6 STEPS TO BREEZE THROUGH YOUR LAUNDRY DAY AND NOT DREAD IT

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - I really do not like doing laundry.  I even dread the thought of dedicating a huge chunk of my day (usually Sundays for me) to washing, drying, folding and putting away clothes. It is one of those tedious tasks that need to get done but are not very fun. Over the years I have found a few methods that make this daunting task a little bit easier to bear.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the outcome of doing laundry. The smell of freshly washed and dried clothes is like heaven and seeing my clothes neatly put away in drawers and hung makes me smile but it’s the process that I dread. So, here are the 10 things that make this task bearable:

1 – sort your clothes

Before I bring any laundry into the laundry room I take about 10 minutes to sort through all of my clothes by placing them in 1 of 5 piles:

  • Underwear, pajamas and towels

  • Delicates

  • Dark colors (black, dark blue, dark grey)

  • Whites

  • Denim

2 –  wash your clothes

I then wash each pile of clothes one at a time as I do laundry at home I only have access to one washer -which is why it takes up half of not most of my day to do laundry. But if you go to a laundry mat you may be able to snatch a few washers at time and get a few loads running at the same time.

The way I wash my clothes has definitely been a learning process. But in order for you to understand why let’s go back to the beginning. See, my parents never really put much thought into how clothes are washed; they grab a pile through it in the wash and press start - other than sorting out the whites I was never exposed to sorting out laundry as a child.

Fast forward to my first job out of college (which was an office job) and the first time I began purchasing a little bit of higher quality clothes. You would think that I would read the labels before I washed – but no, I didn’t. I followed in my parents footsteps and simply threw random piles of clothes into the wash. This resulted in a lot of ruined items and hundreds of dollars down the drain. We live and we learn, right?

Now back to washing your clothes. I also use different detergents depending on what type of clothing I am washing:

3 – dry the clothes

The next step in my process is drying and this has also been a trial and error for me! I use different heat levels depending on which pile I am drying, for example:

  • The underwear, pajamas and towels and the denim piles are set on medium/high heat

  • The delicates pile is ALWAYS set on low heat

  • The whites and dark piles are set on medium heat

4 – fold the clothes

I can bear this part because I usually use this time to catch up on podcasts, some YouTube channels I am subscribed to and TV shows (on a side note I am currently binging on Nashville). During this step I also sort the clothes depending on where they are going to be ultimately placed. So for example, in my dresser I have designated drawers where I place the following groupings:

  • Drawer one: socks, underwear and bra’s

  • Drawer two: my casual t-shirts, long sleeves and tank tops

  • Drawer three: another pile of t-shirts that I only wear at home lol (yes, they are that old and that comfy that I refuse to get rid of them just yet!), pajamas and stockings/tights

Then in my closet I have special groupings for clothing:

  • Work pants

  • Jeans

  • Yoga/workout pants

  • Shorts and skirts

  • Work dresses

  • Casual dresses

  • Short sleeve tops (from sleeveless to short sleeve)

  • Long sleeve tops

  • Blazers and cardigans

So as I am pulling clothes out of the dryer I fold the items and place them in one of each of the piles listed above. I know it may seem like a lot at first but over time you won’t even have to think about it, you will know the groupings by heart.

5 – put the clothes away

So after a few hours of sorting, washing, drying and folding I have to put the clothes away. This should be the easiest part especially since I already sorted the clothes in order of which they will be placed. But no, no, no – the freshly washed and folded clothes can sit in my hamper for hours sometimes days before I actually get around to put them away. I know, horrible habit that I am working on!

6 – celebrate!

Once you finish this daunting task that is on a perpetual loop you can celebrate your accomplishment and know you won’t have to deal with it for a whole other week! 

Now your turn, do you love have a love/hate relationship with laundry days like I do? Have you come up with a system that works for you? Share any tips and tricks below! 

HOW TO KEEP YOUR BATHROOM CLEAN AND ORGANIZED

I like to think that I am a pretty organized person and tend to keep my home organized and clean as much as possible. Although sometimes things get out of hand if I have had a very busy week but for the most part I give myself kudos in that department. However, the one place in my home that tends to suffer the most is my bathroom. If you are a female reader or if you live with a female you can probably attest to the amount of things we have to use in order to get ready – lotion, make-up, hair tools and the list goes on.  Sometimes when I am in a rush to get out of the house I tend to leave my blow dryer and hair brushes on the counter which then drives me CRAZY to see them sitting there when I get back home. So below, I will share with you guys a few changes I have incorporated into my day to day management of my bathroom and I must say that they have made a world of a difference!

