Don’t Miss This Simple and Practical Laundry Room Organization

It is January and like most people, we are focusing on cleaning up, clearing out, and organization! I love this time of year. It feels like a fresh start with my home and in many ways, I try really hard to reestablish that ‘first moved in feeling.’ There’s nothing like it. Everything is in its place. Things are organized. Dust and cobwebs have been eradicated. Ahhhh. That’s why today I’m sharing my simple and practical laundry room organization strategy with you.

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It doesn’t have to be picture perfect

If you do a quick search on Pinterest or scroll through Instagram, you will no doubt come up with picture after picture of perfectly designed, impeccably organized, and immaculately clean laundry rooms. But, I question if that’s real life, and if it is, how long does it stay that way? Working laundry rooms have to serve multiple functions no matter how large or small your space is.

The first thing I want you to remember is that your laundry room doesn’t have to be picture perfect. In fact, I’m going to share a few photos of my own laundry space with you. It isn’t a laundry room at all, but it’s more like a laundry closet. I am assuming more than a few of you have the same situation.

While we are blessed to have washer / dryer hookups in our apartment, we still have to be mindful and intentional for this space because it has to function well. Remember, it doesn’t have to be picture perfect! (These photos sure aren’t!)

Function First

The first purpose of your laundry space is for doing your laundry. With that you may need space to hang clothing to dry, a basket for folding cloths, or a place to store extra household items. In our space, we had added a shelf above the washer for additional paper towels, Kleenex, rubbing alcohol, and dryer sheets. Above the dryer, we have our iron and clothes shaver as well as a stack of pool towels. To the right of the dryer, you can see our foldable ironing board. It stores neatly in the space, and can be placed on top of the washer / dryer for a quick pressing.

What do you need from your laundry space? Do you need additional storage? Do you need a place to iron clothes? Do you need a place to store utility items like a vacuum, or steam mop? Determine first what your laundry space needs in order to function best for your family.

It does need to function well

When thinking about laundry room organization, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in our small space is that it not only needs to function, but it needs to function well….for me. Because I’m a little on the shorter side, coming in at 5’5″, its often difficult to reach items that may be on the upper shelf – especially if I’m reaching over the washer or the dryer. That is why having well-appointed organization is a must to having a laundry space that functions well.

Because this laundry room is in a rental space, we didn’t want to mount the charging dock for our vacuum. By the way, we LOVE our Dyson vacuum. It is a total game changer! However, placing on the floor was not an acceptable option. Anytime the washer spun out, the vacuum would inevitable fall. That’s why we placed a simple solution of an S hook on the wired shelf. The vacuum can hang from the hook, and we can charge it whenever needed all without damaging the walls of our rental unit.

Multi-function solutions

Because this laundry closet sits at the entrance to our unit, we often come in from the pool or hot tub with wet or damp towels. We installed a simple set of over-the door hooks that provide space for things like wet umbrellas or damp pool towels. Towels and swim suits can dry quickly without becoming musty, and we don’t have them lying all over the bathroom or sitting in a puddle in a laundry basket.

Organization needs to be useful

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love a good before and after of laundry room organization as much as the next gal. I would LOVE all of my items to be in pretty bins or baskets. And maybe one day in the future I may get around to that. However, in the meantime, I need my organizational solutions to be useful.

Like I mentioned before, I’m a little on the short side. Keeping all of my cleaning products on the wire shelf wasn’t working. That is why I decided to create a rolling cleaning cart. All of the laundry products I need are at hand, and cleaning products are well within reach. No step stool needed.

A place for everything, and everything in it’s place

Remember, again, it doesn’t have to be picture perfect. It simply needs to function well!

This little rolling cart has all of the laundry supplies within reach right in the top compartment. Things like a small basket of laundry pods, dryer sheets, liquid bleach, stain remover, and dish soap (which is amazing on grease stains) are all at my fingertips.

The two lower shelves house rubber gloves, cleaning supplies, and cloths. The bottom compartment holds things like vacuum attachments, and steam mop heads. Here’s the best part! This cart is rolling. When it’s time to do a deep clean of the bathrooms, kitchen, or living room, the cart can simply roll to whichever room I’m working from, and everything stays organized.

In addition to the rolling cart, we added a 13-gallon trash can to this area. Obviously, we don’t need this much space simply for dryer lint, but because this laundry closet is at the entrance to our unit, having the additional trash compartment comes in handy when opening mail, discarding amazon packages, and…of course…dryer lint.

Laundry Room Organization

As we start off the new year, why not tackle one of the hardest working areas of your home this week? You don’t need to spend a ton of money to make it function better for you. Of course, we’d all love to have beautiful wall paper and pretty baskets to make the space aesthetically pleasing. But if you’re working in a small space, or a rental space, focusing on functionality is the simple and practical solution!

How can you improve your space today?

Additional Resources: If you’re looking for more organization inspiration, read these articles.

Shop This Post: These are the items listed in the photos of this post. Most of them we have owned for many years. We only recommend products we use and love in our own home.