3 LAUNDRY ROOM TIPS

I'm a bit obsessed about laundry, and I find laundry rooms are never quite big enough for all the tasks we use this space for.  This was one of the first spaces I tackled after moving into our new home.  In addition to adding extra cabinetry to our laundry room for storage, these three tips have helped out immensely in keeping it organized.  I focused on these three items because they are relatively inexpensive (low cost – high impact, my favorite kinds of solutions), and can help make the most of small spaces.

#1 INSTALL WALL HOOKS

These two simple hooks have been a big help in our laundry room.  I installed one for my husband and one for myself.  The ‘ready-to-go-into-the-closet’ items hang here.  They keep finished laundry items out of the way, and if my husband passes by the laundry room and see’s clothes on his hook – he knows they are ready to be put away. Tip - install them on studs if you can - they will be more sturdy and able to handle a larger amount of clothes.

#2 BASKETS & SHOE RACK



I used to have a catch-all laundry basket with shoes and shopping bags cluttering up the laundry room floor.   I had dreams of a custom piece of cabinetry with a shoe rack and shelves to hold baskets, but I’m pretty sure I would not have gotten ‘budget approval’.  Solution - a store bought shoe rack and stackable baskets.  Benefits – (1) we always know where our shopping bags are now that we have a place for them (2) I no longer have to be creeped-out by the dish towels mingling with the cleaning rags (3) When a basket is full – it’s easy to see when a load of laundry needs to be done.  (4) Shoes are out of the way and are not cluttering up the laundry room floor. (5) Random laundry items and dry cleaning also has a home of it’s own.

The tags on the baskets are: laundry, dry cleaning, shopping bags, dish towels, microfiber, and cleaning rags.  Note - the 'laundry' basket was not intended to hold all our laundry.  Most of it can be found in the hamper in our bedroom.  Here we place just random laundry items - socks picked up off the floor, the sweaty t-shirts I make my husband remove upon coming into the house...

The baskets were purchased from Target and the shoe rack was purchased from Lowe’s.  The tags are made from scrap pieces of white cardboard and tied with ribbon.

#3 INSTALL A HANGING BAR

Every laundry room needs a hanging bar.  The dryer can be so rough on your clothes.  I hang dry a lot of items (with some of them getting warmed up just a couple minutes in the dryer to get eliminate wrinkles).  The use of this bar is somewhat limited, as only short items can fit directly over the washer/dryer area, but the sides provide enough space to hang shirts and pants.  I supplement this with a drying rack placed on the floor (for small items and others not suitable for hangers)

You can purchase these types of bars at Lowe's or Home Depot.

For more tips see my ORGANIZE page.