Anthropomorphizing Your Belongings

After watching a video with my mom recently, we started talking about anthropomorphizing. My observation of the video was that the animals were being credited with some human characteristics. She agreed and commented sometimes we go out of our way to avoid recognizing “human” characteristics in animals and shared an experience she’d had. She observed some elk sliding down a hill, front legs splayed in front of them while their haunches was on the ground. Now, even that is cute, but after they got to the bottom of the hill, they jumped up and ran back to the top and did it again. They were sledding, it was play – this served no other purpose.

Yeah, so what does this have to do with organizing?

Anthropomorphizing isn’t limited to animals. We can view our belongings with a certain amount of personality. We might be reluctant to throw things away or even give them away. This always makes me think of The Velveteen Rabbit, where a toy can become real once it’s owner really and truly loves it.

What we tell ourselves about our stuff affects how we deal with it. Some people throw things out easily once they’ve lost their usefulness while others have a hard time parting with them at all. And this is just talking about when the things might need to leave – what about how we treat our belongings while they are in our possession?

There’s another argument that a certain amount of anthropomorphizing could be helpful. If you loved your keys and cell phone, you be less likely to misplace them. You’d be conscious of them and where you laid them down – mindful of how you treated them, maximizing their chance to be useful.

If you valued your things as if they personality, or maybe more that they had a job to do – to help you – you might want to help them accomplish this.

Your papers – accessible and logical so you can find what you need when you need it.
Your clothes – arranged and easy to access whenever you want
Your dishes – clean and ready to be used whenever you need
Your photos and memorabilia – available when you want to share it with someone or even to take a trip down memory lane for yourself
Your jewelry – if you know where all of it is, you can wear it when you want
Your décor – pleasing and rewarding for you so that you would smile as you walk through your home
Your random lost items – peace at being able to find exactly what you need when you need it
Your “whatever” – to make your life simpler and more enjoyable

Show your things your compassion and care so they can help you – the give and take that relationships require. And even if we think of it differently, we do have relationships with things, so let’s nurture that.

Once your things have stopped helping you, it’s time to let them move on. If appropriate, moving them onto someone else who can appreciate what they have to offer. What better blessing that gifting that usefulness to someone else? If they’ve outlived their ability to serve, then simply letting them go.

If our things had feelings, I imagine they’d be sad to become clutter since they served us so well, that’s not what they would want. If you want a more magical approach, in The Velveteen Rabbit, although it looks like a dire end to a well-loved toy who sheds a real tear as he’s about to be burned (the boy had Scarlet Fever), the Nursery Magic Fairy comes, kisses him, and makes him a real rabbit – who the boy sees romping in the wild and thinks of his old toy. Even with things, it is still a relationship – what would you do to treat that relationship with care and respect?

Information Collecting

You might say that I am an information junkie. I love learning and there is so much out there I could learn. And it seems like it’s getting easier and easier to have access to a plethora of information – at your fingertips, whenever you want. I will hold myself back from a rant about the reliability of this information, yet with the Internet so accessible, there’s tons of information to be had. We might not stop and think about our collecting in this realm.

Our collecting information might be fairly limited to certain topics or it might be more general. It doesn’t matter which one it is if you have a tendency to collect it. It’s relatively easy to collect information and physically less cluttered if it’s digital. Nevertheless, it’s collecting in either form. We don’t see the space in the same way when it’s digital, yet this doesn’t mean it’s not getting cluttered.

First, is your collecting of information getting in your way? How much time and energy are you spending on collecting this information? Are you referencing this information again? Can you find what you know you saved when you want it again? Do you have guilt that you aren’t using the information you’ve collected?

Just like with most stuff that you can collect, if you are keeping it, you don’t want to be controlled by it. It’s there to serve and help you. Period. You also want to be able to easily find it. Since information these days is both physical and digital, it can be challenging to keep everything together. (I’m moving strongly into the digital realm, as it’s searchable and saves paper.) It doesn’t matter which one suits you as long you make it work for you.

