source

Formed For Function: Linen Closets & Laundry Rooms

 

Our series Formed for Function is intended to highlight seemingly mundane products and areas in our homes that could use a little design touch. We find beautifully made products that function, instead of assuming that these areas are “just functional” and don’t have stylish solutions. A couple months back we explored stylish ways to organize your broom closets (see that here!), and we want to expand on that and talk about linen closets and laundry room organization today. Although these are often ignored spaces, a little intention and a few helpful items can really whip these areas into shape!

Linen Closets

 

You have a linen closet, you lucky duck! What a helpful place to store your linens, possibly laundry or medical supplies, or extra toiletries, and you can do it behind a closed door. But just because it’s closed off doesn’t mean its organized and easy to use. So how can you make it work hard to hold all things you need, in a visually organized way, and make everything easily accessible? Many have come before you and worked through this, so you can reap all their great ideas below!

ONE  |  TWO  |  THREE  |  FOUR  |  FIVE  |  SIX

 

Some ideas we love in these spaces above are:

  • Add trays or containers to corral small items on a shelf
  • Labels, labels, labels! Label those baskets, bins, or stacks of linens with straps
  • Put less-used items farther out of reach, and items used often at eye-level
  • Don’t put anything too heavy and spill-able above your head
  • Take products out of their packaging when possible and put into an aesthetic container– i.e throw your rolls of TP into a basket!
  • Find corners and open spaces not taken up by shelves to hang an ironing board, or roll-in extra storage
  • Use clear containers help you see what is in each bin immediately OR baskets with good labels if you want a cleaner look
  • Think about what color your linens are and plan to coordinate your organizing accessories with these
  • If your linens do not make a tidy palette, consider putting those in bins or linen organizers
  • Coordinate your bins in a color palette of your preference- i.e. woven baskets, clear containers, or pick a fun color- and then repeat
  • Throw some wallpaper behind your shelves for a safe place to do an explosion of color or pattern!
  • For small groups of small items, use some under-shelf baskets or risers to utilize all the shelf space but stay organized

    •  

Here are some beautiful bins to help you get started on that coordinated organized look!
 

Linen Hacks

 

BUT ALSO, we wanted to share some great products we found to make organizing easier!

  • Grab a couple vacuum bags to help make large items smaller and stay fresh for longer-term storage
  • Use these bedding straps both to hold your sets of linens together and label their size
  • If you prefer, fold your linens into a sheet organizer that allows you to store them on the shelf like binders, with a label and viewing hole
  • Use these bins that come with separators to easily store folded hand towels or linens vertically
  • Cover your wire shelves with these wood shelf covers for an instant style upgrade!
  • Throw these clear shelf dividers in between your stacks of linens to keep them tidy without any bins or containers
  • Add a customizable over-the-door organizer to take the small, disparate items off of your shelves and make them easy to grab
  • Mount a collapsible ironing board to the inside of your closet door for convenient ironing and iron storage! (We suggest also making sure your door is sturdy enough to mount on, and keeping a door stop handy for when you need that door to stay still.)
  • Use a lazy susan to store items you need to find and grab quickly

    •  

Laundry Rooms

 

So you have a laundry room or laundry area, maybe with cabinets, maybe without, but with some intentional laundry and linen usage. There are endless laundry situations and solutions, but we wanted to share some beautiful and organized spaces to spur on your organizing as well as shed light on some particularly creative design solutions that you can incorporate into your space.

ONE  |  TWO  |  THREE  |  FOUR  |  FIVE  |  SIX

 
Here are some great ideas we love from the inspiration above:

  • Hang your most used implements where you can grab them- over the counter or over the sink
  • Since this area holds a lot of little things, use clear bins make to find what you need fast!
  • Use a lazy susan to store bottles you use often
  • Label bins to help you know what you are running low on or out of
  • Keep backups of your most-used items so you don’t run out in a pinch
  • Use your most-stocked items to create a stack, a neat row, or pull into a canister for a *touch* of pretty
  • If you hate seeing branded bottles, pour these things into glass bottles, canisters or dispensers and get simple labels for each
  • Use open-front containers for a quick-grab without needing to pull the whole bin down
  • Grab a tray to corral all of your counter-top bottles and tools
  • Have a few aesthetic baskets you don’t hate looking at (carrying or roll-out) that live in your space to move laundry around
  • Short on floor space? Have cabinets built to stack your washer and dryer
  • Make sure you have counter space somewhere to scrub out a stain or use as a folding station

 
We think this is another great area for peg and rail systems to hang your brushes, cloths, or little baskets of clothespins out in an open area, stylishly:
 

Laundry Hacks

 

When you are thinking about designing or building out a laundry area more extensively, a designer can help you really think about packing a lot of usage into your space.  We pulled together some of our favorite features to build in to laundry rooms and a couple of easy products to retrofit into your space to get you part of the way there. But they key to this kind of seamless function is a design plan that considers your needs ahead of time and then builds the space off of that. Call us when you want to make it happen!

ONE  |  TWO  |  THREE  |  FOUR  |  FIVE  |  SIX

 
While there is no special magic trick to take everyone’s laundry cabinets and pack them full of function instantly, here are a couple products that you might be able to add to your current setup to make them a little more functional.
 

    • Mount a collapsible or pull-down ironing board in a cabinet or on an unused wall
    • Forgo the ironing board in favor of an ironing pad on top of your counter
    • Use this magnetic shelf on the side of your washer or dryer to hold your most grabbed items when you are short on space
    • OR use this magnetic hook to hold your clothes hangers out of the way
    • Use any number of wall-mounted drying racks that expand and collapse when not in use!
    • Install this tiny brass retractable clothesline if you’re short on space but big on style
    • Maybe you need space just to hang a dress or two while you are doing other things? Here’s a pretty brass valet rod that tucks away when not in use.
    • Want to have some wall storage that is darling? Try these.

 


 

We hope you are inspired to freshen up your functional spaces before the fall! Don’t let your linen closet or laundry area become a place you hate to look at, because the reality is, you still have to look at it all the time! Needs must. Turn that dark spot into bright, fun, functional place that laundry and linens get whipped into shape.

 

Thanks for tuning in,