I know clotheslines aren’t for everyone or every neighborhood. But as I hone the bohemian side of my design aesthetic, I find myself more and more drawn to crisp linens blowing in the breeze.
Then I stopped by a new friend’s house a week or so ago and saw her clothesline strung across her backyard in the city and decided to give it a try.
{image: clothesline twine by jasfitz on Flickr}
But here’s the complicating factor in our yard — it’s under a canopy of huge old oak trees full of squirrels and birds who shed all sorts of treasures from their penthouses in the sky! Not a cycle I want to add to my laundry routine…
But we do have a terrific screened in porch with a great cross breeze. So I picked up one of these retractable clotheslines and installed it discreetly in the wooden molding surrounding the screens.
The latch (on the right) is screwed into the wall while the “yo-yo” mounts on two screws and is therefore removable when not in use.
I put my first load of dishtowels and beach towels out yesterday to dry and it worked beautifully. I don’t plan to hang anything I wouldn’t show you if you came into my house, but why not my cute dishtowels, summer T’s and cotton dresses? Might as well make use of this high heat setting we’re on right now!
I think I’m hooked…or, pinned.
Do you hang your laundry from a line or set it and forget it in the dryer?
Tags: clothesline, outdoor living
We have a clothesline in the basement, in the laundry area, but I put most of my stuff in the dryer. Except for sheets, which I don’t like all wrinkly from the dryer, I’m just too lazy to hang stuff like socks and undies, and I love the smell of the dryer sheets. I did put sheets and towels outside the other day, but I really like the softness and fluffiness the towels get from the dryer much better!
Yay! You’re going to love it!
I always use the outside clothes line for all my sheets and towels! Have done for years. I love the stiffness in the towels! And the sheets: oh they smell so good. Actually, I wouldn’t dream of using a dryer…..EVER. It ruins clothes, uses tons of electricity and is just a waste. Underwear and shirts etc. I hang on a rack in the laundry room and everything generally dries overnight!
There is something very soothing about hanging things outside, using those old fashioned wooden pins…and yes, I even go out in the snow, as long as the sun is shining!