Easy Laundry Organization (aka, the Depths of my Organizational Crazy)

(I'm attempting NaBloPoMo this year, where I write a post every day in the month of November.  Miss Zoot has graciously provided some prompts, and today's prompt was organization.)

Technically speaking, the topic was to write about some major organizational fail, and I honestly couldn't think of anything funny or really interesting to share.  Not that laundry is suuuuper fascinating stuff, but I do remember sharing my tips with someone who had a major 'aha moment' (as Oprah would say) when I somehow got into a conversation about LAUNDRY.  I figured that it would be more fun to share my oh-so-genius laundry tips!

I know so many moms that just get BURIED under piles of laundry every week, and maybe this will be a help to a few of you out there.  I'm no saint, sometimes the clean laundry gets put away the day I have to start another round - but at least it stays organized in the clean baskets.  Here's what I'm talkin' about: on Saturday I pool all of our laundry and divide it into two loads, lights and darks.  Two loads a week, that's it, except for one midweek load of workout gear.  And then, the main thing that I do to keep on top of laundry is...  organize it by person/hamper as you are unloading the dryer.

Each basket represents one member of our family and I always put them in the same position so that as I grab an item, my hands just fly to the right basket out of habit.  It's also nice to have the garbage can on hand for dryer sheets and my son's endless parade of hole-y socks.  And here's the little trick I have for never losing a sock in the dryer!  I think there's a conspiracy against women in this regard, by the way.  When my husband buys workout socks, they're a pack of matching socks - all matching each other, interchangeable.  When I buy workout socks, each pair has it's own color:

I would have no problem interchanging them if they were all the same color, but wearing two different colors is INCONCEIVABLE.  This also applies to my daughters socks, with the added irritation of solids vs. stripes.  ACK.

So, I put all those tiny workout socks and kids socks on top of the machine.  Then I go through, match them up and THEN put them in their respective hamper.

I usually just leave the baskets in the laundry room for a few days and grab what I need, and have them there for my midweek load.  My husband usually grabs his basket and puts his stuff away whenever he gets a moment and I try and have the kids grab theirs.  

There ya go.  There's a glimpse into the level of my crazy.  But, I must say that I don't feel overwhelmed by laundry.  Maybe it can help you, too!  It's always good to...