Declutter Laundry Room Around Washer & Dryer {15 Minute Mission}

Today's mission is to declutter the laundry room, specifically around the washer and dryer.


This mission is designed to be done while working on the Laundry Room Organization Challenge, which is part of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge.

This task applies no matter where you keep your washer and dryer, be that in a dedicated room, in the garage, a laundry closet, utility closet or room, basement, or wherever else. (My washer and dryer are actually in my guest bathroom!)

It is amazing how quickly we can accumulate clutter in this room. The washer and dryer are flat spaces after all, and it is easy to put stuff on top of them, especially if you don't have a top loading washing machine where you have to lift the lid each time you wash something.

But ideally you won't keep too much on these surfaces though, but instead, during the course of this week as you work on the Challenge you'll make space for storing laundry supplies somewhere else convenient and close by, but not directly on the washer and dryer. That could be on a shelf, in a cabinet, or in a laundry caddy between the appliances, just as examples.

The picture at the top of the page was provided by a reader, Gwen. She stated, "We have way too much stuff in ours, but last week I organized it and found many treasures. Now I know what we have and where it is." As you can see, it definitely does look more organized and containerized, but once she declutters this area more it will feel so much more functional because there will be more room to actually do the laundry.

So look around your washer and dryer, and remove clutter in front of it (such as dirty clothes that have accumulated), on top of them, or to the side of them.

If you can, also remove any laundry baskets you're currently storing on top of these appliances, whether you place them there permanently or temporarily.

Below is a reader photo from Tamara, who said, when we were discussing decluttering the laundry room, "I need help," when she submitted this photo. When you look at this photo though you can tell that just by removing those baskets and other items sitting on and around the washer and dryer, and placing them elsewhere, would make a big visual difference in the room without too much time commitment.



So I hope you're getting excited and ready to tackle your own decluttering project in this room.

Below I've shown some before and after photos from other readers who've already taken on this mission to inspire you and to show you what a difference this can make in your home.

Massive Laundry Room Decluttering Project Broken Down Into More Manageable Steps

I found these photos, above, sent in by a reader, Sharron, to be quite inspiring. And get this, she used my list of the types of items you can declutter fast to help her break the project up into smaller chunks and make it more manageable! She explained:

"It was a post-builder apocalypse of nastiness and grime and I hadn't wanted to face it. But it wasn't so bad once I got started with your list.

I first targeted the obvious 'rubbish/trash,' then the 'broken,' then the 'stuff people had given us but we didn't want/weren't going to use,' and the 'stuff too difficult to wash.' It Made it easy to clear and then clean! :) thank you!"

She continued on, saying, "Thank you for this post. I used the list to help me to get to grips with my seriously junky utility/boot room. It now looks like this. :) All detoxed and shiny too."

Others have found success decluttering their laundry rooms, even if they had a lot of clutter in them.

Here's a couple more before and after photos to get you inspired.

First, is this collage from a reader, Brandy. She said, "This has to be my most embarrassing room. This had become a 'catch all' room, but I worked ahead a bit in the past few weeks and a little bit every day. It took me 2+ hours to get this room done." She continued, "And most importantly that room has stayed like that. I make sure to put things away where they belong and not just sit it on top of the washer like I was doing 'for later' because 'later' never came."



In addition, here's another reader, Kimberly's before and after photos. She did a great job, didn't she?

Once You Clear The Clutter Doing Laundry Isn't Too Bad!

These before and after photos above were provided by a reader, Jennifer. She said of the before picture, "So embarrassed to post..but this is before." (Hint, click on the smaller thumbnail of the collage and it will show bigger so you can see it all better.)

Then, of the "after" collage she stated, "After!! Now it's not so bad to do laundry."

And that's really true, and one of the big reasons I encourage everyone to do today's mission. This isn't just about making our homes look nice, but this particular mission can really help you also feel better about getting your laundry done, and since we've got to do laundry whether we really want to or not, why not make it as easy on ourselves as possible, right?

Here's another set of before and after photos, from another reader, Tina. You can tell how just removing the clutter makes the room feel so much more functional.

If You Can't Keep The Tops Of Washer & Dryer Completely Clear At Least Containerize

My final tip about decluttering this space is that if you can't keep the tops of the washer and dryer clear, at least containerize what you keep on there.

We all live in the real, non-magazine shoot, world. As much as we might declutter and pare down our belongings, depending on life circumstances and the space you've got to work with, perhaps you've got to keep some stuff on top of your washer or dryer.

No problem! If you do have to do this, then do exactly what a reader, Melissa, did who showed the photo above, and put everything in a container. The beauty of this solution is that if you need to move the stuff, for whatever reason, it is so much easier to move just one container than each individual item.

Remember too, once you've done this declutter mission I would love to see your results. You can submit your photos here and I'll add the best ones to the site!

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

Get This Laundry & Laundry Room Decluttering Checklist + 32 Other Decluttering Checklists For Your Home

Right now you're decluttering your laundry and laundry room, and there's a lot of stuff to declutter in this space.

Get your 1 page laundry and laundry room decluttering checklist, plus 32 other decluttering checklists, to help you declutter your entire home here.

I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.

In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!

Before and after collage photos from a reader, Regina

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Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

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