7 ways to organize your laundry room!

Don’t you wish you had a magic wand you could wave to instantly clean, dry, fold and put away all of your family’s clothes? Yeah, me, too!   Alas, I don’t have a magic wand, and since laundry is one of those chores that we have to do whether we like it or not, here are some ways to make it a little bit more enjoyable by making the laundry room both fun and functional!

1. Make the laundry room better by adding extra shelving.

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Since our new washer and old dryer are different heights, we added an extra shelf over the dryer.  Our cats sleep in the laundry room, so we use this shelf to hold their food as well as laundry detergent.  If you have extra space, add more shelves, and don’t forget to utilize the space above your laundry room door.

To make it look even better, you can cover cardboard boxes with rope or fabric to dress them up or purchase some fun ones just for the laundry room.

And if you store your liquid detergent on the shelves and have a hard time pouring the detergent into the cup without spilling it or breaking your thumb while pushing down the button, try this handy little cup holder!

If your washer and dryer are the same height, add a single shelf across both to create a great folding/ironing area.

Ready to get organized? Get your free guide of 10 fast and easy ways to get organized for under $10 below, created by a professional organizer (me 😊).

2. Use the wall space efficiently.

We use a large bike hook to store our laundry baskets. We all have tall laundry hampers in our closets for dirty clothes.  The plastic laundry baskets are old ones they use to take the clothes back and forth to their rooms. Use a hanging rack to neatly organize your ironing board, broom and dustpan to keep them in reach and off the floor. I also keep a “claw” grabber I swiped from my son because I am short and if things fall behind or between the washer and dryer, this makes it a snap to reach them!

3. Use a laundry cart between the washer and dryer.

It is a great space saver and I also like that you can store cleaners and such safely on the cart so that pets and small children can’t reach them easily.   Currently, since our cats share the laundry room (and my kids are now teens so I don’t have to worry about the chemicals), we actually have our laundry cart in another part of the laundry room.  It sits in front of the doors to the A/C handlers (which we don’t need to access often).  I keep paper towels, the litter box supplies, a small garbage can  for lint and garbage from pockets, the dryer sheets and cleaning supplies on it.

4. Keep a garbage can, coin catcher, and paper towels in laundry room for easy clean up.

Use a butter tub with a slit cut in the top or a cute change bank for all the loose change you find. (I like this one!) Installing a paper towel rack makes it easy to wipe up any spills and we also do a quick swipe to dry off the door and inside gasket of our washer.  Otherwise, the mildew shows up fast!

5. Create a drying rack to dry delicates.

There are so many clever ideas on how to create one.  Here are just a few.

This one is made from an old baby crib rail. (See how else you can recycle baby cribs in this post.)

Or this:

And if you keep your ironing supplies in the laundry room, use a whimsical holder to keep your ironing board, iron, and supplies neatly organized.

6. “How to do laundry” list for kids.

As I mentioned, my kids are teens now and they have been doing their own laundry for several years now.  I showed them how to do laundry and then wrote out a detailed list for them to refer to (as a Word document) and hung it right in the laundry room. It has worked out great.  My 12-year-old has ADHD and over the years we have discovered that one of the best tools for him is to have a very detailed step-by-step list to follow in order to complete projects.

Here is my list:

7. Since you HAVE to be there, make it enjoyable to be in.

There are so many good ideas on how to make it prettier.

A simple, fresh coat of paint can do wonders! Look at the before and after of my current laundry room!

Then I organized all the supplies into various bins. I added a decorative sign, a fun new rug (that says “Alexa, do the laundry”😁), and a cheerful homemade wreath (see directions on how to make the hydrangea wreath here).

Wall decals.

I chose the one below because it looks like a window looking out onto a field of flowers. (way better than baskets of stinky socks…)

But here is another style of wall decal you might like:

Here are other ways I have used wall decals in my house: My obsession with wall decals!

FREE printables:

And fun decor.

This is my favorite, an awesome Dobby sock sorter 🙂

Like a farmhouse look? Try this fun sign:

Or a vintage-look metal basket for holding clothes pins (or those single socks).

I hope you find these as helpful as I did!

Here are 10 ways to make doing kids’ laundry easier, too!

Leave me a comment and let me know about tricks you use to make your laundry room better, too!

~ Pam