Over the next few days I want to share a slew of tweaks I did to our laundry room. It is fast becoming my favorite room in the house! The changes went way beyond making a neat laundry room, to making a pretty laundry room.
I started with a list of all the laundry supplies I needed to store and set out to find pretty containers. I was able to find everything I needed at Target to make laundry storage beautiful. The once cluttered, ugly shelf above the washer and dryer, is now a pretty site. I am doing laundry everyday, so I wanted it to be enjoyable. It is amazing how much a pretty space can impact your mood when doing the most mundane tasks.
My first change was adding beverage dispensers to hold laundry detergent. They are much more attractive than the detergent dispensers and dispense the soap just as easily. I positioned them on the shelf over the sink, in case they drip after use. They have actually been really good. I chose these particular dispensers, because I liked the metal screw on lids. I did not want a glass lid like many beverage dispensers have.
When I was in line to check out at Target, the sweet lady behind me asked what I was going to do with the beverage dispensers. I told her my plan and her eyes lit up. As I was paying, I heard her whispering my plan to her hubby. Her reaction was the confirmation I needed that I was on the right path to creating a pretty laundry room.
I also found the acrylic lazy susan in the bathroom storage section at Target. It is perfect for holding all the smaller laundry bottles, like starch and stain removers. I found a small glass jar in the kitchen section to hold the oxi-clean. And a glass carafe with rubber lid to hold the woolite dark detergent we use for dark jeans. I cut out circles of chalkboard vinyl to create simple labels for all the containers. If the contents change, it is easy to change the label.
One of my favorite changes is the dryer sheets. I hate reaching into the dryer sheet box. Instead, I found this nickel vanity tray in the bathroom section. It was the perfect size to hold a stack of dryer sheets. Since we run a load almost everyday, I am not worried about the dryer sheets getting dusty.
Another big change, was removing all my punches and craft paints from the wire shelves above the laundry sink. I reclaimed the space for frequently used cleaning and laundry supplies.
On the upper shelf, I used a few $1 mini loaf pans from Michaels to hold laundry supplies; affresh tablets for cleaning the washer, Dryel, and measuring cups. On the lower shelf I have extra cleaning sponges and magic erasers.
The little ceramic heart dish is from World Market. It is for lost & found items. The ceramic jar, also from World Market, is for loose change. I kept my little paint cans, from Michaels, to hold Tide to-go pens, a sharpie, and an old toothbrush for scrubbing stains.
Now, I see this pretty shelf every time I walk into the laundry room. It feels so nice, organized, and clean.
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Wow. Fabulous. My laundry room is smaller and a little more cramped (and houses the hot water heater as well), but I still want to make it pretty and pleasant to work in. I have been thinking about doing the beverage dispenser thing for a while, but I never thought about adding in the carafes for softener and woolite and things like that.
You’ve inspired me to get to work on my own laundry “closet” and make it a little more organized and less of a catch-all for all the junk that I don’t know where else to put!
Looks very nice and you gave me an idea for my pantry, thanks.
Great ideas, Jackie. I see those beverages on sale everywhere and never thought of using them for laundry supplies. Your laundry room looks so organized and fresh!
I recently bought a beverage dispenser from Target to use for my liquid laundry detergent. The liquid was too thick to use in the dispenser. Have you had this problem and if so, how did you address it?
Melissa,
That is too bad. I have two dispensers and use two different detergents in them and have not had any problems. Mine are filled with Tide Coldwater and All Free & Clear. I have noticed every week or so they seem to be pouring slowly, so I use the end of my cleaning tooth brush up the spigot to clear any clogged detergent.
Hey there! Can you dilute detergent to make it flow better?? The fabric softener is fine, but detergent flows very slow!
I have tried this in the past and had the clogging problem as well. Now I use a homemade powder detergent so that problem is solved.
My laundry room is one of my favorite rooms in my house too. I have 4 children and when they lived at home I used the laundry room every day. I have been thinking about using a beverage dispenser for fabric softener. I already have a pretty container for my powdered laundry soap. I really like the silver dish for the fabric softener sheets. Your room is a lovely inspiration.
Thank you Amy! Pretty stuff really does make laundry more enjoyable. We used out dispensers for almost a year, but switched a few months ago to the tabs you throw in the washer. I am planning to put them in a penny jar (candy jars where lid is tilted on the front).
Hi there!
I’m thinking about beverage dispensers for my liquid laundry detergent, but am wondering how you do it without creating drips and mess… do you actually hold the glass jar over your washing machine to pour it in? Do you pour it from the dispenser into something, and then pour that into the machine? And, if so, what do you use to get from the dispenser to the machine? Does it get messy? Where do you store it?
Sorry for the silly question! I just hate having soap spills/drips to deal with, but would love to have this look if I can.
Thanks!
Summer, Not a silly question at all. Our dispensers sit on the shelf above our laundry sink. We didn’t have issues with dripping, but were glad if we did it would drip into the sink. Make sure you get a good quality beverage dispenser that turns off fully. We kept the plastic lids from the detergent to measure. Just put the lid under the dispenser to fill and then pour into the machine. We rinsed out the lids after use and just set it on the edge of the laundry sink.
Recently we stopped using the dispensers, not because of any issues, but because we found we like using the detergent tabs instead (we use the Tide ones). We keep them on the same shelf in a glass nickel jar with lid for easy grabbing. No mess at all with those. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the thorough answer! I’m thinking of the dispenser on an IKEA Grundtal shelf over the sink, so that part of drip management should work okay. Just keeping the detergent lids is a great idea!
where did you get the little baskets above the sink?
Don’t be discouraged if those beverage containers leak. There are many rejected ones at the thrift store and I just add an extra rubber washer on the spigot and voila, inexpensive beverage containers. What I’d like to know is there any ways to get those painted designs off of the glass. May see if scraping will work.
Love the liquid dispenser idea and just ordered a beverage dispenser. Hope it works with my detergent. By the way, to get detergent from the dispenser to the washer, we use a small kitchen measuring cup. We just throw it in with the clothes and it comes out rinsed when the clothes are done!