Monday, June 29, 2015

Creative Storage Solutions for Small Laundry Rooms Using Laundry Sorting Bins & Other Functional Ideas

Do you need help finding ways to utilize your home's space efficiently? Whether it's a laundry sorting bin or laundry baskets, they both have to be positioned to organize a small space for their highest and best use
For as long as I can remember, I've had to learn how to make small spaces efficient. Most homes I've lived in over the years have had a small laundry room. In fact, my current home has an 'efficient' laundry room; featured here are photos so you can see exactly how I've had to deal with that very compact part of the house.

If you have a small laundry room, using a laundry sort is imperative.


You just can't afford to heap and pile clothes on the floor when floor area is a commodity.

My Laundry Room Storage Solution

We have this exact problem and have solved it by strategically positioning two laundry sorting bins in the space.
The two bins give us five sorting areas. When we bring a basket to the laundry room, we simply sort it immediately into those five slots; that way, nothing is left piled on the floor to trip over and crowd the room. We put the loads of wash in from those bins.
Remember to measure the width of the space you have to work with. We had limited space, so I had to ensure the laundry sorting bins would be wide enough. We used a two-sort bin in one space and a three-sort bin in another.

 Your Laundry Room is Small; use the Walls.

When you can't spread out horizontally, go vertical. You'll notice what I did in the two photos of my own laundry room. Since the space is small, I wanted to avoid cupboards on the wall, which would close the space even more.
The Other Side of My Small Laundry Room
What we did do was put Ikea shelves and an Ikea sorting shelf bin on the wall. The Ikea Shelf Bin was from the kid's storage area in Ikea. 
By putting shelves on the wall, I can put my empty baskets there, and as the laundry is pulled out of the dryer, I can fold it and then place it directly in an open basket so it can make its way upstairs. Then, once emptied, the baskets go back on the shelf.
Also, I needed a spot to put hang-to-dry clothes: put a storage bracket over the laundry sink to do this.

It serves a dual purpose; it's a wire hanging rack/shelf enabling us to hang things from the rungs underneath and store items on top of the shelf if needed. Plus, with it being an open-wire-rack, it doesn't close the space.

Our laundry room is tiny, so if I can do it, you can do it! In fact, I'm such a fan of maximizing small spaces I have a Pinterest Board that focuses solely on that called 'Creative Storage Solutions':

Follow Barbara Tremblay Cipak's board, Creative Storage Solutions, on Pinterest.


Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


9 comments:

  1. I needed this today!! Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Hopefully this doesn't post twice - because my response disappeared - I had said that if we didn't have this, we wouldn't be able to open the door to our garage

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  2. Very clever use of space, Barbara. I've had the same problem over the years. Funny story to share -- when my daughter was 5 and just learning to read I had one of those 3-bin sorting laundry units in my tiny laundry room. I had labeled each 'bin' for the easy sorting by each member of the family - I used the words 'WHITES', 'COLORS' AND 'MISC' (miscellaneous abbreviated due to lack of room...lol). Well, my daughter was reading the titles out loud and called the MISC 'miss-ick (spelled out in her kindergarten mind phonectically!). We all thought it was so cute that to this day (more than 45 years later) the whole family says Miss-ick for miscellaneous! :)

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    1. Pat, lol! That's a family story that will last multiple generations. How cute that had to sound coming from your daughter at that age. I can just hear it. You all probably say that now without thinking. We have one in our family that gets repeated - my now 29 year old son used to call a popular store here in Canada, 'Naydeecan Tire' it's suppose to be Canadian Tire (lol). Then there's our favorite, we're driving by a pasture of cows, he said 'look at all those cow maneuvers' which was suppose to be 'cow manure' - We're so lucky to have these fun memories of our kids aren't we. :)

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  3. I love an organized laundry room. Great ideas here Barbara.!

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    1. Thanks Mary Beth, me too, just wish my whole family would see it my way when they do wash! lol

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  4. I definitely applaud your ingenuity Barbara! Having a specific place for dirty clothes is a real benefit to any "laundress" (meaning us of course). I really love your set up with the laundry baskets! Having enough space for everything is a problem for everyone I know. Finding a dirty clothes solution would just make everyone's life easier.

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    1. Cynthia, thank you. I've learned over the years not to let clutter stress me out like it used to, but the laundry room and any small space for that matter still needs organization for my taste! Four sons have made my plan challenging!

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  5. I love the way you used photos of your own laundry room to illustrate how you used your space. It's easy to visualize possibilities that way

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