Photo: New Africa (Shutterstock)
When you’re trying to wash, dry, and sort your family’s laundry pile after pile, an organized and functional workspace can make all the difference. And yet, when we think of the rooms that we want to redesign or redecorate in our house, our thoughts first wander everywhere –the kitchen, the bath rooms, the living room, our outdoor area, and even our bedrooms—Before we think about polishing up the washroom.
But whether you have your own laundry room or just a corner to house the washer and dryer, spending a little time reorganizing and renovating could probably serve you better – and it doesn’t have to cost a lot at all.
Your laundry room could almost certainly use more storage space
It can be surprising how much storage space we actually need within easy reach of our washing machine and dryer. It’s not just laundry detergents, dye towels, and stain removers; it’s also the leather cleaner you need occasionally, the Dryel starter kit you bought a few years ago, the OxiClean bucket, and the bottle of bleach that need to be kept somewhere (that is somewhere out of sight and out of reach.) when you are small Have children). Adding a small closet with doors to hide chemicals – either for safety reasons or just because you don’t want to keep looking at them – is a great first step in organizing your laundry room.
If you have the space a number of closets above the washer and dryer can be convenient, however a free-standing closet will work too. However, if you’re very limited on storage space (and funds), you can even do something as simple as this narrow, rolling laundry trolley can help you stay organized.
Right now, everything in your laundry room is just hard lines and edges. To make the room a little more welcoming, spend a lot of time in it! You deserve to be made to feel welcome! – temper it with some wicker or woven storage containers and baskets. You will probably want to a kind of basket, at least for the family’s ongoing collection of dirty towels. And such a little stand, with hanging fabric storage bins (and bonus shelf!), would be perfect for storing old towels, rags, and other bedding that you don’t use regularly but keep for extra messy tidying situations.
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And finally, I’m not saying you need it a small storage basket in a cheerful color, I’m just saying that these replacement socks need a home until you find their partners, and this is a home as good as any other.
You need more storage space than you think
Have you ever folded and stacked t-shirts on the dryer only to sigh again when the stack gets too high and starts sliding down the slightly less-than-flat surface? Just me? Well, what I need – and I bet you do too – is more work space. However, I bet you don’t have the exact space to add counters or you would have already done so.
Instead, you (and I should) mount an ironing board that folds down and doubles as a shelf. (You can also iron it on, which I only do on special occasions.) As with everything, you can be as fancy as you want here additional cupboard space and adjustable swivel joint– or keep it simple and cheap a board hanging over the back of the door. Either way, T-shirts won’t slip out of the dryer anymore.
You need a place to hang and air dry things
You could do like me and drag all your wet sweaters up two flights of stairs from the basement to the master bedroom every time you need to air dry something. Or you can do what I want to do and mount a clothes horse right in the same area.
Depending on the setup of your laundry room (and how much you tend to air dry) you can go for space-saving retractable racks, a rack that can be temporarily or permanently installed, a retractable shelf that also offers shelf space and additional hooks, or something looks weirdly cute.
A Carpet – Your laundry room needs a nice carpet
My “laundry area” is the back corner of an unfinished basement in an almost 100 year old house on the east coast. It’s not cute or cozy, I say. Literally the first thing I did in this house before a single box crossed the threshold was to buy a nice rug to put in front of the washer and dryer.
Did this rug magically turn my laundry room into a space I can’t get enough of? Obviously not; but it made it more homely for the times when I challenge myself to catch the pile of folded t-shirts. Depending on where your washroom is in the house, if you have room for a rug it can help warm the room up.
