insideKENT Magazine Issue 46 - January 2016 | Page 115

INTERIORS
AN organised NEW YEAR cont.
The Laundry
Oh dear. Laundry. It’s the bane of many
people’s lives, but the feeling of
satisfaction when it’s all sorted and
organised is amazing. One way to start
is to give each person their own laundry
basket. Label it, let them choose the
colour, let them decorate it if that’s
possible. It’s theirs, and they must keep
charge of it. When it’s full, if they are
old enough they can put the washing
on. If they’re not old enough, they can
ask for help. Anything that doesn’t end
up in the baskets (odd socks left on
the floor, dirty towels left in the
bathroom and so on) will end up in the
last basket – and if no one claims the
clothes when they do their wash, well,
that’s up to you; leave them there to
fester, throw them away, give them to
charity (after washing them, of
course)… That basket will be empty
one way or another!
When it comes to drying the clothes
on the washing line, try hanging each
person’s clothes together. That way,
when you bring everything in you won’t
need to sort through the pile – instead
you can easily give each person their
own clothes to (hopefully) put away
nicely.

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If you would rather keep control of the
laundry, then make sure your laundry
baskets (lights, colours, delicates etc)
are kept in one place, together.
Everyone will need to put their clothes
in the correct basket if they want it
washed.
The Household Schedule
No matter how organised your house
is, it will still need to be tidied and
cleaned regularly to keep it at its best.
If you want everyone to play their part,
why not use a household schedule?
Each person living in the house can
have their own column, and beneath
their name will be the chores they need
to do that week. Every week the jobs
can change around so that it’s fair.
These organisers can be downloaded
for free from numerous websites, but
if you want something more permanent
take a look at the Family Planner Kit
from Etsy
(www.etsy.com/uk/listing/224934304
/family-planner-kit-printablefamily?ref=related-0). Here you can
write down the chores that need doing
for the week or the month, as well as
note down important dates, schools
marks, messages, phone numbers,
and even passwords.