A Thrifter in Disguise: An Organized Laundry Folding Station

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.html

I 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}