Laundries are often spaces we give in to. We accept that this is the place where socks go missing, where whites accidentally come out pink, or our favourite t-shirt gets shrunk two sizes too small.
We give in to the idea that they're going to be messy and crowded because laundry is necessary, and there's just nothing we can do about it.
But we don't have to lay down and let laundry take over our lives. By understanding your laundry needs, your family's needs, and the space you have to work with, you can take back control, especially if you take advantage of customisable storage solutions.
Understanding the process
The first step when figuring out how to best organise your little laundry room should be to understand your needs. Do you have a big family that comes with a lot of laundry? Is your laundry room in your bathroom? How do you currently organise your laundry piles?
Understanding what your needs are will help you best utilise your laundry area. This is especially true if you're working in a small space.
It's important to recognise that laundry is more than a one-step process. There's separating darks and whites. Some clothes can't go in the dryer and need to be hung out. Sometimes you have to do multiple loads, and some loads need to be washed on different settings.
All this can quickly add up to a laundry room that is overflowing with piles of clothes. However, understanding your laundry needs means you can create storage solutions to prevent these laundry tsunamis.
Having a sliding laundry basket installed means you can easily keep dirty laundry stored away and out of sight while you're working on folding clean clothes. Or you could even have multiple sliding drawers installed to help you organise your darks, whites, colours, or delicates.
Fitting in a small wardrobe to hang up your ironing will help prevent your nice clothes from getting wrinkled or lost in the rumble. You could even design a special space to store your ironing board, so it doesn't get in the way.
Storage Safety
Smells of citrus and lavender often waft from laundry spaces, and while those are lovely smells, their source is less so.
Powders, detergents, and bleach are all potentially harmful materials and should be kept out of reach of young children at all times. Make sure that they are placed up high on shelves or even in locked cupboards.
For many, laundry machines and dryers are in the bathroom, which means you may also keep other cleaning supplies there as well. In this case, your storage solution should be able to accommodate both the laundry room and bathroom cleaning supplies.
And if you're working within a small space, this means you might have to get creative in how you store these products.
Floating shelves are an excellent way to keep cleaning products out of the reach of children, and by keeping them up and out of the way, they free up any other needed space.
While many people keep cleaning materials under sinks, this is a place that children can easily access. As an added safety measure, you can have a custom lockable cupboard installed to prevent any accidents.
Conceal
Sometimes the whirling of washing machines or the drum of the dryer isn't exactly music to the ears. And if you do have a large pile of laundry sitting out, it might not be something you want on display (or as a reminder of all the laundry you have to do).
Sliding doors are a great way to keep your laundry space neatly tucked away. This is especially useful when working with a small area that isn't quite big enough to be its own room, but you still want to keep it separate from the rest of your home.
These sliding doors can be customised and painted to fit your needs and atheistic. They add the perfect finishing touch to your laundry setup.
If you want to reclaim your laundry space and make it more effective to fit your needs, get in contact with one of your design experts at Innovative Interiors. They will work closely with you to create a customised storage solution for all your laundry needs.