The 6 Must-Haves for a More Organized Laundry Room, According to an Expert

Laundry is a never-ending task, and for many families, it may also be a point of contention. Older kids might start learning to take more responsibility, even if that’s as simple as placing dirty laundry in the proper hamper, and kids at heart could always use a few expert tips to tackle all those piles of dirty clothes.

Amanda Titchenal, founder of full-service organizing firm Well Organized, has organized everything from closets to garages, and laundry rooms are yet another area of expertise. Her first priority? Creating a system that works for you.

“Make sure your laundry has a home, and create a sorting system,” Titchenal says. “Some people have dedicated hampers for each person in the family, while others organize by color. In our house, we divide our laundry into three hampers: darks, whites, and then we have one for towels.” 

Below, she shares the best setup for any laundry room, along with the items you’ll need to soup up this space in your home.

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1. Hampers, Hampers, and More Hampers

If there’s one thing you need, it’s hampers. Titchenal says that at least one is a must, but you can enhance your efficiency with one for each family member or for each color category. 

“There needs to be a designated space for dirty laundry,” she says. “You can either put hampers in every bedroom, and then just make sure you’re grabbing from them on a regular basis. Or if there’s a central bathroom that the majority of people use, they can go in there. It can’t just go on the floor.”

Courtesy of The Container Store

If you want to localize all of your laundry to the laundry room itself, that’s Titchenal-approved, too. “It depends on the setup of your house, but having designated spaces for dirty hampers is really important,” she says, adding that there are plenty of hamper styles on the market. Some are collapsible for space-saving qualities, while others are more decorative and blend into your home’s interior design.”

The tl;dr? “Collapsible if you don’t have a lot of room, and nice, pretty baskets if you do.” The collapsible hampers are also recommended for clean laundry that you’re not ready to fold, and you can have them on-hand in a cabinet or shelf. If you’re designing your own laundry room, built-in hampers are another nice-to-have, as well as a space for your dry cleaning (either a hamper or bag you can hang on a door).

2. Other Items to Maximize and/or Decorate the Space

Beyond hampers, there are a few other organizational items that can spruce up the laundry room. The basics? Keep everything you need to wash clothes near the washer and everything you need to dry them close to the dryer. Titchenal says it’s straightforward, but essential for maintaining a clean and efficient space. The more complicated aspect is how you store or display items like stain removers, fabric softeners, and dryer sheets.

Courtesy of Crate & Barrel

People with larger laundry rooms likely have cabinetry that can accommodate their cleaning essentials, while others might require alternative solutions. For instance, Titchenal and her team prefer placing more aesthetically pleasing containers for detergents on wooden lazy Susans or turntables if there’s enough counter space.

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“A lazy Susan keeps items from dripping onto any cabinetry or counter surfaces,” she says. “It also makes it really easy to find things, since they won’t fall over or get lost behind each other.”

Courtesy of The Container Store

In her own home, she decants powder laundry items and leaves liquid detergent in a separate cabinet (“My family goes through way too much laundry detergent, so it just doesn’t make sense for me!” she says). If you don’t have room for these organizers, try an over-the-door storage rack or rolling cart you can squeeze into any gaps between the washer and dryer.

3. Clear Hangers

In a perfect world, you could toss everything in the dryer… but we all know that’s unrealistic. While Titchenal always recommends velvet or wooden hangers for your closet, those aren’t designed for your wet clothes.

Courtesy of The Container Store

“I always buy clear, plastic hangers for drying clothes,” she says. “You don’t want to use wood or metal, and you don’t want to use felt because your wet clothes will get misshapen.”

4. An Ironing Board or Steamer

Then, there are the clothes that require extra TLC with an ironing board. Titchenal says that there are small and full-size boards to choose from, and you can hang them on walls or behind doors. But if yours is taking up too much space, she’s spotted a trend: steamers. 

“A lot of our clients are switching over to steamers these days, and that’s been really nice because those are compact and easily fit in a cabinet,” she says.

Courtesy of Amazon

5. A Trash Bin

One thing Titchenal has noticed her clients frequently forget? Adding a trash bin to their laundry room. “You always want to have a trash can nearby for lint or things you find in pockets,” she adds.

Courtesy of The Container Store

6. Utility Products

“A lot of the time, the laundry room is used as a multipurpose utility room,” Titchenal says. “If that’s the case, you want to just make sure you’re creating zones within your laundry room—even if each shelf has a separate utility. Maybe the bottom shelf is all the laundry products, the next shelf is bathroom cleaning supplies, and the top shelf is rags.”

This “multipurpose” quality expands to all kinds of items, and Titchenal says it can range from furniture pads for chairs to extension cords. “Think of it almost as a junk drawer in your laundry room,” she says, noting that some people even put their first aid kit and medicine in laundry room cabinets if they don’t have storage space in a bathroom or elsewhere in their home.

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