Justine Harrington on July 20, 2017 1 Comment In most homes, our laundry rooms tend to be neglected dumping grounds for… stuff. Heaps of clothing get thrown haphazardly about, cleaning supplies crowd any available shelf space, and piles of who-knows-what-else debris seems to dominate the room. Laundry rooms are often cramped quarters, as well, which is why this space can easily become a breeding ground for clutter. All of which is to say: when you take the time to keep your laundry room organized, you’ll be amazed at how much better you’ll feel. After all, no room of your home should be forgotten, when it comes to organization! By following these ten simple tips, you can keep your laundry room free of clutter, once and for all. 1) Use Every Inch of Your Space Particularly in a small space (as is often the case with most laundry rooms), you’ve got to get creative. This means using every single inch of your laundry room! Whether that means organizing your cabinets to free up space, or creating a better system for all the laundry hampers around your home, using up every square inch of the room (in an organized fashion, of course) is important. You could even add in extra shelving, to help create more storage space – bonus if your shelves have hooks and racks, for efficiently drying and hanging clothes. 2) Organize Your Cleaning Supplies Are your laundry room shelves lined with four half-full bottles of Windex, decades-old detergent, and a random assortment of other crusty old cleaning products? You’re not alone – cleaning supplies tend to overtake any laundry room. That’s why one of the best ways to get your space organized is by removing all cleaning supply clutter! First, take the time to go through your products and toss out anything that you don’t use or has bypassed its expiration date. Next, if you can, try to keep your remaining supplies as out of the way as possible. Stock everything neatly in cabinets or invest in storage accessories, such as brightly-colored baskets or a carry-all caddy to house all your bottles and detergent. The goal is to keep your products out of sight, while making them easy to find when necessary. 3) Add a Countertop If you have the space, a countertop in the laundry room can be a lifesaver. By adding in a slab of sleek butcher-block or other type of sturdy countertop, you can create a little more room for cleaning products, baskets, or other random items. And, best of all, you can hang curtains from your countertop! Which brings us to our next tip… 4) Hang Curtains Curtains are your new best friend, when it comes to organizing your laundry room. By simply hanging a pretty, neutral-colored curtain, you can hide your washer and dryer, and completely transform your space. (And, by the way, we recommend sticking to one color palette for your space – this will help things feel even more streamlined.) 5) Install a Hanging Rod If you don’t already have a hanging rod in your laundry room, it’s time to install one! A rod across a doorway, or in a small corner of your room, is crucial – you need a designated space to hang wet clothing and swimsuits, rather than draping your clothes in random areas of your home. 6) Don’t Skimp on Fun Touches Just because it’s your laundry room doesn’t mean it should be bare-walled and industrial-looking. And, in fact, we’d argue that because it’s your laundry room (i.e., the place you probably hate most in the entire home!), this is precisely why you should take extra care to add a few decorative touches. So, hang artwork that you love or a family photo, above your washer and dryer. Place a vase with fresh flowers on your shelf. Put your detergent or soap in a cute glass mason jar. Adding a couple fun, stylish elements into the mix can (a) make your laundry room feel more organized, and (b) not make you feel like you’re doing your laundry in a prison cell. Which, who knows, just might make folding clothes a tad more fun! 7) Use Cutesy Catch-All Jars Are you constantly sifting through your laundry and tossing out pens, coins, and other paraphernalia? Place a couple cute jars or bins on a shelf, ideally at eye level, to store these random items. This organizational tool is great for a few reasons – first, by placing jars at eye level, this will help remind you to go through your laundry and get rid of any forgotten items in pockets. Also, this can be a chic way to add some flair to your laundry room. And remember, whomever finds the coins gets to keep them! 8) Designate A Pet-Friendly Zone Are your pet’s leashes, food, and toys starting to seriously crowd your space? You’re not alone! That’s why it’s important to have an area of your laundry room, or closet, that’s specifically for pet gear. Make it a point to store your pet’s bedding, toys, and food dishes in this spot, and ensure that everything stays as out of the way as possible. Not only will this cut down on the clutter, but you’ll know where everything is when it’s time for a late-night walk. 9) Appropriately Store All-Weather Gear If there are all sorts of gloves, scarves, and other cold-weather gear lying around your laundry room (and it’s, um, summertime), why not corral all those items together – and store them away? Pick a rainy Saturday or a lazy Sunday sometime in the future, and take the time to sort through all your cold- and warm-weather items, and group everything together accordingly. (And be sure to toss any gloves or socks that are missing their partners.) Then, store each bundle of clothing into clearly-labelled bins or baskets – you could even assign a bin per family member, to make things even easier. The goal is to keep these seasonal garments not just out of the way, but also organized and stored away in one easy-to-find common area. 10) Have a System For Lost-and-Found Items It’s a mystery for the ages – where do all those missing socks go? No one really knows. By keeping an extra basket near your washer and dryer that’s specifically for misplaced items and single socks (your laundry nook’s own little “Lost and Found” area), you can more easily locate each item’s owner, and stay organized.
Barbera Peters says September 12, 2017 at 10:04 am My husband and I just moved into a new home and I want to start making it feel like a real home by getting everything organized and decorated. You talked about how in the laundry room you should use every inch of space you can be getting cabinets to free up space or by add racks and hooks. That is a great place to start with my laundry room so that I can utilize all of the space. Reply
