• About
  • Sponsor / PR
  • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Houston Mommy and Lifestyle Blogger | Moms Without Answers

We don't have all the answers, but we have all the fun

  • Mom
    • Parenting
    • Mom Life
    • Faith
    • Fashion/Beauty
    • Health
    • Blogging
  • Kiddos
    • Kids Activities
    • Kid Fashion
    • Family Fun
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Appetizers & Sides
    • Sweet Treats
  • Projects
    • DIY & Crafts
    • Home Decor
    • Cleaning & Organization
  • Celebrate
    • Holidays
    • Parties
    • Gifts
  • Shop My FAVES

3 Ways To Maximize a Tiny Laundry Room

May 24, 2016 By Stephanie Olive and Tate Leave a Comment

When we renovated our home, I had dreams of a gorgeous Laundry Palace Room that would fit a chandelier, folding station, tons of cabinets, hidden hampers, sink and plenty of square footage for drying racks galore. 

And then reality set it.

We were renovating a small, choppy ’50’s style rancher that did have a washer/dryer hookup but it was basically in the middle of the kitchen. We knew we would relocate our washer and dryer but as we began determining our Must Haves, I realized we were going to prioritize a large, eat in kitchen and open floor plan family room over my Laundry Fortress of Solitude. In fact, our dedicated laundry space slowly but surely morphed into a shared space with two of our Must Haves: a desk space and a powder bath.

Luckily, I’m not really into doing laundry so I’m not super sad about the loss of a dedicated space but I did have to get creative in order to make our insanely small laundry nook functional and eye pleasing.

Here are my Been There, Done That tips for maximizing the function of a tiny laundry space:

Door it Off

No matter what you do, no matter how small your space, build some sort of barrier between you and that dirty clothes bomb you call a laundry room. 

We went with a clear glass sliding pocket door and I keep it closed, oh, 90% of the time.

 

Why?

I have a small child who thinks a spinning dial that lights up and sings when he spins it is Heaven on Earth. I find his efforts to stop my laundry progress to be, uh, less than hilarious. Also, whether the laundry is dirty in baskets, divided into color piles on the floor or clean and hanging from the racks, I really don’t want to make eye contact with it on a regular basis. Having a door keeps my eyes shielded (yes, even a clear glass door) and supports my “out of sight, out of mind” mentality.

Another bonus of the door situation is it provides a buffer from the hum and whir of the washer dryer. I don’t really need household electronics to wake the baby or drown out the peaceful sounds of the Teen Mom 2 marathon I have blaring in the background, so a buffer was a must.

Rack and Stack

 

By far, the easiest space saving tip is to use a stack kit to create a stackable washer and dryer set. We actually only have a small cut out space that houses the washer and dryer and that’s all she wrote for the dedicated laundry room space. With those bad boys shoved into their cubby hole, I really started to get nervous about the drying rack situation. I mean, nothing takes up more space than those darn accordion drying racks and while I refuse to wear anything that cannot be washed and dried (so, leggings), my husband has higher standards. Drying racks were a must so I had to get vertical. 

Ikea makes these insanely cool, wall mounted hanging racks that fold flat when not in use. I love how cheap they are, how tough they are (they hold tons of wet laundry) and how they maintain a low profile when out of use. We made sure to install them so that the washer and dryer doors could open while the racks were in use and we haven’t looked back since. 

Get creative with shared and unused space

You can see in the photo above that I have baskets on top of the washer and dryer stack. The space is too narrow and short to create a true cabinet (especially once our renovation budget ran too dry to hire a custom cabinet maker) but that doesn’t mean it should go unused. I stack soft, flexible baskets the depth of the washer/dryer unit and fill them with lesser used laundry things – you know, dryer sheets (I have never used a dryer sheet in my life), lint rollers, stain spray and bleach. If something is really breakable, I stash it in the small corner of the shelves above the desk that I reserved for laundry room things (the rest is all paperwork, bills and boringness).

As far as shared spaces go, I also use my desk as a folding surface and sock collector. Long gone are the dreams of a folding station, but my little desk top gets me through in a pinch. Most of the time my blog things are trying to take over the desk space but the laundry is dominant and takes no prisoners. If I need a surface to hold clean sheets and towels until they make their way to the linen closet, the desk is the safest bet. 

 

While our space isn’t large, she is functional and I think we’ve managed to squeeze every inch of usefulness out of her. 

If I could do it again, I would still choose to sacrifice the laundry space to more family square footage. I rarely wish we had a bigger laundry room and I have never wished that we had a smaller living room or one less bathroom. Ok, now spill: what do you wish were different in your laundry room?

3 Ways To Maximize a Tiny Laundry Room. Great tips on maximizing the space in your home.
0 Shares

Filed Under: Home Decor

About Stephanie Olive and Tate

I'm Stephanie, a Starbucks fueled wife and baby boy mama who finds complete joy in a generously poured glass of red wine under reasonably clean white sheets at the end of the day. After one peek at my blog, Olive and Tate, it will be oh so clear that I love run on sentences, silence and fondly reminiscing about my pre-baby boobs. You can find my overly honest account of my life on Olive and Tate or follow all of the crazy on my second love, Instagram (and Facebook and Twitter, too!).

