Laundry Room Organization Checklist | Clear the Clutter Week 7
It is week 7 of the Clear the Clutter Challenge and we are working on Laundry Room and Closet Organization! This week, we are tackling spaces that are not always on display but that are necessary to helping our homes run smoothly. Whether you have one tiny closet or a ton of closet space, a dedicated laundry room or a small basement laundry space, it is still important to have an organization system. Today, I will share a laundry room organization checklist and some tips for closet organization!
Clear the Clutter Week 7: Laundry Room and Closet Organization
If you are just stopping by for the first time, Welcome! We are decluttering our entire home in 8 weeks. We are on Week FIVE of the Challenge and we are organizing our office and paperwork. For all the details of the Clear the Clutter Challenge START HERE!
Clear the Clutter Challenge Week-by-Week
Kitchen and Pantry Organization (Week 1)
Living and Family Room Organization (Week 2)
Bathroom Organization (Week 4)
Home Office Organization (Week 5)
Kids Rooms and Toy Organization (Week 6)
How to Join the 2020 Clear the Clutter Challenge
1.It is not too late to join the Challenge. You can sign up at anytime and you will receive an e-mail each week for 8 weeks with the specific assignment! Sign up for the Clear the Clutter Challenge HERE. You will receive my Newsletter with additional VIP tips including a 5 Day Jumpstart Decluttering Plan! You will also receive two freebie printables: 28 Day Decluttering Calendar +50 Things to Throw Away Today Checklist!
2. Purchase the Ultimate Decluttering Guide.This 42 page Decluttering Guide is a compilation of all of the ideas and checklists from our Decluttering Challenges PLUS new additional resources. You can work at your OWN PACE. The Ultimate Decluttering Guide will give you the push you need to tackle the CLUTTER in your home for good. Order HERE. (CURRENTLY ON SALE $7 (normally $12) until February 8th.
3. Join our Clear the Clutter Facebook Group and follow along with us on Instagram!
Laundry Room Organization
Every house has that one or two rooms in the house that you don’t want anyone to see. It is filled with random stuff and probably not decorated. For us, that is our unfinished basement laundry room. Ugh! I have visions of a nice laundry room, preferably on our main floor, but that is not happening anytime soon! So, I am working with the small space I have and letting go of high expectations.
Either way, whether you have nice and finished laundry room or like me, are working with a small corner of your home, it is possible to make your laundry room a place you don’t mind hanging out in!
When it comes to laundry, we keep things really simple around here. I don’t use a lot of extra products and tools. We have detergent, a stain stick and some dryer balls. So, when it came time to get our laundry room organized, it didn’t take me too much time.
Hopefully, your laundry room will not take you too much time at all either. Carve out a little time this week to work through the laundry room organization checklist!
Laundry Room Organization Checklist
1. Remove anything that does not belong in room.
The laundry room can be a dumping ground for a lot of stuff. Do you store out of season clothing in this space? Are there clothes in the room that no longer fit anyone? This task might tack the most time of the project. You will want to find a permanent home for everything that stays in the room and then get the remaining stuff out of the room.
Also, get rid of old or expired cleaning and laundry products. Be sure to go through all cabinets and drawers in your laundry room.
2. Decide on what laundry room essentials you will need.
What laundry products and tools do you utilize? Come up with your list of essentials. Do you have an iron board that you use more to throw clothes on then to actually iron?? If there are things like the ironing board in the room that you rarely, if never, use, then get rid of or find a place that is out of the way. Fold up the rarely used ironing board and hang it on a hook along the wall.
3. Develop a laundry system for your family.
Do you do laundry every day or do you have a once a week routine? Depending on which laundry routine you follow will dictate how to set up your laundry room. Understanding your laundry routine will help minimize laundry clutter and keep the room organized.
If you do laundry once a week, you might find that it is best for everyone to have their own laundry basket in their room. Then once a week, you or your family members bring each of their baskets to the laundry room.
Or, if you do laundry daily, you might not need baskets in everyone’s room and instead have a large basket in the laundry room.
Everyone brings their clothes to the laundry room each day. Do you separate your loads by color or type? If you wash your clothes by categories, you might want a laundry basket for each category.Be sure to label the baskets so everyone in the family can understand the system.
Creating a laundry flow system is really the key to laundry room organization!
4. Organize laundry products together.
Once you have decided which laundry products you use, corral these items together! I found a basket I had from the Dollar Store and put of our laundry essentials in it.
If you have kids helping with the laundry, consider rationing larger containers into smaller, easier to use containers. My daughter mostly does her own laundry. So, to make things a little easier, I poured some laundry detergent into a mason jar container. Now, it is much easier for her to pour detergent from the jar instead of the large size laundry containers we have! By using a smaller, easier to handle jar, we have found that we do not over pour our detergent. Those large laundry containers can be really heavy!
I plan to make a laundry cheat sheet for this Laundry Caddy like I did here for our bathroom cleaning caddies!
5. Clean and wipe down laundry machines and entire laundry space.
The best way to get a refresh of any room is to give it a good cleaning. I’ll be the first to admit that I never wipe down my washer and dryer! This past weekend, I gave it a good cleaning and I couldn’t believe how shiny and new my appliances looked. Sweep and wash the floors and wipe down all surfaces.
While I certainly do not have the laundry room that dreams are made of, I can still make it a little less dreary. I grabbed a rug that I was about to donate and put down by the laundry machines. Then, I added a little stool to put the laundry essentials basket on. Now, it doesn’t feel quite so sad to go down to the laundry basement. Add in a little plant or a picture to your space and you will be surprised how a little decor element can make a big transformation!
Laundry Room Organization Essentials
Are you ready to get started on your laundry space? Laundry is not going away anytime soon, so you might as well make the best of it and spruce up your laundry room! Be sure to start with a few good laundry room essentials and then get to work!
If you are short on space for a drying rack, this over the door drying rack is genius!
If you like to separate loads by colors and categories, this colorful laundry bags would help your laundry system.
Mason jars come in handy for so many organization projects around the house. I stored our liquid laundry detergent in a mason jar and used one of these color coded lids. These lids are so much more durable than the metal ones that mason jars come with.
If you are lucky enough to have a little more space to make your laundry room feel cozy, you can give it a little style! These large lidded clear jars are good for storing laundry essentials like laundry powder, clothes pins and dryer balls.
Speaking of laundry essentials, these dryer balls are the best! Ditch dryer sheets which are usually filled with chemicals and not great for the environment and use resusable dryer balls instead. They are unscented but if you want a little fragrance, you can put a few drops of essential oils directly on the dryer balls. They last forever and not only help to prevent wrinkles but also cut down on dryer time!
Next Steps
It is easy to neglect the laundry room and let the clutter take over! Take some time this week to tackle the laundry room clutter! I can promise that a clean and organized laundry room will make your next laundry load a little more enjoyable!
Now, head over and read about what Keri is working on for this week’s Clear the Clutter Challenge! She has some great ideas for small closet organization!
For more tips and ideas for this week’s Clear the Clutter Challenge, check out this post:
Entryway and Mudroom Organization Checklist
Join the Clear the Clutter Pinterest Board:
https://www.pinterest.com/coffeepancakesdreams/clear-the-clutter/
Great idea to put the laundry detergent into smaller containers.
Thansk for the tips- love using whicker and rattan baskets- they make organization pretty 🙂
Such good tips!!! I love the laundry detergent in smaller containers.