I'm blessed to have a first floor laundry. My grandfather converted cabinet space in the kitchen to accommodate a stackable washer/dryer so that as she aged, my grandma wouldn't have to climb the basement steps. Ha! She never stopped going into the basement, but I digress.
I love my first floor laundry. Last week my grandparents' washer/dryer set finally croaked. They were named Lucy & Ricky. On Friday, Fred & Ethel were installed. Older homes weren't built for such luxury so it's not a laundry room, it's just the appliances right there in my kitchen. If I gave it enough thought, I'd probably find it unsightly. But I don't give it that much thought.
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| Fred & Ethel |
So my dirty little secret? I don't immediately put my clean laundry away. I hear you gasping. I usually start the laundry on Thursday evening with the goal of completion by Saturday morning. The dining table is right next to the laundry area since the laundry area is in the kitchen. As I remove the clean clothes, I immediately fold them and stack them, sorted by their destination (linen closet, Mac's room, our room, etc.) The dirtiest part of my dirty secret is that I don't necessarily put everything away immediately. I holler at Mac and the Mr. to grab their stuff as they walk by and sometimes they do. Sometimes they also just dig through to find the item they want at the moment. That really grinds my gourd.
On Saturday morning when I'm done, I take everything from the table and finally put it away. I also keep a largish basket on the table. That's where the stuff that I collect from the nether regions goes as I'm cleaning house. When it's time to take the laundry items to their proper place, the tray goes a long and the various stuffs are put away too. The baskety tray is large enough to carry a stack of laundry as well. I don't usually use laundry baskets because somehow they end up becoming permanent receptacles for some people and the items never transition into closets or drawers.
That really grinds my gourd too.
So the clean and folded laundry on the table removes the temptation for living out of laundry baskets.
Of course, I know what you're thinking. Why? Why oh why do you do laundry this way? Please tell us! So I will.
My least favorite aspect of laundry is putting the stuff away. I don't know why, I don't care why. I just know that I don't like it. This method allows me to do the dreaded put-away once instead of five or six times a week and despite their occasional rule breaking, the Mr. and Mac are pretty good about grabbing their own stack and stowing it into drawers and closets. Plus there's the satisfaction of, when it's time to clear that table, knowing that this final step means the laundry is done for a week.
When I consider the chores I least like, I can usually break the steps down and find the one or two that are the real annoyances. If I can think of a way to modify those few aspects of the job, I don't procrasinate as much when it's time to get to work.
5 comments:
I hate taking out the garbage (to the curb) and bringing the cans in.
In the winter and cooler weeks, I let it stack up so I do it every other week, so I do it half as much:)
Us too Margie! We don't generate enough garbage to take it out every week.
Sara, I covet your 1st floor laundry.
I 'hate' cleaning up the kitchen alone and want everybody to suffer through the job right along with me. Maybe I should change my attitude and find some joy in the process .. Like .. being thankful we have food to make dirty dishes, we have a kitchen to clean after eating food .. and we have the ability to clean said kitchen.
Nah..Mrs. Mac...you should make everyone suffer along with you...:)
Hmmm..I think dusting is my least favorite job....I use a mask and gloves and there is just so much of it....our BR is the worst so I do it more often...breaking the house into sections helps...I do the BR every week but the other upstairs rooms about once a month and the downstairs every other week....I don't like it better but it does actually get done...
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