Have you ever gotten too busy with work, kids, or school and seen the laundry pile up? Doing the laundry is something that takes a lot of discipline. But, done best, it’s part of your routine and is a box that gets checked every week depending on how many people are in your family.
If you let it go for too long, soon you’re wading through piles of dirty clothes in your laundry room and searching for something to wear in your closet. A cluttered laundry room makes doing laundry even more taxing because now you’ve got a mess to work through just to get clean clothes.
Throw the fact that many people use their laundry rooms for storage, tools, or as a quasi mudroom, and it’s a recipe for an organizational disaster. Whether you’re someone who hates doing laundry and wants to find a better way, or you are looking for methods to get more use out of your room, here are some organizational tips you can use to stay organized and make laundry a breeze.
Let’s Start With the Basics – The Laundry
Laundry is in the room’s name, so it’s no wonder that washing and drying clothes are its main purpose. Laundry is more fun and less of a pain when you have a system in place that tells people where things go. You’ll save time and keep things off of the floor with the right organization.
You need to build out a storage system that uses space wisely and helps you get the chores done. One way to do that is by installing a wooden plank or a countertop on top of your appliances. You can plop clothes that are fresh out of the dryer on the countertop and start folding right away. The counter also acts as a handy spot if you need to take things out of the washing machine to spot-treat them or to separate delicates out and leave the rest in the dryer.
In addition to the countertop, you can install shelves on any bare walls where you can sort piles of laundry. Having shelves and the waist level or lower also helps kids sort by colors and materials, if that’s something that you do. Then you don’t have to feel like you’re doing all of the work yourself.
Cabinets for Cleaning Supplies
Most laundry rooms have one or more cabinets near the appliances. These are great spots to keep your:
- Stain Remover
- Fabric Softener
- Dryer Sheets
- Detergent
- Bleach Products
Keep all of your liquids in the same spot. Resist the urge to just leave them on the counter or on top of your appliances. If you do, then you open the door to leaving other stuff on there, and clutter starts to build. Place your often-used items, like detergent, on the lower shelves where you can grab them and return them without trouble.
Install a Drying Bar
A drying bar is similar to a clothing bar that goes in a typical closet. You keep clothes on the bar with hangers that you’d rather not fold up and stuff on shelves. Why do you need one in your laundry room?
A drying bar that hangs under a set of shelves makes it, so you don’t have to iron one thing at a time. Sure, you might be able to iron a few shirts before that door handle or hook somewhere fills up, but a bar does the job much better. With a drying bar, you can hang ironed clothes or separate out delicate items that shouldn’t go in the dryer. They can hang there until they are dry, preventing wrinkles and keeping them the right size.
Laundry On Wheels
These days, houses are bigger than in past generations. So there is a good chance you’ve got a laundry room with decent space. If that’s the case, cut down on pacing back and forth, and invest in a laundry cart with a hanging rack, drying bar, and hamper all in one. Most of them come built on wheels, so you can push them around as you grab dirty clothes from the kids or need to position your drying bar just right as you iron. There are a lot of options available online or at a local home goods store, so do some research to find the one perfect for you.
Make Use of Jars & Food Containers to Stay Organized
Once you’ve been in your home for over a year, you likely have more things in your laundry room than when you started. If you’re like most people, there’s probably a toolbox in there, extra lightbulbs, pool towels, and extra toilet paper. Laundry rooms in a lot of homes become like a catchall room where things that have no dedicated space go.
Even laundry supplies build up. There are things like Tide pens for stains and a host of other laundry products we listed above. You’ve got your iron, starch for your ironing, the board, and a list of other items required to look and stay fresh.
Instead of storing things wherever there is space, take some time and build a system for your items. One great way to do this is by using mason jars, kitchen food containers, and other similar storage options. These are perfect for loose buttons, sewing kids, socks without a partner, etc. That way, you know how much of what you have, and you’re less likely to run to the store or order laundry supplies that you don’t need.
Install Wall Hooks
Wall hooks are affordable and easy to install. They don’t take up as much room as a shelf, and you can use them for various purposes. For example, use hooks to maximize vertical spaces in your laundry room. They can go virtually anywhere you have empty wall space, and you can keep things like towels on them or store extra hangers for when you’re ironing.
Some people find success using a system where their family knows to hang delicate clothing items on hooks, so they don’t make it into the dryer with everything else.
Baskets Are Your Laundry Best Friend
You can buy stackable baskets that fit above countertops or on a shelf to fill in when you need some extra storage. They also look great, and you can choose a color that highlights your interior design flair as well as get quality functionality out of them.
Baskets are an excellent way to use temporary storage in your laundry room. Anyone who has done laundry knows the pain of doing more than two cycles at a time. When the clothes in the dryer finish, you need somewhere to put them so the freshly-washed clothes can start a dryer cycle.
Having baskets on hand is a fantastic way to avoid throwing your clean clothes on the floor or losing time waiting until everything is folded until the cycle can move forward. You can find them at your neighborhood store or online.
Organization Makes Laundry Easier
Some people love doing laundry! It’s relaxing, and they can fold clothes as they watch a TV show on the couch at night. Other people hate it and struggle to stay on top of the laundry. Wherever you are on that spectrum, staying organized and keeping a system in place helps get things done faster and prevent laundry mistakes. A well-designed laundry room looks great and is a central selling point if the time to sell ever comes along.
If you’re looking for a storage facility to store your belongings, Snell Mini Storage has got you covered. At Snell Mini Storage, we offer a wide range of unit selections. To learn more about our self-storage facility, please check out our website at https://snellministorage.com/.