The Downsized laundry Room
When downsizing, one of the biggest changes was the loss of the laundry “room”. I was back to having a laundry “closet”. What I continue to learn is less space means not only organizing but also minimalizing. This space had to be functional and everything in it needed to have a purpose.
Location of the laundry closet
The location was a huge obstacle I needed to deal with before anything else. My laundry closet was located at the top of the stairs in the landing that leads to the bedrooms. The doors swung open and seemed to always be in the way. Also, being located in such a prominent location, the laundry room needed to be pretty to look at.
Making the laundry closet doors functional
The hinged doors needed to be removed to open up more room and make the laundry closet functional. The answer was to create sliding barn doors. The only problem with that was there was no wall room to slide the right door open. My handy husband turned the two doors into one door which could now slide together to the left. We got the doors at Lowe’s and opted for the style with the frosted window panes to keep a more open feel.
The interior of the laundry closet
Let’s face it… with as much time as we spend doing the very tedious task of laundry, shouldn’t this space be pretty? Remember, every space in your house should make you happy! Should we paint? Should we wallpaper? Both are good options but I was intrigued by these faux brick wall panels I had just spotted at Lowe’s. This would be the perfect place to try them! We didn’t love the brick color they came in so we just painted them with a roller and made them white. All that needed to be done then was to cut them to the closet size and nail them to the wall. So much easier than wallpaper!
Storage in the laundry closet
The laundry closet originally came with the standard white wire shelf. The closet had 8 foot tall ceilings so there was so much wasted space. Sticking with the industrial decorating style throughout our house, Garret created the shelving with stained wood, and built the brackets with iron plumbing pipes and fittings. Always decide what is going on the shelves before you make the measurements for the spacing in between them. I knew I wanted two fairly large baskets to fit on one of the shelves.
Making use of every inch of the laundry closet
Even after the shelves were put in, I realized that there was one more place I could make space; in between the washer and dryer. Garret built the perfect storage cart to match the shelving and it even had wheels to roll in and out of the closet if needed.
Essential items that every laundry closet needs
- laundry detergent and softener
- dryer sheets
- jar for coins & buttons
- lint trash basket
- stain sticks
- mesh bag
- laundry baskets (one for each family member if possible)
In the end, although my laundry room is only a closet, I feel like it operates more efficiently than my big laundry room did. Everything has a place it belongs and a purpose for being there. I won’t say I suddenly love doing laundry, but do feel like the task has been simplified. By the way, having the laundry closet on the same floor as the bedrooms has been amazing!