Sometimes this means taking a hard look at what your response is to information. Do you have a desire to collect it? If you collect it and then do something with it, then there’s nothing wrong. If you seem to have information that you haven’t even looked at, it’s time to consider what matters in your life. Do you want to spend your time and energy going through and examining all that information? (Are you really going to make time and energy to do that?) More importantly, are you going to continue to collect information for this unknown future point when you will use it?

How much are you collecting because it “might be useful one day”? Do you lack the confidence that you could find the information when it became relevant? Have you thought about how fast information changes, so saving something that might be relevant down the road might really be saving irrelevant information?

I struggle with these limits. As I’ve already said, I love learning. When I look on my computer or at my papers, I’ve been amazed by how much I’ve saved. It’s hard to part with them – yet this is exactly what I’ve been doing – examining what I’ve kept and tossing what I can. I’ve also made some changes in how I handle information: I’m starting to scan certain things and I’m re-organizing the digital information so I can access it more readily.

As with all organizing projects, I see it as a process. Your vision can change at any moment. Additionally, our first step really needs to be examining what we’re collecting and considering what happens for us with collecting. Even the most organized person collects – it’s what they do with the collecting that differentiates them. Is the information you are collecting worth your time and energy? Challenge yourself with your answer – it can open up a new way of viewing your stuff.

The Container Store

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to get back to The Container Store. It’s over an hour drive one way to get there and I probably go maybe twice a year, with gift cards. I joke that going to The Container Store for me is like a kid in a candy store. I can spend hours perusing the aisles – appreciating the options available, discovering new products and ideas, getting inspired with new ideas and approaches, and just simply drooling over all the products there.

This last time I was at The Container Store I became aware of something that has happened every time I am in the store. First, before I delve into that, let me share that I probably talked to at least 4 different salespersons on the floor while I was there shopping.

The first time was after I found a product that I thought might work for me although I wanted to adhere it in a different way than it was packaged, so I wanted to ask someone. She was quite helpful, agreeing with me that my idea should work fine, and then she went on to make an alternative suggestion of attaching it to what I wanted that was different from both the packaging and my idea. She helped problem solve a way to make the product work for what I wanted. Since I was already talking to her, I asked her a couple of other general questions, thanked her, and resumed perusing the aisles.

One of the things I’d done for this trip was to take a couple of the pages from their catalogs of products I wanted to check out, things I thought might work for my husband and I. When I found one of those, I realized it wasn’t at all what I wanted or needed. So, I found another sales associate to ask if they had any ideas of a product that would meet my needs. She understood completely what I wanted, agreed that the one product wasn’t good for that and lead me directly to an alternative.

A little later I was back looking more closely at those products, next to me was a salesperson helping someone else. The customer was apparently looking for something quite specific. The salesperson was understanding and admitted that she didn’t think The Container Store sold anything that would meet her needs. Then she went on to suggest another store to check if they might have what the customer needed. Before the salesperson left, I snagged her to ask some questions about this product. She asked me some questions about how I planned to use it and shared that it wasn’t the strongest for toting around regularly, the one she used was beginning the tear. As we continued to talk she checked with me that I wasn’t planning on stacking it with other things – it wasn’t sturdy enough for that either.

Unfortunately my experience in most stores is disappointing. The people don’t seem to know their products well. They more often than not seem disinterested in actually helping the customer find what they need. Even more often, they are unlikely to direct the customer to another store to assist them in getting what they need. I was pleased to hear each salesperson being helpful and honest with both myself and other customers.

It was a little later that it occurred to me that each time I go to The Container Store, regardless of which storefront it is, I find the staff to be happy to help me – not simply there, but actually pleased to talk and lead me different products. They seem patient and content to help me as little or as much as I need. This latest trip was to my third store in the Chicago area and all three stores have been the same in this way. It’s wonderful to experience great customer service.

ClosetMaid Cubeicals – Especially the Mini

4 out of 5 stars

ClosetMaid Mini Off-set Cubeical

Pros:

decent construction
true cube shaped
several finishes available (usually)
fabric cubes fit well and come in many colors
can connect to others to become customizable
can hang on the wall, if you want

Cons:

laminated wood
plastic covers to hide screws
recommends glue which is awkward to use
standard cubeical can waste space if used for smaller items

Review:

I’ll admit it; I can go all gaga over cubbies. That’s exactly what happened when I saw the ClosetMaid mini cubeicals. I was there looking for the standard cubeicals as I find them quite useful and have used them in several places throughout our home. But I am getting slightly off topic – I was out shopping for the regular ones when I realized they now offered mini ones. Oh my! And yes, one of them came home with me along with some fabric cubes to fit in it. They currently have 2 styles to choose from in the mini style (here’s the other style).

