Now is the perfect time to get some high-traffic spaces in your home organized. Why not start off with a room where you probably spend a lot of time: the laundry room.
Whether you have a dedicated room or a stacked unit in a closet, the laundry room is a high-use space. Keeping this area organized makes the entire laundry process easier. Here are some options for making improvements in your laundry room:
Low Effort
Pick items up off the floor. Put dirty clothing into hampers and other items on shelves, in cabinets, or back in other rooms where they belong.
Medium Effort
Complete the “low effort” task, and then improve your laundry system by giving every person a hamper near where they undress. This could be anything from a basket to a pop-up hamper to a “back of the door” option.
High Effort
If your laundry area lacks storage, make a plan to add some. For example, add a shelf to hold laundry soap, or a pretty canister for laundry pods (Caution: if you have small children, make sure to use only child-proof containers for laundry pods). You might also want to hang up your ironing board. If you have sufficient floorspace, add a laundry sorter. There are lots of other options for improving your laundry room that you can read about here.
To see in-depth tips for purchasing and maintaining items in your laundry room, check out this in-depth post over on Porch.com.
* * *
Any improvement in your laundry room will put a smile on your face. What are you inspired to do today?
Great options for the Laundry Room, Seana! It is one of the spaces that creates lots of clutter and often gets little attention.
Some people don’t even have a full laundry room, but whatever your space looks like, since we use it all the time, it is worth making it look and function well1
Laundry!!! Certainly a challenging area for a lot of our clients. I often see that clients leave their clean laundry in baskets around the house. I think they run out of steam or they are hesitant to put things away because they won’t know where to find them? or maybe they just have no space to put them because the drawers and closets are full. Definitely a big area that is challenging!
Yes, everyone really needs an organized laundry SYSTEM, which carries all the way through to folding and putting clothing away. That said, if it works for someone to just keep clean clothing loose in a basket, and they are happy, what’s wrong with that? we don’t all need to do things exactly the same way. It’s about having a process that you are happy with.
Great, advise, Seana. I love a well-organized laundry room. It is in my husband’s office. I do not have a laundry room, but I ensured I had everything I needed in the space while I was doing laundry. So, I ensure that the areas are not too cluttered since I do laundry on Fridays. A pull-out drying rack with wheels works excellently since it folds up and stores away when we are not using it. We also have a line that runs from one end of the door frame to the other to allow for small things that need drying. I also have a pull-out waist-height folding table for when I need to fold lots of things. Both items are stored in the washer/dryer closet for easy access.
I love all these “pull-out” options, Sabrina! I have a fold-out drying rack, that I love. I also have an ironing board that folds away into the wall, which really works for me. I don’t do a lot of ironing, so I don’t want an ironing board and iron taking up space in a tiny laundry area.
A pull-out folding surface is terrific. Wouldn’t it be great if that could be built into new homes?
I love this post!!! I’m tempted to ask “what is an iron and ironing board?” However, I do have an iron that hasn’t been used in over a year and a small ironing board to put on a counter. I no longer have storage space for an ironing board nor do I need it. I now have a small over/under washer and dryer that sits in a closet in my bathroom…not ideal but it is close to a sink and the shower curtain rod for air drying. Happy New Year!
I love a stack unit, especially if you have a smaller number of people to wash for. They make great use of space.
I hardly ever iron either, which is why I love having one that folds down from the wall if/when the moment arises!
I knew I would love this multi-effort series! My laundry room is a narrow closet with a stacked washer/dryer. No shelving, and no place to even put a laundry basket. When I moved here, I was so delighted not to have to gather quarters or use a public laundry room/laundromat that it didn’t matter, but I’ve made some low-effort moves, like adding 3M adhesive hooks to the inside of the door and a rubber (non-scootching) tub for storage on top of the dryer. The small real estate makes it so much easier to have a system — and so I always wash, dry, and put things away in one go. But I do wish I had pull-out or pull-down surface for folding.
A stack unit is a treasure after hauling things to a common laundry room. If you only have a one or two people, it really works so well. A folding surface is a treat. I’m thinking there is a market opportunity for some sort of pull out folding surface that sits between the units. Anybody listening??
Our laundry room is in our unfinished basement, but Cassidy definitely does organize it. We added a laundry floormat and some organizational items. I want to go all out with this!
The laundry room can be a busy spot, so I’ve found whatever you put into this space usually pays big rewards!
Great ideas. I have a great laundry room with lots of space so I can keep it neat. Nevertheless, it can become a space for accumulating things that have nothing to do with laundry. Always good to keep a check on it.
That’s a good point, Dianne. An open surface, such as a folding counter, often attracts stray items. How wonderful that you have a spacious laundry room. 🙂
I love this because some days we only have ‘low effort’ to give to organizing projects, and that’s ok! Any progress is good progress and it should be celebrated. This is also a nice way to break down projects that intimidate us into more manageable pieces.
And if you can only do a little today, bookmark the challenge so you can come back to a spot in the future when you have more time and/or energy!