We as parents tend to spend a ton of time in the laundry room and more often than not it can be one of the smallest rooms of our home. Clutter is usually a big problem in this area and with a few tricks and tips you can have your laundry room running smoothly in no time. I can't say you will enjoy being in the laundry room but just maybe if you make a few changes it won't be the most hated room of your home. Following the simple steps below will help you have a more organized laundry room.
Tips for a More Organized Laundry Room
Create a laundry sorting station. There is a lot to be said about having a sorting station. We just implemented this idea in our home and it is working out very well. Our laundry room is located in the basement and we have always just thrown our clothing down the stairs where it sat looking like Mount St. Helens had erupted everywhere. I hated even walking down to the basement let alone trying to get down there and sort through all the mess. You can find many different sorting centers on the internet but with our tight budget I just took three Rubbermaid containers that I had laying around and stuck some labels on them. I used three categories: dark, whites and hand washables and it is working out very well. Now getting everyone to use the sorting station is a work in progress but they are slowly adapting and it is beginning to work out very well.
Keep your machines clutter-free. Having a shelf for your laundry soap, fabric softener and stain removers helps keep the top of your machines clutter free. All of these items need to be kept within arms reach of your machines to keep you from having to stretch and reach to get them. A shelf above the machines is a convenient place or if you are short like me you can get a little shelving unit on wheels that will fit nice and neat in the space between your machines.
Create a folding center in the laundry room. A laundry folding table will keep you from dragging your laundry through the house to fold it. When you drag your laundry to different areas of the house you are wasting valuable time and the laundry tends to sit where you folded it. This leads to problems in other areas of your home like not being able to eat at the kitchen table or sit on your couch because laundry is sitting there just waiting for you to put it away. Fold the laundry on the table and keep labeled baskets with everyone name on them. Then when they get home they can all carry their own basket to their room and put it away. This will leave you with more time to spend with them.
Use a drying rack for hand washables. I tend to shy away from things that are hand washable or dry clean only just for the simple fact that I don't want to hand wash them. Sometimes things slip through my hands at the store and end up having to be hand washed by lil ole me! Uuugh! Needless to say having a place to dry things is a must in a laundry room. Whether you have a laundry drying rack or just somewhere to hang them up it will save you a huge headache down the road. Hanging them from the shower rack in your bathroom may work for you but it sure is a pain to move them when it's time to take a shower and have you ever looked at the dust on top of your shower bar….. YUCK!
Create a place for the lost and found items. Use some canisters or pretty colored buckets or bins for the things that always seem to stack up in the laundry room. I have three of them sitting on top of my dryer labeled spare socks, change and miscellaneous. These things are always cluttering my dryer and having somewhere cute to keep them in until I either put them where they need to be or finally tackle the sock monster and find those socks that he has been hiding again really helps keep me organized.
Use a cabinet for storing extra linens. Invest in a cabinet when you can so you can keep everything else all tucked away behind a nice neat little door. There are things that will clutter up your laundry room and having a place to keep them will have your laundry room looking a feeling like a breath of fresh air. Extra towels and sheets need a place to hang out when they are not being used and a cabinet is the perfect place to hide them. Pick up some pretty bins and baskets to keep everything orderly in your cabinet and label label label!! Cut a circle out of a piece of paper, write on it and attach it with a pretty ribbon or cord. Then you will always know where everything goes and can keep your laundry room looking and smelling clean and fresh.
What tips do you use at home for a more organized laundry room?
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