How we hacked laundry doomsday without an in-unit washer/dryer

A few tips to change the way you tackle laundry

Sunday nights have settled into our regular laundry rhythm.

Of course this doesn’t take into account the odd child peeing through sheets or guests are coming and need to refresh towels and sheets because we don’t keep back-ups. But on our normal schedule, Sunday nights have slowly morphed into our chill, rest and reset day.

When we moved to the city 12 summers ago, most New Yorkers would tell you that the sure sign you have arrived in life is when you have an in-unit washer and dryer. However, I have recently stumbled across a large amount of acquaintances who have either always had an in-unit washer and dryer, and therefore, don’t respect the privilege they have received or have paid to put in their own little system in the closet or kitchen and forget what it’s like to have to wait til you have a full load to do laundry and get your money’s worth.

Either way, we are incredibly blessed to have an affordable laundry room in our basement. And now that we have made it through the baby spit up years, I have been able to step back and realize the gift that that truly is.

Yes it sucks not being able to stick our sweaty stinky running clothes in the laundry whenever we please, but there is something magical about getting all the laundry done all at once and having it completed for the week.

When I visit my parents house, I love to bask in the luxury of having clean clothes at my beckoning call. There are no sweeter words than my mom saying, “Oh just throw in a load,” when my kids roll in the dirt and come back smelly from a good day of playing in the back yard with the dog.

However, I experience the flip side of that too. The reality of small piles of laundry always ready for me to switch and fold. A task that I look forward to in my home, quickly becomes drudgery in the land of ease and in-unit washer and dryers. It never ceases to amaze me how convenience tends to push me over the precipice to straight up laziness.

“What I have to fold my clothes and put them all away now?” I mutter bitterly to myself as I trudge up the 5 stairs to the guest bedroom.

With many of my clients, I have found laundry to be one of the most problematic rhythms of their home (with or without an in-unit washer or dryer).

So I thought it would be helpful to share some tips that have really helped our routine run smoothly in our home as well as a few things to consider that will help take the edge of laundry and keep it from being that time sucking task that we all dread.