I learned with my first cubeical that it needs to be assembled on a hard floor, carpeting isn’t solid enough to eliminate small gaps between the pieces. I eagerly tore the box open in the kitchen to get it put together. Unlike the other cubeicals I’ve gotten, this one included a small bottle of glue to use when attaching the various pieces to each other. Much to my annoyance in getting the lid off the glue, it squirted all over and the top went flying across the room. For some reason, I also found it concerning that the piece “needs” glue when none of the other have.

Since I got the mini-offset organizer, it was a little awkward to put it together though still relatively easy. The other cubeical systems have been quite simple to assemble and it would seem it’s the offset that makes it just a little awkward. Depending on the cubeicals use, I will sometimes pass on attaching the included cardboard backing as I did with my mini-cubeical.

I can be old-fashioned in that I really would prefer solid wood construction for what I use in our home, though this can be challenging to find. Considering that solid wood is more expensive and often harder to find in the needed sizes, I appreciate the ClosetMaid cubeicals. They continue to hold up well and can be customized to fit the spaces you have relatively easily. They are laminated wood, which can cause some splitting or screws going in crooked, though I have rarely had this problem.

It’s nice that there are different finishes in order to choose what will match your décor. I appreciate the fitting of the fabric cubes into the unit as they fit well and are not tight. In one unit I have, the fabric drawer stores extra towels and I have not seen dust collect inside. There’s a large selection of colors to choose from for the fabric drawers and since the large ones are typically sold individually you can get more than one color easily. For the mini cubeical, the fabric drawers are sold in a 2-pack. Since I wanted more than one color, I needed to buy 2 packages, though I would have been happy with just 2 fabric drawers for the mini.

ClosetMaid Off-set Mini Cubeical

Although I have never applied this, the ClosetMaid cubeicals are designed for the possibility to attach them to each other in a number of ways if you choose. They include hardware for attaching the unit to the wall, both as a hanging option as well as just a way to secure the unit. Since the cubecials are assembled, the screws are visible once you’ve put it together, and they include plastic covers for the screws in the color of your unit. I’ve found these pieces to be flimsy and they are easily brushed off. Most often, I simply don’t even try to use them and settle for the visible screws on the unit.

The standard cubeical has perfect cube dimensions, which surprisingly isn’t the case with all “cube” systems. The standard cubeical can be large for some items, as can the fabric drawers. I appreciate that they are large enough to fit binders and your standard cleaning supplies (1 unit I have is in my utility closet), though have found that smaller items can get lost in the drawers or the space feels wasted with smaller items. This is understandably less of an issue with the mini cubeical. As with any organizational tool, you need to consider what your purpose is for the space.

Considering the mini offset cubeical is my fifth cubeical purchase, it’s easy to say that I like the ClosetMaid cubeicals. I don’t recommend them to everyone as it needs to meet your needs and meet with your taste – I know one person bought another ClosetMaid product and commented that it was acceptable and inexpensive, though not great, the laminated wood bothered them. I find them to be a decent option for organizing spaces. Here are some pictures of some of my cubeicals:

ClosetMaid Cubeical - 2 cubes

ClosetMaid Cubeical - 8 cubes

**As usual, I do not receive any compensation for writing these reviews.

Keeping Your Car Organized

From the time I started driving for quite a while longer my car collected various things. Eventually I would spend some time just getting it emptied out once it got bad enough. Then there came a time that the car would still get a little cluttered, yet it never required hours of work to get it cleaned up. It’s easy for our cars to collect things – we’re in and out of them regularly.

As with so much with getting and staying organized, how we handle our cars depends on how you want to do it. If you are one of the people whose cars collects things and then you eventually set aside some time to deal with – and don’t want to change that – no problem. You choose how you want to handle your space and things.

