Week #9 Organized Home Challenge
Laundry Room Organization
Laundry room organization is essential if you want to actually keep clean clothes in your home on a regular basis, and at least somewhat enjoy the process.
Let's face it, whether we like doing laundry or not, the washing has to get done.
When you've got a cluttered up, unorganized laundry or utility room doing laundry can feel like the most miserable of chores. So, why not take the time to improve the room and your mood while doing laundry, all at the same time?
Normally, every week of the challenge we focus on a different area of the home, but the laundry process actually takes place in a couple of locations in the house, so we're working on it for two weeks.
This week the focus is on the laundry room itself, and what you do with all the dirty clothes you've got, during the process of washing, drying, folding, and returning the clean clothes back to their proper place.
Next week we'll focus on the spaces in your home where you gather dirty clothes, and sort them.
Are you new here? The Laundry Room Organization Challenge is part of the 52 Weeks To An Organized Home Challenge. (Click the link to learn how to join us for free for future and past challenges if you aren't already a regular reader).
Before we begin the steps in the Laundry Room Organization Challenge, I wanted to address why everyone, whether you can do laundry in your home, or not, should work on at least parts of this challenge.
Whether you've got a large space devoted to doing laundry in your home, or just a corner of your basement or a closet in the hallway, if you're lucky enough to have a washer and dryer in your home, you've got a laundry room.
Even if you must do your family's laundry at a laundromat or elsewhere, you still will most likely deal with some laundry issues in your home that I'll discuss below. Therefore, read this week's challenge and see what you can work on now, and know that next week everyone will be involved in the second half of the challenge to get our laundry organized.
Step 1: Consider The Functions Of Your Laundry Room
The first step in the Laundry Room Organization Challenge is to think about the fuctions of your laundry room, to make sure you've got the equipment and supplies in the room that you need to accomplish those tasks and functions.
To a certain extent, considering the functions of this room are a no brainer. Duh -- you do laundry here.
However, first consider that there are several parts to the laundry process, so make sure you're considering all the sub-functions this statement implies, including:
- Space for major appliances of washer and dryer
- Storage for laundry supplies
- Area for pretreating and soaking items, for stain removal
- Drying area (for those clothes or other items that don't go in the dryer)
- Laundry folding; and
- Ironing
Depending on the size of your laundry room, you might not be able to fit all these functions in here, but they all need to happen somewhere in your house, so during the challenge consider and make space for each of these functions somewhere in your home.
Further, when considering the additional functions that your laundry or utility room can play, first make sure it can fulfill its primary function for you -- getting laundry cleaned. Only then can it also perform secondary functions, like storage for cleaning or bathroom supplies, or anything else.
Step 2: Declutter Your Laundry Room
Now that you've gotten clear, in your mind, on what the functions of your laundry room are, its time for the next step in the Laundry Room Organization Challenge - decluttering.
If you've fallen in a bad habit of using your laundry room to store random junk and clutter, but yet don't have enough room to actually launder items in there easily, you've got to move stuff out that belongs elsewhere.
Prime items and areas to declutter from this room include:
- In open spaces around room, including around and on top of the washer and dryer (see link for a Declutter 365 mission on this topic)
- Remove excess items from shelves and cabinets (see mission at link)
- Empty bottles of detergent or other laundry supplies, or those which have expired (did you know chlorine bleach expires within about 6 months, for example?). You can check out this article with instructions for how to dispose of laundry supplies while decluttering, which also provides additional information about common expiration dates for many of these products.
- Clean clothes - the general rule (unless you have a family closet) is that they should not be stored in this room, since they'll soon be confused with dirty ones just making more work for you when you rewash them over and over. (If you've got lots of dirty clothes collected in there, check out these tips for how to catch up on your laundry.)
- Stray socks where you haven't found the match in more than three months!
- Anything not serving one of the designated functions in the room, that should be placed elsewhere in your home.
You can see a more full list of laundry and cleaning clutter to get rid of here, including what I suggest as part of the daily decluttering missions related to this area of your home.
Step 3: Organize Laundry Room Areas To Perform Functions Efficiently
Once you've cleared out all the stuff that doesn't belong its time to set up and organize the stuff left in your laundry room so you can efficiently do the tasks required in this room.
