12 Small Laundry Room Organization Ideas to Maximize Space

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In a small laundry room, even a little clutter can make the whole space feel crowded. When detergent, laundry baskets, cleaning supplies, hangers, and everything else you use starts piling up, even a functional laundry room can quickly feel cramped.

My own laundry room isn’t huge, so I’ve had to find ways to make the space I have work harder. Some of the simplest changes—like adding a narrow rolling cart, using an awkward little wall for hooks, and installing adjustable shelving—have made the biggest difference.

If you’re trying to organize a small laundry room, start with the space you already have. You may have more usable storage than you think.

Here are 12 small laundry room organization ideas that can help you make the most of every inch.

Before You Organize a Small Laundry Room

Two notebooks and a tape measure on a table in a laundry room.

Measure Your Space Before You Buy Anything

Small laundry rooms don’t leave much room for organizers that are an inch too wide or shelves that interfere with an appliance door.

Before buying anything, measure:

The gaps beside your washer and dryer
Available wall width and height
Space above your appliances
The inside of cabinet doors
Space behind the laundry room door
Under-sink space if you have a utility sink

Also make sure new storage won’t block appliance doors, vents, hookups, plumbing, or anything else you need to access.

Once you know exactly how much room you have, it’s much easier to choose storage that actually solves a problem.

12 Small Laundry Room Organization Ideas

Washer and dryer under a staircase beside a storage cabinet

1. Use a Narrow Rolling Cart

One of my favorite storage solutions in my own laundry room is a two-tier rolling cart.

I had a narrow gap between my washer and utility sink that wasn’t useful for much of anything. A slim rolling cart fits into that space and gives me storage for laundry supplies without taking up additional floor space.

This is a great solution for narrow gaps beside a washer, dryer, sink, or cabinet.

Use it for things you reach for regularly, such as:

Laundry detergent
Stain remover
Dryer sheets or dryer balls
Cleaning cloths
Small cleaning supplies

Because the cart rolls out, you can still reach everything without digging around in the back of a cabinet.

Bright, organized small laundry room with a washer, dryer, rolling storage cart, utility sink, woven baskets, and simple plant decor.

2. Take Advantage of Vertical Space

When your laundry room is small, don’t just look at the available floor space.

Look at the walls.

Shelves above the washer and dryer can provide storage without making the room feel more crowded.

Keep things you use frequently on lower shelves and reserve higher shelves for extras or things you don’t need as often.

Just be careful not to fill every available inch simply because the storage exists. A little open space makes shelves easier to use and maintain.

If you’re looking for more ways to use walls and other overlooked areas, see my 10 Best Ways to Maximize Your Home’s Vertical Space.

Bright, organized laundry room with stacked black washer and dryer, white cabinets, open shelves, woven baskets, and brass accents.

3. Put Awkward Wall Space to Work

You don’t need a large empty wall to add useful storage.

I had a small wall in my laundry room that wasn’t wide enough for cabinets or shelving. Instead of letting it go unused, I added hooks and use the space to hang my broom, mop, and dustpan.

Hooks can also hold:

An ironing board
Reusable shopping bags
A small laundry bag
Cleaning brushes
Hangers
A drying rack

Before deciding you don’t have enough storage, look for narrow walls, corners, and other awkward areas that aren’t currently doing anything.

A mop, broom, and scrub brush hanging on a wall rack.

4. Use the Back of the Door

The back of a laundry room door can provide storage without taking up floor space.

Depending on what you need to store, you could use:

Hooks
A shallow over-the-door organizer
An ironing board holder
A hanging bag for cleaning cloths
A small rack for laundry supplies

Keep the organizer fairly shallow so the door can still open completely.

This is especially useful if your laundry room is more like a closet or narrow passage than a full-size room.

Storage shelves holding laundry supplies next to a washer and dryer.

5. Add Adjustable Shelving

Adjustable shelving works especially well in a small laundry room because your storage needs can change.

I use an adjustable shelving system in my laundry room to hold laundry baskets and other supplies. I also added a hanging bar for clothes that need to air-dry.

The advantage of adjustable shelves is that you aren’t locked into one configuration.

If you change baskets, add a hanging area, or decide to store something different there later, you can rearrange the shelves instead of replacing the entire system.

A hanging bar of clothes over two shelves of laundry baskets in a laundry room.

6. Add a Hanging Bar

A hanging bar doesn’t require much room, but it can solve several laundry problems at once.

Use it for:

Air-drying clothes
Hanging freshly ironed clothing
Keeping clothes wrinkle-free until you put them away
Empty hangers waiting for the next load

Mine is incorporated into my shelving system, which lets me use the same wall for both storage and hanging clothes.

If you don’t have room for a permanent rod, a retractable or wall-mounted drying rack can fold out of the way when you’re finished.

A hanging bar of clothes above a washer and dryer.

7. Use the Space Under a Utility Sink

If your laundry room has a utility sink, don’t forget about the storage underneath it.