Then, there some steps you can take to handle it differently. You don’t even need to begin the following steps with a clean car; you can begin these from however your car is right now. We are in and out of our cars often, and there’s things we can do with our efforts to keep our cars organized.

Most of us completely empty the cars of our groceries after shopping. If we use this philosophy with everything else, we can maintain our car. Each time you get out of your car, you take a load to where it needs to go. You can take just one load even, and if you do that regularly, your car will rarely collect much clutter. If you have trash – you grab as much as you can and drop it in the nearest receptacle each time you get out of your car. If you are heading into a store, there are usually trashcans by the front door – use those.

Sometimes getting gas can feel like a chore. This is another great time to spend a little time emptying stuff from the car. There’s usually a trashcan right by the gas pump, and you’d be amazed by how much you can get done just while your car is getting filled up. If you tend to procrastinate getting gas, try to curb that and work at getting gas on your way home since you’re likely to feel less rushed. It might also lessen any resistance you feel toward using that time to clear out the trash. You can also gather the other things that need to go into the house while the gas tank is getting filled – make it easier to grab the things when you head inside.

I’ve used different techniques over the years for trying to keep the car organized. For a while I kept plastic bags in the car for collecting trash and recycling and when those got full would take them out. I discovered that I would procrastinate emptying them though until they were overflowing. I now keep a reusable bag in case I need it, though I’ve not used it yet.

The habit of each time I left the car I would take at least one load to its place has been the easiest for me. My procrastination habits interfere the least with this. It also never feels like a chore… well, almost never. 🙂 In my case, it’s also now minor stuff and not something I have to do each time – just when I have something for the trash or recycling.

For the various things that I want to keep in the car, and it’s gotten less over the years – I tend to look for ways to contain them. Before containers, the stuff would slide all around and look messier than it was. When you’re driving kids around, it can be even more of a challenge. I encourage you to enlist the children to help, they can return things to where they belong and even help carry things into the house.

As with probably everything about organizing – it requires some discipline and developing habits. How do you want things to be? It doesn’t have to require lots of time or energy, though it might in the beginning. Once you’ve established your routines, it can become easy. Decide for yourself how you want your car to look and take steps to get it there and then keep it there.

Under the Bed Storage

I’ll admit I use the space under our bed for storage. It’s not something I generally recommend, though as with so much about organizing – it all varies depending on the person and their situation. There are certainly pros and cons to not only whether you store things under your bed but also what sorts of things to store there.

First let me talk briefly about simply choosing to use that space to store things. There’s a great benefit to the space as it’s out of the way – you’ve got an area that will not clutter up your space by keeping things there. One of the reasons I use it is that I know the things are relatively protected there – there’s not going to be moisture problems, unlike the possibilities of an attic or basement. It’s fairly accessible if I need to get something from it. Interestingly one of the reasons I first started storing things there was that it kept my scared-y cat from hiding and crying out of my reach.

Next, if you choose the use the space under the bed for storage you want to make sure how much space you have – the height from the floor to the bottom of your bed. There are many beds that aren’t high enough to allow for the standard plastic under the bed storage containers. There are under the bed bags you can get which provide greater flexibility as long as you don’t stuff them too full. There are also super long plastic containers for under your bed, although if you don’t have enough room around the edge of your bed these become counter-productive.

If you are going to use the space under your bed for storage you need to be cautious about what you decide to store there. Think about:

how often will you need or want to access those things?
how much space will these things take up, will it all fit under one bed?
how will you feel about having to pull them out from under the bed and then put them back under again? Consider your energy, flexibility, and reasons for wanting to store them there.
are they things really worth saving if you’re relegating them to under the bed? i.e. magazines – why would keep them if you’re just going to stuff them under your bed, that makes them hard to access and unlikely that you would!

There’s a number of things I can think of that are fairly easily stored under the bed.

If you want to keep some clothes that are not your current size, this can be a great place to keep them out of your way yet have them readily accessible for when you fit in them again.
If you cycle your clothes with the seasons, this can be an easy place to switch clothes from twice a year. It’s close to where they’d move to so you’re not dealing with carrying loads of clothes to another floor of your home and back again. It would simplify switching clothes for the seasons.
If you have memorabilia that you want to save, yet do not have another good alternative for where to put it. It’s likely to things you’re not going to look at frequently, yet still want to be protected and saved.

