7 Smart Laundry-Organizing Ideas to Steal from IKEA
What is it about laundry? For some reason, a well-designed and organized laundry area can inspire deep wells of envy. That’s certainly how I felt when I saw IKEA’s gallery of gorgeous laundry rooms—maybe it’s because my washer and dryer unhappily occupy a wall in my kitchen, a wall where style and organization is certainly less of a priority.
Here are some of IKEA’s ingenious ideas you can steal for your own laundry space.
1. Use a curtain to hide unsightly items
Ok, so the pretty white cabinet in the photo above isn’t exactly unsightly. But you can easily use this idea to cover things in your laundry zone (or any mudroom-type space) that you don’t find visually appealing. Find a pretty curtain (or shower curtain!) that will add some personality.
2. Hook it up—on walls, doors, and more
Hooks are great for hanging laundry bags, clothes, and tools alike—especially inside a closet or on the back of a door.
3. Install tools on the wall
Drying racks and iron boards, as useful as they are, can take up quite a lot of space. So make like the Swedish do and install them on the wall—above the sink or appliances, on the back of a door, side of a closet, or wherever they’ll fit. This will save space and make sure both the rack and the board are easily accessible when you need them.
4. Bins are your friend
So, bins and baskets in a laundry space aren’t exactly a groundbreaking idea. But the ways bins are used in these IKEA rooms are much more dedicated and curated, i.e., a bin for darks, a bin for lights, bins for cleaning products, and more. Consider getting some small bins and baskets and labeling them—then sticking to their appointed uses, no matter what.
5. Decorate in a color palette
The black-and-white vibe of this uber-organized laundry room makes everything look so clean and fresh. You don’t have to go all white for your laundry space to feel this unified, but sticking to one or two colors will keep things simple and calm, even on the most chaotic of laundry days.
6. Try cabinets
Not every laundry room will have the space for dedicated cabinets, but if you can fit them in, they’ll seriously change up both your storage and organization capabilities. Drawers, too!
7. Utilize wall space
Use the vertical and horizontal space available on your walls to maximize your storage (with shelves). Stack them high or spread them out so you can really get good use out of them.