We're going to set up several stations or centers in the room, many with overlapping functions, to cover the activities listed below (remember, if you can't fit one or more of these activities in your laundry room, make a place for it elsewhere in your home):
Laundry Supplies Storage
An underutilized storage area is between
the washer and dryer. [Click here for
similar cart (without drawers) on Amazon]
First, after decluttering unwanted products, gather up all the laundry supplies you've kept, and place them close to your washer and dryer.
Keep your supplies separated by type, and perhaps even place them in their order of use during the laundry process, such as laundry stain removers, then detergents, bleach and fabric softeners, for example.
I also suggest keeping a small sewing kit with your supplies to do minor clothing repairs before laundering an item, as well as a mending basket to hold clothing awaiting repairs.
One of the most common ways to organize these supplies is on shelves or in cabinets.
Common places to have laundry shelves or cabinets is above your washer and dryer, or on a wall close to them.
You may want to keep certain items together in a basket which is on the shelf, such as your stain removal kit and supplies. Further, many of these items may drip so it doesn't hurt to keep even single items in dish pans or plastic tubs to prevent leaking.
If you don't have room for shelves or cabinets, or still need additional room there are lots of ingenious storage solutions available, including:
- Utilizing the storage space between your washer and dryer (as shown above, on the right)
- Rolling laundry carts
- Wall or door organizers
- Organizers that hold supplies on the side of your washer or dryer
- Washer or dryer pedastal which also acts as a storage drawer
Remember, if you've got young kids in your home, you need to be careful about safety when storing laundry supplies. While some of the suggested places to store items I've mentioned above may be convenient, if they are kid accessible you need to think of somewhere else to put them, such as on a high shelf, or a cabinet with safety latches.
Stain Removal And Soaking Area
Click here for free copy
with newsletter signup
Having a laundry sink is a big plus in your utility room, since you can hand wash certain items in it, as well as use it for soaking stained items.
Even if you don't have a sink though, you may want to have a table with a small tub on it that you can fill with water and detergent, for soaking when needed.
Again, make sure wherever you place this tub is secure, when filled with water, for safety reasons.
You also want to have other stain removal supplies, tools and equipment available for use when needed, to make the process of treating this type of laundry easier. Here's my article with additional tips for how to create a pretreating and stain removal station within the laundry room.
In addition, I suggest everyone put a small stain removal chart in their laundry room (such as the one on the left), to reference as needed when you use your stain removal supplies you should gather together for when needed.
You can get a stain removal chart, for free, from me, when you sign up for the sister site Stain Removal 101's Out Darn Spot Newsletter.
Folding clothes drying rack
[Click to buy on Amazon]
Drying Area
Even though you may do some of your drying in the dryer (although I know all of you don't), there are often other items that need to be dried in a different way.
It is helpful to have an area set up in your laundry room for a folding drying rack, such as the one shown on the right.
Other possible ways to dry items include on a retractable clothes line, or up on hangers, hanging from a tension rod, to allow items to drip dry.
Folding & Hanging Areas
Wall mounted collapsible hanger
[Click to buy on Amazon]
After your clothes are clean and dry, they need to be folded and put away.
To make this job as easy as possible create a center in your laundry room where you can fold clothes.
All that is needed for this is a flat surface, such as a laundry folding table, or a counter at a height which is comfortable to stand at.
However, if you don't have a counter, consider getting a thin table to place next to the wall in the room, or getting a counter that fits over top of your front-loading appliances (this obviously won't work for top loaders).
Often, things don't just need to be folded though, but instead hung up. Have hangers close to the dryer so you can hang things up as you pull them out of the dryer, to avoid as much ironing later.
Further, this same hanging area (such as the wall-mounted hanger organizer shown above, on the left) can also be used for drying, or to hang clothes after they've been ironed.
The key to keeping this area organized is to move out the clean and/or pressed clothes once they are folded or hung up on a consistent and regular basis, and put them back where they belong.
Ironing board hanger & ironing
caddy [Click to buy on Amazon]
Ironing Area
Finally, you should have an ironing area, preferably in your laundry room. However, I understand that with small spaces such as many of these rooms, setting up a large ironing board can be too much.
