Got about 10 minutes?

That’s about how long it takes to clothespin or hang laundry to dry, instead of throwing it into the dryer. “Just 10 minutes,” is also what I tell myself when I’m in the middle of a busy day and don’t think I have time.

For a while after moving into our home, I also didn’t think we had the space. My mom proved me wrong in the 2 weeks she stayed with us after Gianna was born. (The two weeks where she took care of our newborn baby, cooked, cleaned, cared for me, and landscaped our yard. Yes, my mom is amazing.)

My mom found space. On the side of our house under a huge magnolia tree, she strung 2 long lengths of strong twine from one end of the fence to the other. Even in partial sun, on warm days it’s plenty to get our clothes dry.

On the not so warm days, I found some other creative spaces to dry our clothes naturally. With one trip to Home Depot, my husband got what he needed to install shelving in our garage/utility room. The brackets have hooks on them to hold closet rods, perfect for what I was hoping for. We also have a fold-up drying rack that we can use both inside and out.

Now, even in the colder months, we can skip the dryer (and all the energy it sucks) and get it dry the old-fashioned way. Our clothes actually benefit too. They last a lot longer when they’re not being tossed around in the hot dryer.

Apparently in Europe, finding creative spaces to hang dry clothes is very normal. While staying with family in France, one of my friends discovered laundry hung in bathrooms and doorways and wherever else to dry. The family didn’t even own a dryer.

Do you have some time and creative spaces to hang some wet laundry?

By the way, isn’t baby laundry so cute? I can never seem to get over it.