The first step to organize your laundry room is to assess what you need. Some people have more clothes than others as well some families have fewer or more kids than others. Be sure that you have all the supplies and equipment needed for washing, drying, folding, ironing, etc.
Make a list of missing items and purchase them immediately at your local hardware or department store. If your budget allows a professional organizer to visit you to evaluate the space available to help devise an efficient layout for you.
Everything must be easily reachable to work efficiently: baskets with folded clothes should be easily reachable, while dryer sheets and irons should be close together but also easily accessible without having to move other items around.
What do you need for washing, drying, folding, and ironing?
Ask yourself the following questions: Are your machines working properly? Do you have enough space in your closet or designated laundry room to accommodate everything? Is it easily accessible from inside the house (and outside too)? Are there windows where you can air-dry clothes if needed? Are there closets with sufficient hangers available?
What about shelves that could be used for foldable items such as blankets/sheets etc.? Does the space easily allow a small portable ironing board to fit when folded (if needed)?
Tackle the Clutter in Your Laundry Room
Purge out what you no longer use or need! Throw away old laundry supplies, old clothes, etc., and make room for everything you need. It’s good to put them in a box temporarily so you can access them later if needed.
Organize Your Laundry Room Based on Supplies
Once that is done, it’s time to start organizing your laundry room! The first step should be the cabinets or shelves where you will store laundry supplies: Detergent, Fabric Softener, Dryer Sheets, Ironing Board (if needed), Iron Pads/Pressing Cloth, etc. You could organize them together with cleaning supplies such as sponges and rags or keep them separated as they have different purposes: detergents act on different stains than fabric softeners, but they both clean differently than irons do or pressing cloths do.
Be sure to store them in airtight glass or plastic containers, clean and dry (or brand new) cloth bags/pouches if possible. This will ensure that they don’t leak out, and then later on, when you need to use them, they will smell fresh and work as intended. The same goes for detergents: if the container doesn’t seal properly, staple a piece of plastic wrap around it, so it seals better until the next time you need to use it.
Your Ironing Board
It’s best to store your ironing board outside the closet with other boards if there is space available to keep the rod from bending from the pressure. Someone could close the door thinking they are closing it on a shelf and then accidentally tip over the whole board with iron attached to the stand.
Organize by Category: Laundry, Storage, Bucket & Board
Once you have all your supplies neatly stored somewhere in your laundry room, it’s time to organize everything else. First, choose how you want to organize based on function, i.e., wash/drying/folding, then do it!
If they could share space, it would be ideal for sorting clothes into baskets: whites and lights for washing, darks, and colors for drying, light colors and dark colors together if you decide to sort them before folding them (to save time).