Moms encounter all kinds of little dilemmas every day, and sometimes the simplest solutions are the best solutions- like this laundry room Sock Basket.

It’s that time again, when everyone is making resolutions for the new year, and getting organized is usually pretty high on everybody’s list- including mine!  I’m Lynn, here from Riggstown Road to share one of my all-time-favorite (and simplest) tips with you: the sock basket, and two ways to use it.

In my house, there are 6 people, who each have two feet, and that means that in winter we use a dozen socks a day.  Now, they don’t take up all that much space in the laundry, but what does happen in the laundry is…they get lost.  More specifically, it’s usually one sock out of a pair that gets lost.  It is one of the great mysteries of life how two matching socks go into the laundry hamper, but only one comes out of the dryer.  :/  That leaves us with a collection of single socks, which we either cram into a drawer where they get lost and take up space, or we toss them in the trash- only to find their match a day or week later.

So, I decided to start saving all those random socks in one place, and it’s so handy.

Here is alternative #1: Keep a basket or bucket in your laundry room, labeled “socks.”  It doesn’t have to be cute, but it helps. 😉  When laundry is being folded & put away, and there are several random socks in the stack, (because there always are…) just toss them into the sock basket and once a week or so, look through the basket and match up any pairs.  When the mates reappear, you’ll be glad you didn’t trash those random singles.  If you’re family is like mine, there always seems to be a sock shortage!

And here is option #2:  When you empty the dryer, keep all the socks in a basket saved especially for socks.  Let your little ones match them up.  It’s a great skill for preschoolers to practice and/or a perfect chore to assign to your school-aged kiddos, because busy moms need good helpers!  Then they can deliver all the socks they’ve matched up to their owners, and leave all the rest right in the sock basket ’til next time.

When a sock shortage occurs, you can direct the kids to the sock basket.  Maybe they will find the one they need!  If not, they will at least find socks!

Bonus: The sock basket comes in handy when the kids want to make sock puppets or doll clothes, and when mom needs a really good dust cloth.

If you recognized the chalkboard pennant label on my basket, I borrowed it from the EASY CHALKBOARD BANNER you can find in this post:

Be sure to check out all the great organization tips here at Busy Mom’s Helper!