How to Create a More Welcoming Laundry Area (Because You Deserve It)
When you’re trying to wash, dry, and sort stack after stack of your family’s laundry, an organized and functional workspace can be critical. And yet, when we think of rooms we want to remodel or renovate in our home, our thoughts first wander all over the place – the kitchen , bathrooms , living room , open space, and even bedrooms – before we think. to decorate the laundry.
But whether you have a separate laundry room or just a corner where the washer and dryer are located, it could probably serve you better if you spent a little time reorganizing and modernizing – and it shouldn’t cost much at all. …
Your laundry room can almost certainly have more storage space.
It can be surprising how much storage space we really need within the reach of a washer and dryer. These are not only detergents, paint sheets and stain removers; it’s also the skin cleaner you sometimes need, the Dryel starter kit you bought a few years ago, the OxiClean bucket and bottle of bleach to keep somewhere (it’s out of sight and out of reach if you have Small children). Adding a small cabinet with doors to hide the chemicals – either for safety reasons or simply because you don’t want to stare at them all the time – is a good first step to organizing your laundry.
If you have space, a set of wall-mounted cabinets above the washer and dryer can be handy, but a freestanding cabinet will work as well . However, if you really little storage space (and money), even such a simple thing as this narrow linen trolley on wheels, can help you stay organized.
Everything in your laundry right now is solid lines and edges. To make this place more welcoming, you spend a lot of time in it! You deserve to be welcomed! – Soften it up a bit by adding wicker or woven storage boxes and baskets. You will probably need some sort of basket , at least for the family’s constant collection of dirty towels. And such a small stand with hanging drawers for storing fabric (and a bonus shelf!) Would be perfect for storing old towels, rags and other linen that you don’t use regularly but keep on hand in case of particularly dirty cleaning. …
And finally, I’m not saying you need a little basket to store a fun color , I’m just saying these spare socks need a home until you find their partners, and it’s as good a home as any other.
You need more counter space than you think
Have you ever folded and folded T-shirts on the dryer to breathe again as the stack gets too high and starts to slide over a slightly less flat surface? Just me? Well, I need – and I bet you will need – more work space. However, I bet that you definitely don’t have a place to add chips, otherwise you would have done it already.
Instead, you can (and should) install an ironing board that folds down and doubles as a counter. (You can also iron it, which I only do on very special occasions.) Like anything, you can do whatever you want with extra cabinet space and an adjustable swivel – or keep it simple and cheap with a board that hangs over the door . In any case, the T-shirts will no longer slide off the dryer.
You need a place to hang and air dry
You could do, as I did, lug all your wet sweaters up two flights of stairs, from the basement to the master bedroom, every time you need to hang something out to air dry. Or you could do as I would like to do and install the right drying rack in the same area.
Depending on the configuration of your laundry room (and how inclined you are to air dry), you can choose from compact pull-out racks , a rack that can be installed temporarily or permanently , a pull-out rack that also offers storage shelves and extra hooks, or something like that that looks oddly cute .
Rug – Laundry needs a good rug.
My laundry is in the back corner of an unfinished basement in a nearly 100-year-old home on the East Coast. I say that it is neither cute nor cozy. Literally the first thing I did in this house, before even one box crossed the threshold, was to buy a beautiful rug to lie in front of the washer and dryer.
Has this rug magically transformed my laundry into a space I can’t get enough of? Obviously not; but it really made it a little more homey for the times when I challenged myself to the game of catching a stack of folded T-shirts. Depending on where the laundry is located in the house, having room for a rug can help warm the space.