ideas:

Let It Snow, Let Us Slow (Crockpot Steel-Cut Oatmeal)

Family LoveFest

Joy of Lifelong Learning–For Free!

MP3 Accompanist

MP3 Note-taking