« If I Could Talk To My Single Mom Self
MAMA’S SUMMER BUCKET LIST »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hi, friends! I’m Channing. I am mom to 3 amazing girls and wife to my fire fighting hubby, Eric. I loving sharing all things mom life related – recipes, DIY’s, real mom talk, crafts and more! 

Insta-Moms: @momswoa

Instagram post 17951785348338518 Happy 4th from these little cuties. It looks A LOT different this year but we are still having fun.
.
.
.
#happy4thofjuly #happyfourth #fourthofjuly #redwhiteandblue #momblog #houstonmomblogger #momofgirls
Instagram post 17856710153004179 #blackouttuesday
Instagram post 17864637601827512 This is what happens on day number 3,568,743 of quarantine: ice cream sundaes for DINNER. We have been spending endless time together and decided it was time to start a new family tradition, so we picked up the new DIY Sundae Kit from @baskinrobbins! The kit comes with 2 pre-packed quarts of ice cream, 3 toppings, an entire can of whipped cream and cherries! Ice
cream for dinner will now be a weekly staple. The kids are definitely not complaining! It’s a fun day with a Sundae! 
Comment below and tell me your favorite Baskin Robbins flavor!

#QuarantineCreations #IceCreamforDinner #FamilyTraditions #ad
Instagram post 17855065096958471 Some of my #DisneyMagicMoments have been with some special moms in my life! So, I’m playing along and sharing some of these moments with you.

I have spent time with old friends and new and the magic is always there. 
If you scroll back far enough, you will see my first Disney experience and the moment I fell in love with Disney with my own mom! 
I would love for you to play along and share your favorite Disney moments with the moms in your life! Don’t forget to use hashtag #disneymagicmoments! I tag @pixiemousemichelle, @fivefortheroadblog and @mrsblinks! 
Happy Mother’s Day! 😘😘
Instagram post 17873430769680209 Happy Cinco de Mayo! 🌮 What is your favorite Mexican dish?

I could eat Mexican for every meal of everyday! If your looking for the perfect recipes to make for dinner, I’ve got you covered. 
Head on over the the blog for all of my favorite dishes! These enchiladas NEVER disappoint! I promise you will LOVE all of these recipes! 🎉
Instagram post 17885629336528535 May the 4th be with you! We cannot wait for the day that we get to be back at Star Wars Galaxies Edge. Batuu, we miss you! #maytheforcebewithyou #may4thbewithyou #disneycreators #batuu #bluemilk #wemissdisney
Instagram post 17850899390014309 Disney is challenging us to share our first pictures with characters! I had to join in the fun and it was the best trip down memory lane. Disney has been threaded throughout my entire life. I pulled a few of my most favorite memories over the years. From partying in the streets during the most epic dance party and meeting our most favorite princesses to me being a kid at Disney myself. Oh, I also had to add a picture of Cinderella’s Castle. She really is the most beautiful cast member of them all! 
@waltdisneyworld we miss you more and more each day. You’ve brought us joy beyond words and we cannot wait for the day when we get to walk down Main Street USA again! 
Ok, now it’s your turn. Find your old photos of your favorite Disney characters and share the magic. Also, don’t forget to tag me. I want to see all your memories too! 
@pixiemousemichelle @ericaligenza and @prettyprovidenceblog it’s time to share yours!#disneymagicmoments #myfirstdisneycharacter #disneycreators #disneyfamily #disneykuds #disneyworld
Instagram post 17904777073435611 EASY EASTER SUGAR COOKIE BARS! [AD] With Easter looking a little different this year, I teamed up with my friends at @hersheys to create a fun Easter treat using items you probably have in your pantry!
These Easter Sugar Cookie Bars are so easy to make. Store bought sugar cookie mix and cute colorful icing is the perfect foundation for @cadburyusa eggs and @reeses eggs. 
Looking for more treat ideas? Check out the fun recipes at https://Hershey’s.com/kitchen/en_us/home.html

Comment below and tell me your favorite Easter recipes! #cadburyusa #reeses #eastertreats #springdessert
Instagram post 18019712191263346 I’m joining my friend @andhattiemakesthree for #happymondaymemory to share some joy and fun around here!
.
.
.
Let’s take it back to the #happiestplaceonearth and our time in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge! Y’all, I don’t even have words for how amazing it is. And #riseoftheresistance is everything! Check out our video to see for yourself. We miss you @waltdisneyworld and can’t wait to make more memories soon!
.
.
.
Now it’s your turn! Share your favorite memory and let’s spread some joy! #evereveambassador #disneycreators #starwars #disneyhollywoodstudios #stayhome
Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

As Seen On:

Keep in Touch

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • Copycat Disney Churro Ice Cream Sandwich
  • Teacher Approved Educational Resources for Kids
  • 20 Fun Things To Do At Home with Kids

Blog Archive

Copyright © 2023 · Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Necessary Always Enabled