The Laundry room

Working through two days of Thanksgiving break, we were able to clear and condense enough stuff in the garage to set up my new sewing space. In the process I re-discovered no fewer than 8 plastic bins full of various fabrics I had purchased on clearance and then never got around to using. Now I can add more projects to the To Do List.

With a sewing space carved out, I got to work on the flannel pajamas for the kids. The plan for this year was to make jammies, as usual, and then make fleece hoodies for my kids and four other kids on our list. I was determined this year to not let the household stuff go by the wayside. While I was spending the bulk of my day at the sewing machine, I made sure to wash at least one load of laundry and to fold and put away as many loads as I washed each day, so that it didn’t pile up. I didn’t make any progress on the house, but at least it wasn’t getting worse.

Once the pajamas were completed, I only had a few days left to finish the hoodies. I started to get really stressed out from the pressure to finish. Mike saw the stress I was under and he suggested that I skip the hoodies and we buy some gifts instead. I argued that we couldn’t afford it and it would be a waste of the money I had already spent on fabric.

After some back and forth, I realized that there was no way I was going to get the sewing done in time. The fleece fabric could be saved for next year’s gifts. I had purchased extra flannel at the store to get ahead on next year as well since Chanukah starts on December first in 2010, so this would allow me to get a head start. We did have to spend more money on gifts than we had planned, but in this case, the trade off for my sanity was well worth it. We set a budget and hit every discount store in the area. We were able to come in under (the newly set) budget and I didn’t have to spend the entire holiday season in the garage. An added bonus was that I didn’t spend so much time sewing that I got burned out, so I am actually looking forward to some more projects! All in all, I am counting this as a success, even if I didn’t reach my intended goal.

After the holidays, we continued to work on the garage. We received some cash as a gift, and I used part of it to get some more clear plastic bins for storing stuff. They are always on sale after Christmas, so I got several 54 qt bins for $3.00 each. So far I have only used one of them but there is plenty of stuff still to be sorted out there, so I am glad I stocked up.

I also picked up some heavy duty larger bins for the laundry room area. These ones are not clear because the lids don’t go on them, so I can see what is inside. I now have 5 bins in my laundry room area. Clothes that need special attention (stain treating, mending etc.) and the ever present single sock collection both get kept in old broken laundry hampers. In a shallow plastic bin I place parts of outfits or sets that are missing their mates. The 3 new large bins store the hand me downs, one for clothes going to my own kids, one for clothes going to friends, and one for donating to charity.

A major part of my plan for the laundry room was to get the folding table cleared off so that I could actually fold the clothes out there. The plan is to eliminate the ever present basket of clean laundry waiting to be folded on the couch. Not only did we get the table cleared, but I also laid some tile on the surface to make it easy to wipe off. I just got some really cheap peel and stick stuff, so the whole thing took less than 30 minutes. The bins allow me to sort through items as they come out of the dryer, and prevent that too small shirt from cycling through the laundry 50 times because SOMEBODY keeps throwing it on the floor. Using the folding table means that clothes don’t even come in the house unless they are folded and ready to be put away. Plus, now that I have a system, I can easily patch a pair of pants while I am waiting for the dryer to finish. So far the new set up is working great, and it has cut way down on rewashing clean clothes because they ended up on the floor.

Up next: The Master Bedroom