Under the bed storage can be quite useful since it’s out of the way while remaining fairly protected. Yet there are always aspects to consider when deciding whether to use the storage space under your bed. There’s even more than what I’ve shared, remember to consider your own circumstances and evaluate whether this is something beneficial for you.

5 Products from the NAPO Conference 2012

The world abounds with organizing products. There are many products to choose from and the NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) expo is a great place to discover and play with these tools. As usual, products need to meet your specific needs – not all tools will be useful for everyone. Consider your own needs and style when evaluating these or any organizing products.

I’ve chosen 5 products to briefly share with you; look in future months to see more in depth reviews.

1. WallMates: self-adhesive dry erase planning surfaces from At-A-Glance. These come in various sizes and formats. The entire back is adhesive and they claim they stick to everything. I saw them sticking them to a carpet-covered pedestal repeatedly without problems.

At-A-Glance's WallMate's self-adhesive dry erase planning surface

2. M by Staples Arc system: customizable notebook system.
These are notebooks of 2 sizes with various accessories that you can easily rearrange and design for your personality and style. There’s a special punch you can purchase to let you use any paper inside the notebook – mushroom shaped for the “tear-out” pages which you can easily put back in anywhere.

M by Staples Arc system, customizable notebook

3. File Case and Case Wrap from Smead.
A box for keeping file folders that comes with a case wrap for storage. These can replace hanging folders and fit in most file drawers. They are also decorative enough you could store them on a shelf and with the case wrap it won’t even look like a filing system.

File Case and Case Wrap from Smead

4. Mini-cube systems with fabric drawers from ClosetMaid.
You might be familiar with ClosetMaid cubeicals already – have you seen the mini-cube systems? There are currently 2 styles. There are fabric drawers to fit this mini-cube system with a wide variety of colors to choose from.

Mini-fabric drawer for a mini-cube system from ClosetMaid

5. Various adhesive tools from 3M.
– We’re all familiar with Post-It’s and now there’s one with almost a full adhesive back. There are the familiar flags for marking pages.
– The filing tabs are interesting which can be written on and repositionable.
– There are some storage container label pads, even applying to canvas materials securely (as the advertising says).
– You’re probably familiar with the Command hooks as well. It seems quite late, but I saw demonstrated how the adhesive works – they used a Plexiglas sheet in order to see both side of the application and removal. If removed properly it shouldn’t leave any marks on the wall, no matter the material (they mentioned- with the possible exception of stucco walls). They’ve also got Command strips for poster strips and picture hanging. Those picture-hanging strips are fascinating from the non-Velcro connection that is quite strong.

Variety of adhseive products from 3M

These were by no means all the products that I played with during conference, simply ones I found worth sharing. I’m excited to get a chance to get some hands on experience using these products and then sharing what I find with you over the coming months.

Filertek Dry Erase Hanging File Tabs

4 out of 5 stars

Filotek Dry Erase Hanging File Tabs

Pros

reusable – as you can simply erase the label as often as needed
snap cover to protect your label
clear or color options
dry erase very effective
snaps easily onto hanging files
fits all hanging files
each package includes a dry erase pen

Cons

do stand taller that standard hanging file tabs
doesn’t hold paper inside well

Review

Each year I head to the NAPO conference and end up discovering something new and interesting. In 2011, one of the things discovered were the Filertek Dry Erase Hanging File Tabs. Immediately I was fascinated with these, yet some products do not always stand up to their appearance. These hanging file tabs have – they are exactly what they seem.

What strikes me most about these hanging file tabs is the complete ease of use. They snap onto the top of all hanging files that I have tried – from the standard thick paper hanging folders to the newer plastic ones, which tend to be a bit thicker than the paper ones. Since they snap on so easily, they’re easy to attach and dis-attach, which isn’t always the case with the usual plastic tabs for hanging files.

