Do you enjoy your laundry routine? Do you have a dedicated laundry room, or do you manage with a smaller space? In our new home we have a laundry closet—compact and efficient. There’s no room for clothes to pile up, and the washer and dryer are stacked, so you can’t leave laundry on top. To maximize storage we added a slim storage rack on one side for detergent and keep collapsible canvas laundry totes on the other. That’s all we need.
So where do we put our laundry if we don’t have a separate laundry room?
We do a load of laundry every day—or as needed—and fold it right away on our bed, which is conveniently located next to the laundry closet. It keeps things moving and prevents large piles from building up.
Folding laundry has become one of Lily’s favorite moments of the day; if I’m slow she hops onto the warm towels and makes a nest. (Do your pets do that too?) We hang items that wrinkle immediately and put away folded clothes so they never become a pile.
Is laundry easier now that our kids are grown and not at home? Absolutely. But the habit of daily laundry started when we had three kids. Back then I struggled to keep up—piles of dirty clothes, baskets of clean clothes waiting to be put away, piles to iron, or piles left on the floor that the dog slept in and needed re-washing. The clutter felt endless.
When our kids were little, the basement laundry room felt both like a blessing and a curse. It was convenient for hiding clutter—laundry could be sent down the chute and out of sight—but the out-of-sight approach made the mess grow into a mountain I didn’t want to face. I avoided the basement whenever possible.
Over time I realized the problem wasn’t the size or location of the laundry room. The real change came when I embraced routines and simple rhythms. Doing a small amount of laundry each day turned out to be easy once it became a habit. Our home felt tidier, my anxiety eased, and life became less chaotic once I adopted daily routines that fit my life as a mom.
Daily routines saved my sanity and transformed our home.
We’ve kept these routines ever since. Routines work whether you have children or not, live in a large house or a small apartment, or have a closet-sized laundry area or a full room. Adapt them to your situation—what matters is consistency.
My daily housekeeping habits are intentionally simple:
1. Diligence with dishes.
2. A little bit of laundry love each day.
3. Make the bed and keep it tidy.
4. Short cleaning sessions to stay on top of the mess.
Once these tasks become part of your routine, they feel natural—like breathing. They set a positive tone for the day and prevent small issues from becoming overwhelming. I call these “domino habits” because each one nudges the rest of your day in a better direction. Skip them, and disorder tends to multiply.
Your home doesn’t need to be perfect—my goal is “clean enough”—but having dependable daily habits prevents that frazzled feeling and keeps your space functional and calm. Create routines that fit your family and your season of life, and tweak them as needed.
I’ve written about the benefits of simple daily housekeeping routines in several of my books. If you want more ideas for caring for your home and shifting your mindset about household tasks, these titles explore those themes in depth.
- Love the Home You Have (cultivating contentment with what you already own)
- Make Room for What You Love (practical habits to create more breathing room and beauty)
- Simple Organizing (easy ways to bring more order to your home)
- Dwelling (approaches to nourish your home, body, and spirit)
- A Lovely Life (seasonal rhythms that make home life feel more peaceful and intentional)
My new book A Lovely Life officially released in May.
PS — I recently shared a short video on Instagram about the heart behind my books and some encouragement for caring for your home. If you watch, I love hearing from readers—it’s always a joy to connect.
Tell me about your laundry routine in the comments. Do you have a laundry room?