Laundry in a Small Apartment

We have a bit of a system down with laundry I thought it would be worthwhile sharing. It begins with everyone having pretty minimal wardrobes (Kids Minimal Wardrobe PDF HERE). The pandemic certainly helps in this matter as I find myself repeating outfits even more than normal because I BARELY SEE ANYONE. Anyway, moving on…. pandemic or not the kids seem to get their clothes very dirty everyday so the laundry piles up. Here is the system we have been using to manage laundry in a small space with 4 people.

Do Laundry Once a Week

This has become a habit for us and really serves us well. The amount of loads we have to do varies based on if we are doing bedding and how many towels (beach vs. bath etc). It can be up to 4-5 loads which sort of takes an entire day of swapping out loads and the next day to put away.

We have one laundry basket. We don’t pre-sort and wash everything in cold. We use wool felt dryer balls in the dryer.

All the laundry is transferred to the chair or couch in the living room and then we fold it that evening/night. Sometimes the kids help, sometimes we just do it ourselves depending on the timing. The critical thing is to get it all folded and put away within a day. We truly can’t leave laundry lying around or we have nowhere to sit. We often watch a show at the same time so it’s not so bad.

Drying Rack in the Bathtub

I would love to hang dry all our clothes and one day we might but for now we hang only a portion in the bathtub with the bathroom fan on for ventilation. We have a metal folding rack that works fine and tucks beside our stacking washer and dryer when not in use. We also hang some clothing off the shower rod. I don’t have a photo of this but I’m sure you can picture it, it’s hardly cute but it works. Here is an older post about it.

Yes we do have to remove the drying rack from the tub for someone to have a bath or a shower. Yes it makes it awkward when 4 people share one bathroom. We make it work.

So that is my great theory for laundry in a small space:

Let it all pile up and do it all at once.

Use your bathroom as your laundry room.

Fold and put away ASAP.

And like most things in our small home, we are slowly updating the items we do have to be useful and beautiful. This is a slow thoughtful process. The latest addition is this beautiful handmade laundry basket from incredible women owned and run, Twenty One Tonnes. The woven natural fibers allow the dirty laundry to breath as I can’t always be sure what is thrown in the laundry isn’t damp and have learned the hard way about that.

Loving this basket. And if I find it too precious for laundry I have plans for it in the kids room. Simple beautiful and functional. If you get a chance I am constantly inspired by the homes featured by Twenty One Tonnes on their website and Instagram.

Laundry basket in hand, laundry closet behind me… Also a mirror in the entryway is helpful for getting ready in the morning when 4 people are fighting over the bathroom (that is also filled with drying laundry!).

Here is a our stacker that serves us well with our laundry detergents etc above. This is to the left of our built-ins and right beside our front door. Drying rack mentioned is to the right.