It’s the day that always takes up so much of your time, laundry day. It’s true that the pleasing scent of your laundry detergent makes the tasks of washing and drying easier, but your
laundry room
could certainly use some work. What kinds of accessories would make laundry day faster and more efficient?
The following six accessories are must-haves for any functional laundry room:
- Laundry valet attached to the wall
- Laundry organizer, especially the double basket variety
- Laundry hamper
- Two ironing boards, one half size and one full size
- Racks for ties, scarves, and/or belts
- Slatwalls for keeping cleaning supplies, dustpans, and for storing brooms close by
If you’re unfamiliar with a slatwall or a laundry valet, you’re not going to want to miss this article. You’ll learn more about each of these six awesome accessories and how they will help to make for a tidier
laundry room
, so let’s get started!
The Top 6 Most Functional Accessories for Your Laundry Room
Laundry Valet
Okay, so here’s an answer to your first question. That is, what is a laundry valet? This laundry room accessory attaches to the wall. The laundry valet has six holes that can be used for hanging garments while you wait to wash them or until you can transfer them to the dryer. If you have clothes that should line dry, a laundry valet is great for this task.
Your laundry valet also doubles as a surface for steaming clothing as soon as they come out of the dryer. Steaming is beneficial in a few ways, if you weren’t aware.
Steam-cleaning prevents wrinkles so your clothes look neater right away. Also, you can ward off bacteria that make your clothes stink after only one wear. The laundry valet is quite a great accessory to have in your
laundry room
, then!
Laundry Organizer
You don’t just throw the whole family’s clothes into the washer by the armful. Instead, you sort the garments one by one. This can be by color–such as lights and darks–to prevent clothes from imparting unwanted color from one to another. You also probably separate delicates from hardier clothes, and you may even use a garment bag for the former.
It takes up valuable time of yours every laundry day when you have to pick and sort through all the clothes in the pile individually. With a laundry organizer, you’ll have a lot more of your precious time back.
A laundry organizer is meant to keep all of your dirty clothes, but it has two or more baskets for better organization. These organizers aren’t complex; most are made of black mesh. The semi-sheer material is ideal for seeing right into the organizer so you know where all of your separated clothes are located.
The next time you want to wash all towels or all darks, you can just reach into the organizer and grab what you need. Laundry day is saved!
Laundry Hamper
You likely already have
hampers
in your bedroom or another common room of your home, but what about one in your
laundry room
? This should be built into the laundry room so the hamper never ends up disappearing into another part of the home (you know how kids can be).
The most efficient laundry hamper has room for dirty clothes stored in black mesh bags or as is. The hamper should be spacious, so it can handle large loads of clothes that accumulate. This way, you don’t have to do laundry more than once or twice a week if you don’t want to.
The hamper should also have a door. Closing your hamper when not in use neatens up your
laundry room
and keeps unpleasant dirty clothes odors from wafting out.
When the time comes, you can grab the hamper, open your washer door, and dump in your load of laundry with some detergent. You may spritz the hamper with an air freshener in between washes and then wait until it inevitably fills up again.
Ironing Boards
The next accessory that will make your laundry room more functional is an
ironing board
. Not just one ironing board either, but two. You want one that’s half size and another that’s full size.
The half-sized ironing board may fit atop a laundry room drawer, which is yet another accessory very much worth installing. The drawer front can swivel out and down. Then, you’d pull your half-sized ironing board out, unfolding it for quick and easy access.
You can keep the full-sized ironing board stationary in your laundry room or fold it up when not in use.
Why do you need two ironing boards? Not all clothing in your wardrobe is the same size. A dress may require a longer ironing board, as would a pair of pants. As for your average t-shirt? You can easily iron that on a half-sized board.
By ironing your clothes in the
laundry room
, you can de-wrinkle them as soon as they get out of the dryer. Then, it’s just a matter of folding them neatly and putting them where they belong.
Tie Rack
Not all the garments that pass through your
laundry room
are as cut and dry as a t-shirt or a pair of pants. Sometimes you have to wash more difficult items, such as tablecloths, aprons, and scarves.
These can be problematic. You have concerns about a scarf wrapping around the internal components of your washer or getting lost on the way to the dryer. An apron has strings that can get tugged on similarly when thrown in the washer.
It sounds like you need a tie rack in your
laundry room
, stat. Tie racks have a hanger at the top and then a series of clips underneath. These clips may be vertical, but with some tie racks, the clips are arranged in a circle.
You can hook any of the above sensitive garments to the tie rack, so they can dry with fewer wrinkles. Most tie racks are made of plastic, but you can also find them in metal. No more will your husband or partner complain about a missing tie, and those delicate scarves you received as gifts will be preserved each time you have to wash them.
Slatwall
Once you outfit your
laundry room
with slatwall, you’ll wonder how you ever survived before. If you’re not familiar, slatwall is a type of portable walling that has horizontal slats throughout. The slats or grooves can then accommodate all sorts of accessories.
Retail stores commonly use slatwall, so you may have seen them there. You can get slatwall fixtures or wall panels; the versatility of slatwall makes it quite a popular laundry room accessory. It’s also known for its affordability and great durability.
Okay, so how can you use slatwall in your
laundry room
? Plenty of ways! You can attach your laundry hampers or laundry valet into the slatwall. Try adding hooks to the slatwall for your laundry organizer bags. You may also hang accessories that make it easy to tidy up your laundry room, such as cleaning supplies, dustpans, and brooms.
There’s practically no wrong way to use slatwall, so play around with a few configurations in your
laundry room
before you settle on one that you like best.
Conclusion
You spend a lot of time in your
laundry room
every week, so it might as well be an appealing, efficient place. With slatwall, tie racks, laundry organizers, and more, you’ll have everything you need to breeze through laundry day!