Laundry Room Ideas

Here are some laundry room ideas to help keep you and your laundry organized, in turn, making laundry just a tiny bit easier to manage.

Not all laundry rooms are created equal. My dream laundry room would be a nice bright little room inside my home, painted a happy yellow, with a sink and a cheery window. But I know that for many of us, our laundry room is a corner of our dark garage or basement. Here are some laundry room ideas that will help most utility rooms, no matter where in the house they are.

Laundry Product Storage

You can’t do laundry without products, and you need somewhere to store them. One possibility is shelves or cabinets above the washer and dryer or if you have room, a pantry type cabinet on a nearby wall. Cabinets are nice because they close and hide all your products. Another option would be a slim rolling laundry cart, often seen used between the washer and dryer. You can pull it out to access what you need and then slide it back into place keeping most of the products hidden.

Under Washer/Dryer Storage

If you are able to afford it, you can purchase storage units that go under your washer and dryer. I got mine when we purchased our units mainly to prevent having to bend over to load and unload the units. Nice, huh? I have a crate in front of each unit to put my laundry basket on so I never need to bend. And go figure, I can put stuff in the big drawers! Unfortunately, they’re not tall enough to fit spare laundry detergent bottles, but they’re good for dryer sheets, mesh laundry bags, and other small items.

Laundry Sorting Hamper

Unless you’ve already got a system in place for everyone to sort their laundry prior to getting to the laundry room, you may want to put a main hamper system in the laundry room for the family to drop off their dirty clothes. Everyone is then responsible for tossing their darks and lights into the correct section of the hamper. Then, instead of collecting laundry around the house, you simply need to check if a section of the hamper in the laundry room is full. If so, grab and toss it into the washing machine. This method though relies heavily on the family doing their part to get the dirty laundry to the sorting hamper.

Counter or Table for Folding

A great laundry room would have an area for you to fold the laundry fresh out of the dryer so that you’re less inclined to just carry it into the house and let it wrinkle in the basket. If you have a counter, great. Or, if you have the space, you can pull out a folding table. Another option would be a work area that folds down from the wall when you need it.

Ironing board

You can keep a full-sized ironing board hanging on the wall or in a corner of your laundry room ready to be used, along with your iron. Another option is an ironing board that folds out of the wall when you need it.

Drying Rack

You should have some type of drying rack to hang wet items on hangers. You could use a free standing drying rack or install a retractable clothes line. Another great idea is to install a bath towel bar mounted under a shelf in the laundry room. This hanging area will also be helpful when ironing.

Sink

Having an easily accessible sink is important in a great laundry room.

Lighting

This is where that sunny window comes in handy. But if you don’t have that, make sure you have sufficient lighting installed in your laundry area so you can clearly see what you’re doing.

Stray Things

You should include a basket or small box in your laundry room for you to put those stray items you find in pockets (or in the washer or dryer). Take this basket into the house periodically to return items to where they belong. (Keep the change. You deserve it.)

Entertainment

Of all the laundry room ideas, this is the most important…. OK, who ever said that doing laundry had to be boring and tedious? I say, if you’re going to be in the laundry room for a few minutes folding, go ahead and turn on a portable TV to your favorite show or crank up a favorite song on your radio to keep your energy going. It’ll certainly make the time go by much quicker. And maybe you’ll WANT to hang out in the laundry room a little more often. The rest of the family will think you're working hard and not follow you in there and possibly get put to work. Go ahead, linger for an extra song and a little "me time"! No one will be the wiser.

I hope these laundry room ideas give you some ideas to get your started and on your way to an organized laundry room.

Once you've got your laundry room set up, you should read more about how to organize your laundry routines to save time.

You may also be interested in checking out some home storage products for the laundry room to inspire more great laundry room ideas.