There are plenty of ideas for small laundry rooms to make them functional and appealing. Even if the room is a tiny galley laundry room, there are still ways to make it seem a lot bigger than it is.
Storage Ideas for Small Laundry Rooms
Storage is one of the most important features to a laundry room. Many people use their laundry room for more than simply washing clothes. It may be used for storing shoes, coats, food and paper goods such as paper towels. Even with a small laundry room, there are ways to get the most storage out of the tiny space.
Keep It Organized
If the storage areas in the laundry room are not well organized, then they are completely wasted. By using smaller organization pieces such as baskets and boxes throughout the room, you can better utilize all of the storage space that you have available.
Fill in the area around the machines with shelving, baskets, cabinets and other organizers to keep everything you need right at your finger tips. Because space may be tight, look for thin shelving towers like the Carlson II that utilize height, rather than width and squeeze them in between machines and walls.
Vertical Storage
Take advantage of the height of the room and stack cabinets on top of each other instead of side-by-side. Shelving that goes from waist level up to within arm's reach is another good idea for maximizing storage space.
Use Wall Space
If there are any walls that are empty in the room, make sure to use them for something. Hang decorative hooks on the walls and dangle the laundry bags for dirty clothes up on the wall. This frees up floor space for other items that you may need it for, such as a trash can. Walls can be utilized right to the ceiling; slide a step stool beneath some cabinets to help you reach things high up and take advantage of this extra space.
Use the Space Above the Washer and Dryer
If your washer and dryer are side-by-side, rather than stacked, put some shelving directly above them. Arrange baskets or matching bins up there; this will be a focal point in the room while giving you some easy access to detergent, bleach, softener balls, dryer sheets and other items you use daily.
Decorating a Small Laundry Room
There are certain ways that a small laundry room can be decorated to make it appear bigger and more attractive.
- Don't paint the walls of a small room a dark color. Instead, paint them a lighter color to make the space appear larger.
- Choose a cool toned color in the room to help make it look larger. Cool toned colors visually recede from the eye, which can make the room appear larger. Look for colors like blue, green or gray.
- Don't decorate the room with unnecessary objects. Even if a painting will match great with the color and style of the laundry room, avoid hanging it in there. Instead, use the storage pieces as the decorations. Hang brightly colored baskets on the wall or paint the cabinets white and put unique pulls on them.
- Remove doors from the cabinets or even from the entryway of the laundry room to allow for more space. Hang curtains in front of the doorway or on the cabinets and shelves to hide the items. This is also a great functional way to add more space and add some style.
- Be sure that the lighting in the laundry room is bright. A good idea is to have lighting that hangs slightly down from the ceiling instead of flush to it.
- Avoid throw rugs or patterns that break up the floor. The larger and less busy the floor seems, the larger the room will appear. If you are tiling the floor, opt for the largest tiles you can find to minimize grout joints and a grid effect.
- Use the back of the door to hang laundry bags, folded drying racks or hooks. This is a frequently overlooked area that can function just like wall space when the door is closed.
Other Helpful Ideas
Here are some more helpful ideas for small laundry rooms for both obtaining the most functionality and adding some style to the room.
Appliances
If possible, a small laundry room should have a washer and dryer that are small and sleek. Even though the washer and dryer are the main features to a laundry room, they should not take up the entire space. Look for a stackable washer and dryer unit if your room is narrow, or consider special small sized washers that double as dryers. Also, black appliances may look slimmer, which in turn can make your laundry room look bigger.
Ironing Board
Most people store their ironing board in the laundry room, but this can take up quite a bit of space. A fold-down half-style ironing board is an excellent option in smaller laundry rooms. Fold this type of ironing board back up so it is flush with the wall and out of the way when not in use. If a fold-down board is not possible, then hang the board on hooks and only open when necessary.
Hampers
It is not necessary to store dirty laundry hampers in a laundry room. Rather, place them in individual rooms or in the bathroom if there is more space. If hampers are stored in the laundry room, organize them according to colors so washing the clothes is easier and no dirty clothes end up on the floor.
Hotel Shelves
Hotel shelves can be stylish organizers and space savers in laundry rooms. These open metal shelves store products, allow you to hang wet items and let drips run right through so there's no sticky puddles to clean up over time. They install quickly and come in multiple widths; hang them on the walls above or adjacent to the washer and dryer to keep items right at hand.
Where to Buy
Home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowe's are good places to find storage and organizational needs for a small laundry room. Home improvement online stores are also a great place to shop for laundry room supplies if looking to comparison shop and find the best prices.
Other places to shop include:
- Ginger for hotel shelves, towel bars and hooks
- The Container Store for shelving systems, baskets, laundry bags and cabinets
- Collections Etc. for storage, shelving, baskets and fun laundry room decorations
Put the Function of the Room First
Before you begin to decorate your small laundry room, sit down and list all the things you need to store or do in there. Make sure you take care of priority items first and leave off the luxury items for the end. Make the laundry room as functional as possible first, and the form and decoration will follow.