This can be a good place for larger supplies you don’t necessarily want sitting out.

I like this area for things such as:

Buckets
Cleaning supplies
Extra detergent
Rags
Scrub brushes

Because plumbing takes up some of the cabinet, measure before buying organizers. A couple of appropriately sized bins may work better than an elaborate under-sink system.

Four baskets under a utility sink beside a washing machine.

8. Create a Home for Laundry Baskets

Laundry baskets take up a surprising amount of room when they don’t have a designated place.

If possible, build basket storage into your shelving.

You can use open shelves to hold individual baskets or create separate baskets for categories such as whites, darks, towels, or clothes belonging to different family members.

But don’t create more categories than you actually need.

The best sorting system is the one that makes doing laundry easier—not one that gives you six additional baskets to manage.

Eight laundry baskets in a wooden storage system.

9. Keep Everyday Laundry Supplies Within Reach

Frequently used supplies should be the easiest things to access.

You shouldn’t have to move three baskets and reach behind another container every time you need detergent.

Keep everyday products close to the washer. Less frequently used products can go higher or farther away.

This is also a good time to get rid of laundry products you’ve tried but don’t actually use.

A small laundry room becomes much easier to organize when you’re not storing five half-used products you don’t even like.

A wall of storage baskets on shelves in a laundry room.

10. Create a Folding Spot Without Sacrificing Floor Space

A dedicated folding area is useful, but a small laundry room may not have room for a large table.

Look for ways to create a folding surface without permanently taking up valuable floor space.

Depending on your room, that might be:

A countertop over front-loading machines
A wall-mounted drop-down table
A small section of counter beside the washer
A nearby surface outside the laundry room

And if you normally fold laundry somewhere else in the house, that’s fine too.

You don’t need to force every part of your laundry routine into one small room.

A wooden countertop in a laundry room with folded clothes on top of it.

11. Store the Ironing Board Vertically

A full-size ironing board can be awkward to store in a small laundry room.

Instead of leaning it against a wall where it gets knocked over, use wall-mounted hooks or an over-the-door ironing board holder.

If you iron frequently and have the room, a fold-down ironing board can be another good option.

If you rarely iron, don’t devote prime storage space to an elaborate ironing station you hardly ever use.

Organize around your actual routine.

An ironing board hanging on a wall with the iron stored on a shelf above it. A washer and dryer with shelves above them.

12. Use Bins Only Where They Solve a Problem

Bins can be useful in a laundry room, but you don’t need a matching container for everything.

Use them where they solve an actual problem.

For example, one small bin might hold stain-removal products. Another could hold cleaning cloths or dryer supplies.

Labels can help if you store several similar-looking bins on higher shelves.

The goal isn’t to make the laundry room look like a store display.

It’s to make things easy to find and easy to put away.

For more ideas for using narrow gaps, doors, walls, and awkward areas, see my Creative Storage Solutions for Small Spaces.

Laundry room with shelves above the washer and dryer and baskets in between them. An ironing board is hanging on the wall.

Declutter Before You Add More Laundry Room Storage

Sometimes the easiest way to create more space is to have less to store.

Go through your laundry and cleaning products and look for:

Empty containers
Products you don’t like
Duplicate supplies
Old cleaning tools
Random items that migrated into the laundry room
Things you haven’t used in years

Then look at what’s left.

You may discover that you don’t need another cabinet or shelving unit after all.

Freestanding ironing board in a small laundry room

How to Organize a Small Laundry Room

If your laundry room feels overwhelming, don’t try to reorganize everything at once. Start with this simple process.

1. Remove Anything That Doesn’t Belong

Laundry rooms can easily become catch-all spaces. Take out anything that belongs somewhere else before you start organizing.

2. Declutter Your Supplies

Get rid of empty containers and products you don’t use.

3. Group Similar Items Together

Put detergents together, stain treatments together, cleaning supplies together, and so on. This makes it easier to see what you actually have.

4. Put Frequently Used Items in the Best Spots

Prime storage space should go to the things you use most.

5. Look for Unused Space

Now look at walls, narrow gaps, the back of the door, space under the sink, and vertical space above your appliances.

6. Add Organizers Only Where You Need Them

Once you know what needs a home, you’ll know whether a rolling cart, hook, shelf, basket, or other organizer will actually help.

You Don’t Need a Bigger Laundry Room

A small laundry room doesn’t have to hold every cleaning product, household supply, and piece of laundry equipment you own.

It just needs to make your laundry routine work.

In my own laundry room, some of the most useful solutions have also been the simplest: my rolling cart, wall hooks, adjustable shelves, laundry basket storage, and hanging bar.

None of those required making the room bigger. They simply helped me make better use of the space I already had.

Start with the biggest problem in your laundry room and solve that one first. You may be surprised by how much easier the whole room becomes to manage.

If you’re working through other rooms too, my Room Organization Ideas That Actually Work guide can help you apply the same approach throughout your home.