10 Best Laundry Room Shelving Ideas for Optimized Storage
Updated: Mar. 18, 2024
These smart laundry room shelving ideas will keep your laundry essentials organized and give your space a stylish update.
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Whether you’re working with a large laundry room or a closet space converted to washing station, where you do laundry can always be more organized and efficient with the right tools. If you’re willing to spend some time updating your laundry space, you may even find yourself eager to wash clothes.
And if you’re thinking, “Does my laundry room really need style?” Well, it’s one room in the house you’ll inevitably visit every week or more, so you might as well make the most of it. Think: storage for cleaning supplies, a backup area for extra sheets and towels, a pet cleaning station and maybe even an extra pantry. The options are limitless, so why not dress up a space you’ll spend hours in?
A functional laundry room keeps your clutter organized and rejuvenates you—it’s a win-win on all fronts. To start, one of the first ways to optimize your laundry room is to amp up your vertical storage by installing shelves. Closed, open, high or low—read on for smart, design-forward laundry room shelving ideas that’ll instantly organize and style your space.
After you’re done here, you might want to check out our list of laundry room flooring options too.
Shelves and Hanging Drawers Unit
The White Elfa laundry room unit features ventilated shelves, hanging drawers and closet rods in a white-coated, epoxy-bonded steel construction. It’s designed to fit spaces that are at least 51 inches wide, but since it’s part of the Elfa collection, each solution is flexible and adjustable.
The best part: You can accessorize each portion with fabric baskets, glass containers, labels and wooden hangers for a refined look. Plus, its drawers keep your essentials organized or neatly stow away folded clothing, sheets or towels.
Wall-Mounted Laundry Drying Rack
This wall-mounted shelf double duties as a drying rack, which you can expand out on laundry day and tuck back in when your clothes are finished drying. Made from steel with a chrome-plated finish and topped with a walnut wooden shelf (also painted in a white finish), this solution will last for years to come. And since it’s only about 36 inches wide with a 10-inch depth (and 27-inch depth when extended), you can install more than one next to each other to make the best of your space.
Open Shelf with Hanging Rod
Rejuvenation’s strap shelf brackets feature a classy shelving solution adaptable to your laundry room style. With four wooden finishes to choose from, including walnut, white oak, black ash and white ash, this shelving unit can mesh with just about any color scheme.
Plus, you can customize your hardware finish from aged brass and oil-rubbed bronze to polished nickel and unlacquered brass. This unit is easily moveable, too, and can be a nifty solution to add to a kitchen space. Bonus: You can add optional felt-lined “S” hooks to hang cleaning brushes or baskets on the rod.
Wall Cabinets with Pole
For affordable laundry room shelving ideas, search for a cabinet and pole set like this one by Mill’s Pride. This unit has a laminate interior with two adjustable shelves that are each 3/4 of an inch thick. This storage solution has soft-closing doors with a raised center panel shaker-style cabinet. It can fit a wide range of spaces, as the cabinet and pole system can adjust from 58 inches to 70 inches.
At first glance, you may see only green cabinets, but if you look more closely, you’ll notice each door comes with a white backdrop panel that can moonlight as a handy whiteboard for notes or doodles.
Slim Rolling Storage Cart
If wall units aren’t an option, try squeezing in storage between your appliances using a slim rolling storage cart. There are hundreds of iterations of this concept on the market, from plastic to metal to fabric, but some of these options may not have the most polished aesthetic, which is why we chose this specific cart.
A signature detail of this rollable shelving unit is its front face, which is one solid piece (so it visually masks its contents from the outside). This entire unit is made from steel with the exception of its wooden top. Since it’s tall and narrow, you can feel confident purchasing more than one, knowing you’ll receive three tiers of storage space per cart.
Wall-Mounted Closet System
If you prefer storage shelving that offers a warmer aesthetic than shelves constructed from metal or plastic, we recommend this solid-wood organizer. It boasts multiple types of storage, from clothing rods to deep shelves and a wide storage tower. This John Louis Home unit comes in honey maple and red mahogany finishes. Since it’s part of the John Louis collection, you’ll find multiple configurations to choose from at Wayfair.
Over-the-Door Hanging Organizer
Laundry room shelving ideas don’t have to stop at your wall—you can utilize over-the-door space, as well. Optimize this area by using this canvas hanging organizer. Although this shelving idea is designed to hold eight pairs of shoes, you can use it to tuck in any laundering tools or supplies (and keep clutter out of sight).
Bamboo Storage Bins
If you’d rather not pour over an assembly kit, this instant storage solution is for you. Each piece is crafted from bamboo and is stackable. You can even mix and match sizes for a custom storage look on your existing shelving. Rubber feet on the bottom of these storage bins keep them from sliding and falling off shelves when you’re reaching in for laundry soap or fabric softener.
Wooden Cabinet
Combine open shelving and cabinets to design a solution that works for your laundry room needs. This wooden cabinet from Lowes’s Project Source collection come in a variety of sizes and finishes. This cabinet features a clean-lined, full overlay door in a popular shaker style, which accommodates several design aesthetics. Best part: This cabinet is fully assembled and even come with a one-year limited warranty. Snag as many as you need for your specific laundry room. Looking for more? Here’s a list of laundry room cabinet ideas.
Over-the-Washer-and-Dryer Storage
This budget-friendly solution has an adjustable shelf rack and bottom so you can space each shelf at the height you need. This over-the-washer-and-dryer unit comes with three open shelves, a wire basket and two rotatable hooks. It stacks directly on top of your washing machine and dryer, and it’s made from carbon steel. This unit will require assembly and a rubber mallet to ensure each shelving rack fits on its respective poles.
Originally Published: October 31, 2023
