5 Hacks That’ll Instantly Make Your Laundry Room More Functional, According to Pro Organizers

Laundry rooms can be some of the tiniest spaces in the home, yet they seem to hold so much stuff. This catch-all room can easily need a frequent tune-up, creating a more functional space to use for what it’s actually intended — laundry. 

With the help of professional organizers, we’ve determined the best hacks that’ll get you started on creating a space you’ll enjoy working in or at least use functionally while doing this often dreaded chore.

Here’s what they recommend.

Why is your toilet bowl cleaner in the laundry room, if there’s no toilet there? There might be a very logical explanation, such as you are trying to put it on a higher shelf out of reach of children. But instead, relegate objects that don’t belong here back to the room they do belong in, then solve problems in those rooms. Sasha Patton, a professional organizer at Tidy AF Greenville, says, “Ask yourself what can go somewhere else? Tools under the bed? The vacuum in a kid’s closet? Cleaning supplies under the kitchen or bathroom sink?” Part of this process, she adds, involves eliminating duplicate products (like two window cleaners in your home) and moving cleaning products to the rooms they are used in. Now, you have a cleaner slate to work with.

In tiny spaces, vertical room is always your friend, and Patton has some innovative techniques to hack those higher spaces for more storage and function. First, install a simple shelf over the doorway, if you have room. Second, if you own front-loaders, place a “countertop” over them, creating a workspace. Finally, install those old cabinets that have been sitting in your garage above your washer and dryer, or on the opposite wall, for more storage. “If your space is narrow, hang spray bottles on a tension rod up high,” she adds. Additionally, maximize wall space with a rod and S-hooks, where your brooms, supply baskets, and other items you’ve decided must stay can live.

Is there a space between or right next to your machines? Not anymore. Patton recommends a narrow rolling rack or shelf to fit between them, doubling as a workspace. If there’s just not much room left to right, Amber Brandt, interior decorator at The Coziness Consultant, says to consider stackable washers and dryers instead to free up more space. (This is what Cubby contributor Kristina did in her laundry room!) She adds that bulky laundry baskets taking up your space can head on out, and instead use IKEA large blue bags for transporting laundry.

Maybe you do already have some storage in your laundry room, but it’s a risk when you open the door or drawer — whether you’ll get hit with a falling object in the disorganization or if the drawer will even shut again with so much stuff crammed in. Brandt says you can take control through some strategic organizing products she loves, for getting more set up behind closed doors and drawers. Here are her favorites:

• Maximize counter or cupboard space with a Lazy Susan Turntable organizer from Amazon
• Purchase matching storage containers from a dollar store
• Stow wire or melamine cabinet drawer sets inside cupboards, easily found at Wayfair or The Container Store
• And you don’t need a cabinet for this one, just some creativity: Try this magnetic storage option that attaches conveniently to the side of your washing machine.

If walking by, or in, your laundry room means scaling a mountain for dirty clothes, Jean Prominski, a certified professional organizer at Seattle Sparkle, has a better plan. “Especially with living in an apartment, I cannot tolerate an accumulation of laundry,” she says. “If you must let it accumulate, seal the dirty laundry in bags, and drop a few drops of essential oil like lavender (or whatever you like the most) on some clothing that won’t get stained (like a white washcloth). That will help tame the smell and will help boost the laundry soap you choose.” You can also use bags that stack if you are low on space or choose to store the dirty laundry outside the laundry room, in another designated zone, until it’s time to wash it.

Once you’ve implemented these functional hacks, beware — you might not want to stop until you have both a functional and beautiful laundry room.

This post was originally published on Apartment Therapy. 5 Hacks That’ll Instantly Make Your Laundry Room More Functional, According to Pro Organizers