The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Sharon at Mom of 6.
It’s summertime- so chances are the kids are playing in the pool all the time. Be it the pool at day camp, the town pool, or maybe even one in your own backyard… and with pool season- comes dealing with wet swimsuits and beach towels. Now I think we can all agree that kids are much more likely to pick up after themselves when you give them an easy way to do it- and hooks on the wall is a perfect solution. But wet towels can be heavy- and so hooks need to be well-anchored into the wall using the wall studs- otherwise, the weight of the towel will pull that hook right out of the wall! So here’s a solution my husband and I pulled together to give our kids an easy way to clean up all of their wet gear after a swim in the pool!
Organizing Swimsuits and Beach Towels
You see, I have “this thing” for wall signs with inspirational word art. And over the years I have accumulated a bit of a collection…. and when I find another beautiful piece while on vacation or at a craft fair- well, I just can’t help myself. It has to come home with me. So we had plenty of these large boards looking for a place on the wall when we moved into our new home- and we decided to put this one to good use by making a towel rack out of it!
My husband attached the board itself to the wall, making sure that it was firmly anchored into the wall studs so it could support the weight of all that we planned to hang on it (with 6 kids- that’s a lot of wet towels and swim suits!). He then spaced hooks throughout the length of the board, giving us plenty of hanging space. We hung this piece on the wall of our laundry room- which makes it so easy for me to sweep the entire bunch of towels and suits into the washing machine every week. Plus- if someone “forgets” to hang up their wet gear, well- at least it’s on the tile floor of the laundry room rather than on a wood floor elsewhere in the house!
Plus- if your kids are like mine- they find their swimsuits and immediately undress tossing all of their clothing into a heap on the floor. Now at least that heap is also in the laundry room, vs on their bedroom floor.
Then I took this organizing system a bit further and gave the kids a bin to toss in their goggles and water rocket toys. So they grab these while they are donning their swimwear, and out the door we go. I just used a small plastic tub that we had around the house, and created a label in PicMonkey (you can find the tutorial for that right here).
Next I laminated my label (because doesn’t every organizing junkie out there own their own laminating machine?) and used adhesive to attach the laminated label to the plastic tub.
Looking for some inspiration on getting organized for some fun in the sun? Then please check out my companion post over on Momof6!
If you get a chance, I hope you’ll stop by to see me at Momof6 – a place where I write about organizing your home, using a family calendar, creating household routines, hosting at-home birthday parties, and holding a DIY summer camp! You can also find me over on GreatFamilyRoadTrips– where I share ideas and itineraries to inspire you to hit the road!
Linking up: Six Sisters Stuff, Thirty Handmade Days, Design Dining and Diapers, Thirty Handmade Days
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