I loved Michele’s article, Five Reasons To Buy Extra Laundry Baskets, which offered some great ideas. I’m big on using them for more than laundry myself. They are affordable, convenient, and easy to handle, so they are great for getting organized and keeping things handy.
So, here are a few more reasons to pick up extra laundry baskets on your next trip to the home improvement store, supercenter, or discount store:
Baby Gear
Laundry baskets are perfect for storing baby gear. You can toss in a couple of diapers, wipes, disposable changing pads, lotions or powders, an extra outfit or blanket, and a couple of toys. Just cart the basket with you from room to room and you’ll always have baby’s gear handy when you need it. This is especially helpful after bringing your new baby home and you’re exhausted and it’s perfect if your home has a lot of stairs too. Put together separate baskets for upstairs and down!
Sorting
Laundry baskets are perfect for sorting when you are trying to “clean sweep” a room. I like the low rectangular ones for this purpose. Line up four of them and label them Keep, Toss, Donate, Store. Things that stay in that space and that you want to keep go in keep, trash goes in toss, items you want to give away go in donate, and other stuff goes into “store” so you can find another area to store those things. This is also a great system for helping your kids get their rooms organized. One of the biggest problems is that kids don’t know what to do with stuff. This is a great way to get them started, and then you can help once things are sorted.
Shoes and Sports Gear
A hard plastic square laundry basket will fit perfectly in most closets and since it has sturdy, solid sides, it works great for storing seasonal shoes and sporting gear. These baskets are a bit larger than the typical “crate” style storage boxes, so you can place more inside them.