There’s something to be said for a more traditional approach to laundry room storage, with shelves or cabinets on the wall above the appliances. Cabinets offer two or three shelves versus the one row of wire shelving most builders install. Reviewing our laundry room storage ideas should give you a few new options.
We'll cover the pros and cons of traditional cabinets, laundry room storage shelves baskets to keep things organized plus some fun ways to hide things like dryer sheets. Let's start though, by looking at some laundry rooms for inspiration …
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Wondering what my laundry room looks like?
It's a fairly small room so there weren't a lot of options for adding storage. With only 3.5 feet between the wall and appliances (with doors closed), there was room for a small bookcase at the end of the wall plus a row of hooks along the rest of the wall.
Ultimately the plan is to replace the one shelf over the appliances with two nicer shelves. The project is on held as I look for alternative shelves because ClosetMaid has stopped making their ventilated wood shelves.
Laundry Room Floor Plans
Laundry rooms support a lot of activities, so you have to prioritize what you want in this relatively small space. Even appliances can be stacked with the dryer on top of the washing machine if the only room you have is a small closet. This works but make sure there's ventilation for the warm, moist air to escape when you place these appliances in a closet.
Most laundry rooms have the appliances side-by-side and larger rooms may have a sink and/or extra countertop space for folding laundry. Your storage options will depend on how much floor area you have (don't forget that doors need swing space) and walls you can reach so here we explore your choices, with measurements you'll need to make smart choices.
Laundry Room Storage Shelves
Shelves are the budget friendly solution for storage in your laundry room and I don't mean the ugly wire ones installed by builders. There are so many choices, all you have to decide is what you prefer … style, function or both?
What do you see in the photo above? Two shelves versus the traditional, single wire shelf? What's magical is the hanging rod on the top shelf which is perfect for hanging clothes up when you take them out of the dryer. The other important feature – these shelves come in 6 different AND adjustable lengths up to 10 feet.
As I looked for laundry room storage shelves, I initially missed the fact that many of the shelving choices on Amazon are no more than three feet wide … but the wall behind your washer and dryer is 6 feet or longer. Some of the shelves may not be deep enough to store all your laundry paraphernalia.
So before you order, consider:
- Do you want shelves that extend wall to wall? or shorter shelves with one, two or three covering the width of the wall?
- How deep do you want the shelves to be as this will limit what you can put on them? Wire shelving is 12 inches deep, similar to most wall cabinets and bookshelves. Many of the decorative shelves are no six inches or less (92 oz bottle of detergent is 7.5 by 5 in).
- Do you want a lip on the shelf to prevent things from falling off? or open shelves so a basket can hang over the edge by a few inches?
Laundry Room Storage Cabinets & Drawers
The size of your room will dictate where you can put cabinets and how big they can be. It's similar to designing a kitchen so take you time prioritizing your laundry room storage ideas. Once you've got your design on paper, you can add items as your budget allows.
Wall-mount cabinets have worked great in laundry rooms for generations because there isn’t anything wrong with how they perform. If you're building a house, you can save time letting the builder add these cabinets … but you have other options.
- Wall cabinets are 12 inches deep and go comfortably over your washer/dryer.
- Base cabinets like the ones in your kitchen are 24 inches deep … or bathroom vanity cabinets are only 21 inches deep. One trick is to put wall cabinets on the floor or even floor to ceiling for lots of storage.
- Stand-alone cabinets are another option but please make sure to secure them to the wall to prevent them from falling over.
- Pedestal drawers under the washing machine and dryer ae another option.
You can find inexpensive wall cabinets or ones that match what's in your kitchen. Installation is straightforward, making sure the cabinets are screwed into wall studs to support the weight of detergent which is heavy. Wall cabinets will store all your laundry supplies and base cabinets or shelves will provide room for other supplies that need a home like:
- Kids jackets and sports gear if you don't have a mud room.
- Cleaning supplies for the house, rather than taking up space in the kitchen, bathroom or linen closet.
- Packing supplies to mail things and wrapping paper for gifts. When you can find these things easily, you won't have to buy more because they're lost in the garage.
- Gardening supplies if your laundry room is close to the backyard.
Add Color with Laundry Room Basket Storage
Recently washing machines and dryers were offered in amazing colors like metallic reds or blues. This trend continues with new colors (read: Appliance Finishes & Color) that yes, will cost more. That's great if you know you'll love the colors for the life of the appliances, which average 10 plus years.
Alternatively you can stick with neutral colors (stainless still top choice for laundry rooms) and use paint or wall paper, wall hangings and/or colorful baskets to make your laundry room pop. So have fun making your laundry room a place you can enjoy.
Looking for More Laundry Room Ideas?
We've got some other laundry room articles to help make your time at home even more productive … and please share your ideas and/or questions below.
- 4 Laundry Room Ideas You Won't Want to Hide
- Laundry Rooms & Organizing to Save Time
- 10 Tips for Organizing Your Laundry Room
- Laundry Room & Who Folds the Laundry? … one of our most popular articles!
I absolutely love those yellow woven baskets – they’re perfect for temp storage of unmatched socks!
Cindy, Glad you like the baskets & would love to hear how they work keeping socks & other laundry organized … and a photo to share here would be fun.
I am just under 5 feet tall. I would have to get on a stool to reach the detergent inside a wall cIabinet. I don’t want the pedestal but I can’t reach in the cabinets. We are building a house and would love to hear suggestions where / how to store detergents etc.
Linda, 2 ideas come to mind. If you’ve got flexibility because you’re building, you might be able to position your washing machine/dryer to leave space for a narrow cart on wheels where you could keep your detergent. I’m also a big fan of adding shelves under wall cabinets in the kitchen to keep my countertops clear. This article shows a shelf with coffee cups hanging below the shelf … right over the kitchen sink.
Linda, I also just remembered there are 3-packs of these cute square wall shelves (here are some square shelves on Amazon) & maybe you could hang one (carefully as detergent weighs quite a bit) on a wall where it’s each to grab what you need to do the laundry.
I like my pedestals for storage. I’m 5’3” and I’d rather stoop to get detergent once than be on my knees to load & unload each machine.
Christina, What’s important is finding a solution that works for you & sounds like you have. I will certainly look at the pedestals more closely when I’m at the store again.