The dry erase feature works beautifully – the ink adheres precisely to the dry erase surface of the tab. This is in stark contrast to the similar Peter Walsh’s product. Since the tab has a built in cover, it’s safe from being smudged off. One of the warnings I was told about was how if it sits for a long time with your label, you’d need to moisten the label to erase it (not unexpected since it’s dry erase). Whether you purchase the 12 or the 50 pack of tabs, they include a dry erase pen to use with your file tabs.

From what I can tell, these file tabs will last you for your lifetime – they are sturdy and since they are dry erase, you can reuse them indefinitely. There’s no need to worry about finding (or making) those paper strips to label in order to go inside the plastic file tabs. Even the snap cover appears to be quite durable yet not difficult to work with.

They come in a variety or colors – you can choose the clear option or you can get assorted colors (4 colors and includes some clear). Sometimes it’s nice to have some color choices while at other times you might not want the distraction of colors.

There are a couple of possible drawbacks, though I do see these as quite minimal. First, they stand taller on the hanging files than typical plastic file tabs. This could easily be something that’s an improvement since it makes them more visible. In my experience, file drawers and most places you would attach hanging file tabs are not short on space. This means that the added height of these would be unlikely to cause any difficulty. Second, if you didn’t want to write on the tabs, but rather wanted to insert paper labels inside the snap cover – the paper slides out. I didn’t explore this aspect much to test using thicker paper or anything since with the dry erase feature, I don’t see a point of trying to use paper.

The Filertek Dry Erase Hanging File Tabs are a wonderful alternative to the standard hanging file tabs. They’re easier to use and are indefinitely reusable. They come completely ready for you to use them – no need to worry about having a dry erase pen on hand, it’s included. There are some choices, yet not too many – with size and color. If you need or want an alternative to the typical file tabs – these are definitely worth considering.

Organizing Art & Craft Supplies

Whether you have one hobby or many, organizing the supplies that go along with it can be challenging. There are very specific tools as well as the more universal tools that function for different aspects. You might have a whole room dedicated to this or you might have only a small space. Nevertheless, there are usually many tools that go along with this, things that need to be organized and accessible.

There’s been one room in my house that has repeatedly caused challenges for me – it’s the room I call the craft room. It’s not just a craft room for me; it’s where I exercise, where the movies live, I used to watch TV, and now where most of my business stuff lives. It has a walk-in closet where I housed a lot of the craft supplies, as well as many other items. This closet keeps getting cluttered and I have re-vamped it several times over the years we’ve lived here.

There are many different ways to organize such various, yet related supplies. What will work for you will likely vary depending on your space, your supplies, and how you use your things. Quite randomly one day when I was waiting for someone, I did some brainstorming about my closet. This can be useful for us – just thinking about what we need to deal with. What are the categories we think of for this space/stuff? What kind of things do we have – generally, specific types, general types? What ideas do we have for organizing them? (You can see my notes typed up here and how I moved through some processing of ideas.)

For the closet, I got a closet system with a section of drawers. I already had some products I liked for organizing – mainly the 6-drawer unit that holds scrapbook paper. The complete overhaul of the closet was a daunting process – there was so much to go through and too many things I found that I’d wasted money on that I accepted needed to just be donated.

Although every situation is different, what I discovered for myself was that I would use “rules” for most of the supplies, yet there would be exceptions. Let me use the scrapbook paper as an example.

I knew I had 6 drawers that I liked for storing the paper, and I started organizing it. Some of drawers had been storing stickers and stamps. It took me about 4 hours to sort my scrapbook papers. I initially started with solids and patterns as a division. This gave me a better idea what I was dealing with. Then I sorted the solids: pink, red, orange, and yellow into one drawer; green, blue, and purple into another; then brown, black, gray, and white into another. This left the patterned paper. I wanted to keep the Halloween papers separate since I make Halloween cards every year and the easier it is to get at those, the better. The other patterned paper could be broken into two groups – those I had collected for quite specific themes and then “random” other patterns. The specific paper for specific projects was not a huge amount, the drawer had plenty of room left in it, yet I decided this was an opportunity to group some other related supplies with the paper. When I am ready to do one of those projects, having the embellishments right there will simplify the project. If someone were to come in and look at this drawer, they might think it was a hodge-podge of things since it’s got some honeymoon supplies as well as graduation and some kid stuff. Yet for me this works best – it’s the exception to the “rules” I established for the “paper drawers”.

