Efficient and Stylish Storage Solutions for Your Laundry Room
Laundry: it’s every family’s never-ending story. Even so, having a well-organized laundry room can help you breeze through every wash day with ease! Whether you love doing laundry or you’d rather do just about anything else, proper laundry room storage ideas make the task easier. Having every vital laundry supply in a designated space means that you don’t waste time looking for the tools and products you need.
Find inspiration with our best laundry room storage ideas and apply those that solve your laundry space problems. Having a functional and beautiful laundry room design might just ignite a newfound pleasure in washing your family’s clothes.
1. Efficient Closet Laundry Room Storage Ideas
Many homes—especially older homes—lack a full-sized laundry room. Some may have a small laundry utility room off the garage or carport, while others have a laundry closet built into a hallway. The laundry closet may have to double as the linen closet, with all available shelving devoted to storing bedding and towels. This creates the need for serious laundry room organization ideas.
If your laundry closet is tall enough, a stacking washer and dryer will make the most of your storage space. Build shelves or a cabinet next to the machines and use every available inch of vertical space for stacking laundry baskets or hanging rods for drying clothes. If there’s room, make an ironing station by installing a small fold-down ironing board and iron-holding bracket beside it.
2. Creative Basket Storage Solutions
If you tend to let the dirty clothes pile up until you have nothing to wear, having just one laundry basket won’t do. Ideally, each bedroom or bathroom should have its own laundry hamper or basket for moving clothes to and from the laundry room. A laundry basket on wheels makes it easier to move clothes between the washer and dryer and from room to room.
Build an extra laundry room shelf to store laundry baskets between uses. Purchase inexpensive wire and fabric baskets to store smaller items on your shelving, such as fabric softener sheets and stain removal sticks. If you have a lot of unused wall space, install wall-mounted baskets to hold your laundry supplies.
3. Innovative Hallway Storage Ideas
A wide hallway or hallway closet can be a convenient place to create a small laundry room. Maximize the area’s laundry room storage by using the back of the doors to hang supplies. For instance, hang your ironing board inside one door. Screw a series of hooks along the top of the other door and hang a strip of fabric pockets to hold buttons, a sewing kit, and other small laundry-related items.
Give the laundry area a laundry room makeover to designate it from the rest of your hallway. Paint the surrounding walls a calming color, or hang a gorgeous wallpaper above the washer and dryer. Make bare feet comfortable by placing a plush, colorful rug in front of your appliances.
4. Maximizing Storage in Small Laundry Rooms
When you have a small laundry room, you have to use every laundry room storage idea available. For example, use the gap between your washer and dryer to store your ironing board or a folding step stool. Hang small cabinets at each corner over the washer and dryer, then extend a rod between them to hang clothing that needs to drip-dry.
Hang a plastic file box or vintage metal mailbox next to the dryer and use it as a convenient bin for dryer lint and used dryer sheets. Doing so makes use of vertical storage space and doesn’t take up valuable small laundry room floor space like a trash can would.
A great narrow or small laundry room idea is a drying rack that folds against the wall when not it’s in use. If you have decent DIY carpentry skills, this simple small laundry room drying rack is a great weekend project.
5. Stylish Cabinet Storage Concepts
A laundry room cabinet doesn’t have to be huge to be functional. Laundry detergent pods and a dryer sheet box don’t take up much room, so even a small under-sink cabinet may be enough—great news if you have a tiny laundry room and limited places for storage.
Cabinets are always a great idea for organizing and hiding items you may not want out in plain view. A room with a panel of closed doors looks tidier than a room with open laundry room storage. Roll-out cabinets make excellent out-of-sight laundry storage spaces for tall plastic hampers. This makes easy, private work of clothes sorting prior to laundry day.
6. Practical Tips for Organization
When it comes to organized laundry storage ideas, investing in matching storage containers is always a good idea. Identical wicker or wire baskets are a classic storage idea that provides uniform neatness when placed on open shelves. Boxes of dryer sheets look neater stored inside a tissue box cover. Simply thread them through the top and easily pop one out when it’s time to dry your clothes.
Labels are an essential laundry room idea if you want a fully organized room. Chalkboard labels are perhaps the best for laundry room storage, as they’re easy to rewrite when needed. Attach a label to every jar or basket so you can quickly find what you need.
When organizing laundry room storage, always try to group similar items together. Keep your iron near your ironing board, lint roller, and spray starch to make ironing a breeze. And of course, always put everything back where it belongs as soon as you finish using it.
7. Embracing Free Standing Storage
If you don’t have a designated laundry room, your washing and dryer might be in another space. When these appliances are out in the open, perhaps in a mudroom, the kitchen, or a bathroom, laundry room organization may be more challenging. However, an upside to a free-standing laundry area is that there’s plenty of room for ironing, sorting clothes, and other related tasks.
In many older homes, the laundry area calls the basement home. This is usually an open area as well, but at least it hides below grade. Good basement laundry room ideas include hanging a pegboard wall beside the washer. Use it to neatly hang baskets, scissors, lint rollers, and other laundry or cleaning tools.
A great way to maximize your laundry area organization options is to create a DIY countertop from plywood. Place it over the washing machine and dryer for an instant increase in the amount of counter space. Use it to spot-treat stains, fold clean clothes, and hold containers of detergent and fabric softener.
8. Streamlined and Effective Storage
Sometimes the simplest laundry room storage ideas are hiding in plain sight. If you already embrace a minimalist lifestyle, chances are that your laundry room storage solutions include some repurposed or recycled items. Even so, simple or minimal doesn’t have to equate to plain.
To enhance a simple laundry room, pour laundry detergent powder into large, repurposed mason jars. Replace the cheap plastic scoop with a similarly-sized metal scoop or vintage measuring cup. You can also pour liquid detergent and fabric softener into glass or ceramic lidded pitchers or juice jugs for a creative storage idea.
An unused, possibly forgotten bookshelf can be a welcome addition to laundry room storage. Paint it to match your laundry room cabinetry and use it to hold cleaning supplies or folded kitchen towels. Top it with a row of potted plants or succulents to add a bit of life to your laundry room.
FAQs
What should be stored in a laundry room?
You should store all of your laundry essentials inside the laundry room. If an item is related to clothing care, it makes sense to keep it in the laundry area. Keep these in your laundry room:
- Detergent and dryer sheets
- Stain remover
- Ironing board and iron
- Drying rack
- Extra hangers
- Laundry hampers and laundry baskets
- Sewing kit and scissors
How can I make my laundry room look nice?
Adopting good laundry room organization habits will help make the room look nice. Paint the walls a cheerful color and hang some artwork. Replace plain plastic bins with decorative woven baskets, and install extra shelving if needed. Hide detergent bottles behind closed cabinet doors. Add a colorful rug—even a tiny laundry room closet can benefit from a narrow runner rug.
How do I declutter my laundry room?
It’s easy to clutter up the laundry room with half-used cleaning supplies and clothes that need repair or stain removal. Dirty laundry can pile up, as can baskets of clean laundry. Deal with these issues first by throwing out cleaning supplies you don’t use and taking care of repairs or stains. Make use of all storage space to tuck away the laundry supplies that need to remain.
Start washing any piled up dirty laundry; fold and put away any clean clothes that have accumulated. Sweep and mop the floor and wipe down the outside of your washer and dryer. Clean each cabinet door and countertop. Keep the room neat and decluttered by staying on top of these tasks each week.
