Continuous Home Improvement is a little different. I’m not sure anybody has actually used the term before. I derived it from the manufacturing and management methodology for eliminating process waste and refining processes. Continuous Improvement is composed of many systems and tools like Lean and Six Sigma. For now I’ll keep definitions simple and describe it as “Making your life easier every day”.
Case Study:
We moved into our brand new house about 11 months ago. It has taken a while to work out some of the kinks of where things should go. Our laundry room is a perfect example. The diagram below shows the evolution.
A-This is how we had our laundry room laid out when we first moved in. Washer to the left of the dryer (this was a mistake by the builder, the hookups were backward and we went with it). We had the monster pile of clothes on the floor that grew and grew. We brought dirty clothes in baskets but as soon as the baskets were needed again the clothes went on the floor.
B- I think we made these changes after being in the house for about 3 months. We found these laundry hampers at IKEA for $5.
www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70118968
They are the perfect size for a load of laundry in our washing machine. When the clothes reach the top we know it’s time to do a load (this is a type of Kanban, I’ll explain later). Separate hampers for whites, lights and darks. We also swapped the locations of the washer and dryer making the process flow better in preparation for….
C- I made a mistake on the drawing. We didn't swap around the washer and dryer again. We installed a folding counter next to the dryer. Our laundry and cleaning supplies were in a jumble on the shelf above the machines. We sorted through what we had, got rid of anything we didn't need, organized things in the best location for their use and taped lines and made labels marking off the areas where things go (an example of 5-S, again…this is for later). So far the shelf organization has been sustained very well. We also moved the hampers over against the wall opposite the machines. Not sure this was a great idea but it made space to hang our mop, broom and ironing board which had been leaned up in a corner creating havoc. One of the improvement projects I did over the summer was not sustainable so we now have a pile of shoes to deal with. This is an interesting case study of the importance of 4th dimensional thinking. I’ll save it for another post.
Our laundry process is far from perfect, but it’s getting better. And that is what Continuous Home Improvement is all about. I have several improvement ideas to continue making this room more organized and efficient. It’s important to take time after an improvement has been made to observe what is going on. Find out if the changes made have really made things better or if it was just a change.
pictures! i want to see the (almost) finished product.
ReplyDeletehave you considered cupboards above the W/D units? or do you have a shelf for all of the detergents/washing stuff? you mentioned shelving, so I wasn't sure what you had to put stuff like that on?
I say cupboards, just because it sounds like you like the "out of sight" or if it's in sight - stay organized, approach.