Purge

The very first step in maintaining a clean and organized bathroom is going through EVERYTHING in there and placing them in one of three piles:

1.       Use every day

2.       Use occasionally

3.       Haven’t used in six months

For example, the items in my use every day are products I actually use every day – my moisturizer, eye cream, mascara, eye lash curler, deodorant. If a product does not fall into the everyday category but you do use it quite often then it belongs in the use occasionally category – for me those are my hair masks and face masks things I use every other week or so. Then there is everything else, items I have purchased and later regretted but felt bad in throwing them away. Well friends, you are going to have to cut that umbilical cord and just get rid of it – one product that made into my have not used in six months was a body lotion I purchased from Origins (side note: I really love their products). The scent from that particular lotion is amazing and I absolutely fell for it in store but the thing is that I am very sensitive when it comes to scents and if a scent is the slightest bit strong instantly makes me nauseous and gives me a headache that can last hours. That’s what that scent did to me and I finally worked up the courage to put it in the purge pile.

Once you have placed every single product in your bathroom into one of the three above mentioned categories you have completed the most important step in this process.  The hardest part of this process for me is letting go of those items I have not used in a really long time but I have to remind myself that if I am not regularly using them then they are simply taking us space and creating clutter.

Organize

The next step in this process is to find a way to organize these products in a way that makes sense to your lifestyle. I get ready in my bathroom in the morning, meaning that is where I change, apply my makeup and style my hair. So, for me it makes sense to keep my skincare and makeup products and hair tools in my bathroom. For example, in my bathroom cabinet, I have two drawers that are exclusively dedicated to me every day items – one is for only my skincare and makeup products and the other is only for my hair brushes and hot tools (blow dryer and curling iron). Then, under my sink, I have a space that I use to store my occasional items (this is where the bulk of my items are). To be fair, I used to be subscribed to Glossybox and Birchbox which is how I ended up accumulating so many products. So with the use of some mesh stacking bins I got from The Container Store and some (many!) makeup bags I organized my occasional pile into eye, lips, hair, skin products. Then I found a way to neatly organize them in the mesh bins.

Maintain

Now that you have gone through and organized and re-arranged the products you use (which is by far the hardest part!) all you need to do is maintain the organization. But, I know, that is easier said than done. So I have one rule and one rule only when it comes to my bathroom: when I walk out of the bathroom it has to look exactly as it did when I walked in. This means if I need to use the blow dryer and round hair brush I have to put them back in their place as soon as I am done with them. That rule applies to everything in there, now that every item has a home it NEEDS to stay there. No exceptions.

Remember that it takes 21 days to form a new habit and I am a firm believer that coming home to a clean and organized home makes a huge and positive impact on your overall lifestyle and outlook on life. When you have less physical clutter then you have less mental clutter which allows you to see life and make decisions with a clearer state of mind.

Try the steps above to clean and maintain an organized bathroom and share how it goes below! 

5 QUICK TIPS TO KEEP AN ORGANIZED AND HEALTHY BEDROOM

Keeping a clutter free home is an essential part of leading a healthy and happy life and a keeping a clean bedroom will almost certainly help you sleep better at night. My bedroom is my little oasis and it is the one room in my house that is almost always cluttering free, clean and organized. In general I tend to keep my place organized – unless I am having a very busy week or am feeling under the weather – those are the times my organization falls to the wayside a bit. But the room I sleep in needs to be kept organized and clutter free for my own sanity. Now, this was not always the case my bedroom was a whole different story during my teenage years and early twenty’s but overtime I began to notice how much better I felt and slept when I had a clutter free room – and let me tell you it has been one of the most positive shifts I have made in my life so far.

Only keep what you use

I took everything I did not need or use on a daily basis out of my room. For example, my night table has my bedside lamp, whatever candle I am currently burning and whatever book I am currently reading. That’s all. One of the first steps to keeping an organized room is to take out any and all clutter. If this sounds like a big task for you then I suggest you tackle one section of your bedroom at a time – so one weekend you can focus on your night table, the next weekend you can focus on your dresser and the following focus under your bed.

