Laundry Rooms

Quick Tips for Organizing Laundry Rooms

Julie Morgenstern, author of Organizing from the Inside Out, shares six easy ways to organize your laundry room and keep it that way once and for all.

By Caren Baginski
Filed under: Laundry Rooms, Organization

Design by Jane Ellison

Corral All-Weather Gear

Hats, gloves, sunglasses and scarves usually end up all over the house or shoved in the coat closet. Use Julie's SPACE method to get organized: Sort, Purge, Assign, Containerize and Equalize. First identify what's important and group similar items, she says. Then purge any glove missing its partner. Assign by corralling all your cold- and warm-weather essentials and containerizing with labeled baskets for each member of the family. Store these where your family normally takes them off after coming indoors. "Rather than retrain the family," says Morgenstern, "store things beautifully where people drop them." Finally, equalize the space every day by tidying up.

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Contain Your Cleaning Supplies

A common source of frustration in the laundry room (other than endless piles of dirty clothes) is finding a place for all those cleaning supplies. Solution: Store cleaning supplies in a carry-all caddy or open-top storage container. The caddy is ideal for wire shelves because it prevents bottles from tipping over. Plus, no more rooting around in the back of the cabinet for window cleaner.

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Create a Pet Zone

If your pet's possessions are slowly taking over the household, consider creating a pet zone in the laundry room. A pet zone can free up space and make you aware of how much you pamper your pet, which might mean you have to cut back. Things to put in the space: a bed or crate; a peg rack for leashes and collars; and food dishes on a non-skid carpet or in an elevated dish. Be sure everything is placed out of the flow of traffic for the room.