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

Go Vertical to Dry Clothes

The too-small laundry room often suffers from a serious lack of hanging space, resulting in clothes draped over the dryer, cabinets and doors. Vertical space is often the most overlooked area in these rooms. Install a retractable clothesline or buy an inexpensive freestanding drying rack to reclaim some much needed space in the laundry room. Imagine, counter space that's actually used to fold clothes.

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Pre-Sort Dirty Clothes in Hampers

Cut down on laundry time with an organized method for pre-sorting clothes. If space is available, add three laundry hampers (we love the idea of color coding or labeling) for whites, lights and darks. When a hamper gets full, it's time to run the wash. To keep the system going, have each family member take responsibility for bringing their clothes to the laundry room.

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Create a Laundry Room Lost and Found

More than just socks go missing in the laundry room each year. Add a mug or basket near the washer to contain items found in pockets. For those elusive socks, keep another basket handy for strays. Reunite all items with their owners each week. By deciding where things will go (at least temporarily) and remembering to make it logical and accessible, you'll have more success with organization in the long run.