Make your bed

Making your bed each morning takes no more than 3 minutes! Although 3 minutes may seem like a long time if you are running late in the morning but just think about the satisfaction you will feel when you get into a freshly made bed at the end of the day. Beds are the focal point of any bedroom and the second your bed is made your bedroom will instantly look much cleaner and organized.

Clean regularly

I vacuum and dust my bedroom once a week and about twice a year I move the furniture out of my room and vacuum and clean the areas I cannot easily get to on a regular basis (under my bed, under the dresser and nigh table). Only because you can’t see the dust does not mean it is not there!  Also, I am allergic to dust so keeping my allergies at bay is a bonus to keeping a clean and dust free bedroom.

Wash your sheets

I wash my sheets once a week and my comforter about once a month and while this may seem like common sense it is always a good reminder! Also, I have a hypo-allergenic mattress protector which knowing that my mattress if being kept as clean and as protected as possible provides me with some added peace of mind.

Keep an air purifier

I added an air purifies to my bedroom about two years ago and I am glad I did but upset that it took me so long to get one! Air purifiers help remove dust from the air (which in turn helps immensely for people who suffer from dust allergies and/or asthma). My air purifier has a filter that should be replaced at specific increments of time – mine is anywhere between 4-5 months. 

4 TYPES OF LIGHT BULBS AND HOW TO LIGHT YOUR HOME

We all know that lighting really sets the mood for any environment. Think about the lighting you encounter when you go out to dinner, for example, if you go to a fine Italian restaurant chances are that the lighting is dim and sets off a warm atmosphere but if you go to a casual pizza restaurant the lights are likely to be brighter and set off cooler atmosphere. My point here is that the lighting in your home definitely has an impact on the atmosphere.

Some of you may have the benefit of living in a home that has a lot of natural light (this has been in my wish list for years!).  I live in a garden level apartment where I get virtually no natural light. For full disclosure I could get some natural light if I opened the shades but I do not really want passerby’s looking through my windows! So, the next best option for me is to switch out the lighting throughout my apartment to liven up my place.

Light Bulb Round Up

Here I have summarized 4 of the most common types of light bulbs you will come across when light bulb shopping:

LEDs | Light-emitting diodes are the newest options we have in terms of light bulbs and what is great about them is that LED lights use a fraction of the wattage other types of bulbs require. In other words you will save money overtime if you switch to these light bulbs. Why overtime? Well, they are pricier than your other options, but for good reason.

CFLs | Compact fluorescent lights were all the hype a few years ago (at least it was in my parents’ house!). These light bulbs were great until studies showed that their life expectancy dramatically decreased if they were shut on and off frequently.

Incandescents | These are your old fashioned light bulbs where the electricity that is powered through the bulb heats it up to the point that the filament glows into a light.

Halogens | These bulbs are slightly more efficient than the incandescent bulbs because there is actual halogen inside the little tube that holds the filament. What this gas does is that it allows the used up gas to remain usable to a longer period of time.

How to Light Your Home

Now that you have an idea of the different options you have to light your home you can start to think about how you’ll implement light. I am slowly converting all of my bulbs to LED for a few reasons. Like mentioned above they will save energy and money overtime, they are brighter and they are a newer technology (I’m a sucker for new things!).

There are two main types of atmospheres you may want to incorporate into your home – ambient or productive. I like both and like to have both options and in order to achieve both options I like the dimmer lights – bless the person who invented these! Most homes have the regular on/off light switches, if your home has these, you will need to install (or have installed) dimmer light switches. These are relatively inexpensive; you can find good options that range between 20-30 dollars at your local hardware store. Of course, there are fancier options, but they basic ones will cut it for me.

Also, if you do convert to LED lights it is important to note that not all LED bulbs have that capability so look for the bulbs that say “dimmable” on the packaging. On that same note, not all dimmer light switches are compatible with LED bulbs so if you do install these make sure the ones you purchase are compatible with the bulbs you decide to go with.

There you have it! Lights in your home have a power to create any mood you want. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, my apartment is pretty dark and I absolutely love bright and open atmospheres – this is why I need bright lights in my home and why I chose to go with LEDs.

Have you made the switch to LEDs? Did your conversion go smoothly and have you seen a difference in your energy bills?