Loving Your Laundry Room

If you’ve lived in an apartment for any time at all, one of the biggest wishes in your new home is for in-home laundry facilities. However, when you have a large family, a busy lifestyle, and lots of clothes to care for, that wish gets bigger - you want the perfect laundry room. You dream of front-loading side-by-side units or that lovely stackable with plenty of room to sort and fold. Instead, your laundry room is a chaotic mess. So, what to do?

Tame the laundry tiger

• If your laundry room floor space is lacking, consider hanging hooks on the wall and hanging your laundry bags for easy sorting.• Add shelving above the washer and dryer with hanging rods. Keep detergents and pre-wash products handy right above the appliances and hang your drip dry and fresh from the dryer clothes with ease.
• If you can afford it, install enclosed shelving instead of open shelving. That way you can hide your mess out of the way.
• Store linen in baskets of shelving so that you can quickly pull down the right container and fold your towels or sheets directly into the baskets.
• Consider putting powdered detergents into glass canisters and liquid detergents and softeners in clear dispensers to eliminate clutter and give your laundry room and clean, organized appearance.
• For extra drying space, install a collapsible or hanging drying rack. Make sure it has plenty of room for trying sweaters but folds back up out of the way when you need it to.
• Hang your ironing board behind or on the back of the door to keep it out of the way when not in use. Look for a rack that includes a shelf for the iron and even extra storage space to make the most of the room you have.
• Some homeowners share their laundry rooms with their pets. If your pet feeds or sleeps in the laundry room, consider enclosed sorting baskets to keep the temptation of rolling in your dirty clothes away from your pets. To give them their own space, consider placing their crate or kennel under the folding area.
• If you have a very tiny space, go vertical with everything. Hang adjustable racks with shelving, wire baskets, hooks, and hanging bars all in one place.
• When you share your laundry space with your kitchen or the rear or garage entry, you have to be strategic about storage and sorting areas. If not, you end up with clothing in your kitchen or being stepped on by anyone coming through the back door. Consider storing all the laundry supplies in a decorative cabinet with a flat surface to use for folding that looks like an intentional piece of furniture when you’re not doing laundry.

If your laundry room no longer fits your family or lifestyle, talk to your real estate professional about searching for a new laundry room with a house attached.