via Apartment Therapy

There’s nothing better than freshly washed laundry. I reach my arms into the dryer and snuggle it to my chest. It’s warm and cozy to the touch, and instinctively, I bring it to my nose and breathe in for a whiff. For that brief millisecond, I feel joy. I embrace the simple pleasure that comes from this act, but then that emotion is so fleeting because my reality sets in again. So I look around, close my eyes and envision these surroundings.

How can gazing at laundry rooms bring me to such a happy place?

Am I the only one who has an entire Pinterest page just for Laundry Rooms that bring me to my happy place?

BHG

I have a small area that is a combination of laundry room, mud room, “stuff junk in corners” room and unfortunately, somehow our main entrance, even though it’s on the side of our house, so I dream about how to maximize space in that area to reach it’s full potential.

My DIY Laundry Room room make over is about as close to perfect as I can manage for now, since I am prioritizing other projects, but I hung a thrift store chandelier in the room, and now when ever I do laundry, it makes me feel like a princess…for a second.

Because once I take that laundry out, smell it, feel how cozy it is, that load then gets set onto my bedroom couch, since I have no real spot to place it, and the joy is gone because the laundry then becomes work.

For your Type A ladies, you have now lost all respect for my reality, but for many of you who wonder how we “do it all?”

We don’t. I don’t do it all, and laundry beats me nearly every time, even though they all five children help, and my hubby most of all. I try all aspects of an organized laundry routine, but sometimes, life just gets in the way and the reality of my life right now is that this is what my sofa looks like today.

Now, don’t worry, I’m still a fine mom. Don’t report me, but sometimes this is reality, and it’s ok to admit that no one does it perfectly all the time.

Yes, true bedlam revealed. No Photoshop necessary.

Does that make you feel better about yourself?

Laundry is the bane of my existence. Well, not necessarily doing the laundry, I don’t mind that, it’s the folding and actually getting put away that gets us. The thought of fresh smelling laundry, perfectly folded in neat piles, and put away on organized shelves immediately after it’s been washed is pure joy, but I’ve come to claim this as my mantra.

Behind every successful woman is a basket of dirty laundry (or two or three or…)

So when I was asked this week, “What clothing stains drive me crazy?”

The thought of just doing all the work to keep up with laundry, and then eying stains that didn’t come out, even when I thought I caught them all, and spotted them etc. etc , that issue in and of itself drives me crazy – forget a specific stain. 😉

But, if we are getting specific, just this week, I was in a hurry to get on the road, and I tried to eat a quick salad on the fly. (FYI – salad with dressing is not something you want to eat on the run.)

A few dots of salad dressing flew on my favorite, day to day dress, and I noticed it right away. I got a quick wet cloth and wiped it away (or I thought I was wiping it away.) I hopped in the car for a three hour drive to meet my co-host for our Becoming conference for a planning session. We met with a sponsor, and as I got back to our room, I looked in the mirror for the first time. My small grease dots were HUGE, smudged circles.

“Was this like that the whole time?” I inquired.

“Yep, but most of the time we were sitting down, so it wasn’t that bad,” she responded.

“UGH!”

Even grown ups sometimes walk around looking like a kid dressed them.

So, am I the only one who has dreams of Happy Laundry Places but can’t seem to get there?

What Drives You Crazy About Laundry?

(I am really going to work on my organization this week.)