Some people love to do the laundry. The aroma of fresh laundry soap and dryer sheets, the productive feeling of ironing then folding, can be a rewarding experience. For the rest of us, the laundry room can be a tedious place that seems to rapaciously consume our precious free time. This is made even worse by a disorganized laundry room or one that simply doesn’t meet your needs.
Fortunately, modern innovation comes to the rescue once again, in the form of convenient laundry room storage solutions, and appliances that almost make it possible to enjoy laundry day.
Best Storage Ideas To Maximize The Space In Your Laundry Room
Most people are challenged by the cramped space of a small laundry room. Though there are some creative, as well as practical ways to make the most out of your vertical space.
Consider Getting A Stackable Washer & Dryer Combo
If your laundry room is a little bit of a blank slate, or you’re simply in the market for a new washer and dryer, you might want to consider a stackable combination unit. The washer sits at the bottom, with its own independent water and electrical lines. It is essentially fused with a dryer that resides above it, yet still allows enough room to quickly load and unload the washing machine.
While the drum capacity on these units is a little on the small side, you might find you can get enough in a single load to make it effective. Especially if you have a small family, or you make a point to separate your whites from your colors. In recent years they’ve even become more energy and water-efficient.
Install Free Standing Wire Shelves
Wire shelving has started to evolve in recent years. What was once thought of as being a place to store simple boxes in a dorm room has now become a functional way to make the most out of the available vertical space.
Most units come with four shelves, but you can certainly buy additional shelves to give you more storage room. The attachment hardware and structure of the legs also means you can put a lot of weight on each shelf. Just make sure to put the heaviest things on the lower shelf to keep the entire shelving unit from becoming top-heavy.
You can then lay out the laundry as it’s folded onto each shelf by the person or by type. If you’re the type of person who likes to buy in bulk, you can store extra laundry detergent, dryer sheets and fabric softener on the lower shelves.
Wire Baskets
Wire baskets are becoming an increasingly popular way to store lightweight items that you want close at hand. If you like they can be paired with sliding rails and mounted under cabinets and shelves. It’s a great way to keep dryer sheets and fabric softener nearby without having to tuck it away in a cabinet.
Wire baskets can also be mounted on walls to hold other items. Attached with heavy-duty drywall anchors you could even use them to hold a jug of laundry detergent or bleach. You might even be surprised by some of the creative decorative options.
Hanging Drying Racks & Pull Down Closet Poles
Some garments simply don’t take well to the dryer. A few even state that you need to hang them to dry. At the same time, a lot of blouses and button-up shirts maintain their lines better if you hang them after ironing rather than fold them.
If your laundry room has a relatively low ceiling, you can simply hang a standard closet pole. There are even some angular brackets that can let you hang a wooden closet pole at a 45-degree angle in the corner of the laundry room.
For a laundry room with high ceilings, a pull-down hanging rack system might be a great way to make the most out of your vertical space. Most have a spring-loaded mechanism that keeps them up near the ceiling when not in use. Then a handle allows you to either crank it down or gently release the springs to lower it.
Wire Shelves With A Built-In Hanging Rod
If you have access to the underlying studs or strong drywall anchors, you could attach wire shelves directly to the wall in your laundry room. They will likely need some angle brackets to help reinforce them and keep the shelves level. Most of these shelving systems also have a lower hanger space, which is great for hanging things before and after ironing.
A Fold-Down Ironing Board
While this might seem a little bit old-fashioned a fold-down ironing board is still extremely convenient. Especially if you’ve ever found yourself frustrated by collapsing ironing board in the past. These days ironing boards have even become a little bit of a creative canvas to better match your styling cues and the overall décor of the laundry room.
Collapsible Laundry Hamper
Laundry hampers are a great way to collect dirty clothes that need to be washed. Hard-sided hampers tend to take up a lot of space. Especially for that first day or two after laundry day. A collapsing hamper or a corner hamper with a triangular frame and a mesh laundry bag can help minimize the amount of space dirty clothes take up during the week.
Velcro Strips For Light Weight Items
Dryer sheet and other lightweight laundry items can take up a lot of space on a shelf or in a laundry room cupboard. Sticking a simple Velcro tab on the back and a matching tab on the inside of a laundry room cabinet door lets you stick them conveniently in place, where you can grab them as needed, without them taking up precious square inches on a shelf.
Over The Door Pouches
Pouch systems that hang over the door started out as a convenient way to store shoes in a college dorm room. Today they have evolved into functional solutions for holding lightweight items while saving precious shelf space. They are especially handy in the laundry room for holding small individual items like fabric softener, color-safe bleach, scented laundry granules, and dryer sheets.