My scrapbook paper "drawers"

I used this idea throughout – so most stickers are in a general sticker container, yet I also made some containers for wedding and Christmas/winter. Those themed containers have all sorts of supplies that are specific to them, while keeping the quite general containers for types of things (embellishments, stamps, templates, etc.). This makes sense for me and the things I have to work with – what will work for you might be completely different.

There are any numbers of ways to organize such a plethora of supplies and you need to think about how you use your supplies. What do you want to be able to find when? It needs to make sense for you, both when and where you will look to use specific things and how many you have of certain things.

Laundry Tools – Sorters, Baskets, and Bags, oh my

If you read my newsletter or talked to me in late December or January, you will have heard that I bounced down a flight of stairs here at home. Interestingly, a month prior to this fall, my ankle was twisted on these same stairs as I came around the corner on the stairs – only that time I was carrying a laundry basket. The laundry basket was one of those heavy plastic ones with the indentation for your hip, though I was not carrying it that way since our stairs are too narrow for that. This occurrence inspired me to get a different laundry “basket.”

Laundry can often involve different steps – depending on whether how you collect your laundry is also how you transport your laundry. This can often be the same thing, though is often different items. For the longest time, most of what I used to collect the dirty laundry was the same tool I used to carry the dirty laundry to the machines and then to carry the folded laundry back to where I would put them away.

All homes are different and where the washing machine and dryer’s live in relation to where the dirty laundry accumulates. In our home as well as in several homes I’ve visited, the bedroom is on the second floor and the machines are in the basement – this means carrying laundry up and down multiple flights of stairs. We have a collection for laundry on the top floor as well as on the main floor. This means that carrying laundry from various places can be an issue and ideally needs to be as easy as we can make it.

Promptly after we moved here, we got a 3-compartment laundry sorter to live in the bottom of our linen closet. I started with a plastic and mesh bag one which quickly revealed its instability – the mesh bags would fall off the frame and were not easy to reattach without dragging the whole unit out of the closet. We moved then to a metal frame with canvas bags. These 3 compartment sorters were for linens, whites, and delicates/dry cleaner. In front of the sorter, there has always lived one of the heavy plastic laundry baskets and during the week that’s where all the general colored clothes go. Upstairs, I had another heavy plastic laundry basket for the colors and occasional whites.

3-Compartment Laundry Sorter

Hip-Hugging Laundry Basket

After I had the minor twist to my ankle, the new “basket” I got was one of these mesh hampers, where it was shaped like a laundry basket with a wide opening and not too deep. It’s easy to toss the dirty clothes into and most importantly, it’s easy to carry up and down stairs. It has handles which means I can carry it easily in one hand, and this also means I can keep an eye on the stairs as I navigate them. Also, the shape is easy to load the folded clothes back into it before they make their way to the closet or dressers. Also, they fold flat so simply and then reopen – it’s so easy it makes me smile to think of it.

I dealt with the canvas sorter for many years, periodically bumping my head while digging out the linens or whites and regularly tweaking my back to get it all out from the bottom. Experiencing the ease of the mesh style, I was then inspired to replace the 3-compartment sorter with 3 upright mesh bags. Our categories work well for us and only need those 3 categories. Now, with the mesh bags, I can grab the category I am washing and dump it into the hip-hugging basket. I am still attached to those baskets for carrying laundry to and from the basement – there’s a sense of it being cleaner to put on the basement floor than the mesh ones.

Mesh Laundry "Baskets" - both shapes

Durability can be issue when you choose your laundry tools, as that mesh/plastic sorter demonstrates. Although I’ve not used them, some plastic laundry baskets, often the circular ones, are also more prone to getting damaged easily. I bought the plastic and mesh sorter in an attempt to save money, yet it’s a good example of how “saving” money on a less expensive product didn’t save me money in the long run.

In our country and culture, we have a plethora of options to choose from and this in itself can be daunting just trying to find the choices. I’ve been impressed with the durability of the mesh bags, which seems a little odd considering the material, and their cost is fairly minimal. As with so much else, think about what your needs are around laundry and what would help make it that much easier. This is what matters most – finding the simplest way for you.