If nothing else, store all your ironing supplies together, including the iron, ironing board, and any sizing or starch you use.
A handy place to keep these types of items out of the way, but still readily available for use, is on a less used wall, or behind the door (such as seen with this over-the-door iron holder on the right).
You can see lots of ideas for ironing board storage and organizing solutions for supplies here in this article.
Step 4: Make Your Laundry Room Pretty & Inviting
The final step in the Laundry Room Organization Challenge is to do a few things to pretty up the room.
Typically, I don't focus too much on decorating, and don't mention such a step in these Challenges. However, this is an exception because I've found that my willingness to do laundry consistently is greatly enhanced by a nice place to do the task.
Good lighting is important for your laundry room anyway, since it helps with stain removal.
In addition, a cheery coat of paint, some curtains on the windows, or cute lettering or pictures on the wall can all really make the room feel like a place you'd like to spend time, and make the task more pleasurable.
Here's my article with 5 types of fun and functional laundry room decor you can choose from, to make your laundry room a place you enjoy going to, and spending a bit of time.
Listen To Taylor's Video Tips For This Week's Organized Home Challenge & Declutter 365 Missions
Do you want more in-depth tips and instructions for how to do this week's missions and challenge all about decluttering and organizing your laundry room? If so, I've got recorded video tips from me, Taylor, from the video archives in the Declutter 365 Premium group, all about this week's challenge and missions.
These video tips are available on demand in the archives, once you're a member of the group.
In Week #9's video I discussed the following topics, among others:
- Do it now principle - What is it, and how it can work for you
- How to catch up when you're overwhelmed with laundry piles
- Laundry room decluttering and organizing tips
- Declutter 365 missions for week
I suggest watching the video archive for the week, perhaps while you're doing some decluttering or cleaning around your home, before starting the week's missions and Challenge, and then you'll be able to breeze through this week's worth of decluttering missions, as well as organize what's necessary for the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, based on the advice and instructions within those videos.
It really is like having me, Taylor, available, 24-7, as your decluttering and organizing coach, for every area of your home!
Plus, once you're a member of Declutter 365 Premium you get access to not only this video, but all the videos for the 52 weeks of the year, for 5 years (that's over 260 videos available in the archives!)
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.
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!
Tell Me How The Laundry Room Organization Challenge Is Going For You
I would love to know how this week's Laundry Room Organization Challenge is going. You can tell me your progress or give me more ideas for how you've organized this room of your home in the comments below.
I'd also love to see before and after pictures of your laundry room once you've completed the challenge. Submit your pictures (up to four per submission) and blog posts and get featured in the Creative Storage Solutions Hall of Fame. You've worked hard to get organized, so now here's your chance to show off!
Here's what's in the hall of fame so far:
Sneak Peek For Next Week's Challenge
We're working on our homes slowly, one area at a time, so don't get too distracted from the Laundry Room Organization Challenge this week. However, I know some of you love to know what's coming next, and since its related, make sure you don't go overbaord and not save anything for next week!
Next week we'll finish the second step of the two-step process to organize our laundry, this time focusing on laundry baskets and other laundry organization strategies within your home.
Make Sure You Make The Most Of These 52 Organizing Challenges
Get your copy of the printable one page 52 Week Organized Home Challenge schedule for the year here, so you can see all the challenges we're working on.
Further, if you'd like to join a community of others who are all commmitted to these organizing challenges and corresponding decluttering missions, and want more interaction with me, Taylor, video archives of Taylor providing more tips for each of these challenges and missions, as well as live monthly group coaching sessions focusing on the skills and habits necessary to maintain your home from now on, I'd urge you to join the private and exclusive Declutter 365 Premium Facebook group (you can learn more about it at the link).
In addition, have you gotten your Declutter 365 Products yet, to make sure you can get even more assistance with decluttering and organizing your home this year? There are both free products (like the Declutter 365 calendar, a $20 value), as well as add-ons, such as daily text messages, planner stickers, and a Premium Facebook group, as well as a pack of printabe decluttering checklists.
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