Carolyn J. Braden • 4 Minute Read
From Dead Washer to This: Small Laundry Room Organization Idea
The last time we were selling a house in 2020, our washer died. We got a new washer and dryer set and the new home owners, which promptly bought the house right after the replacement, loved it. Of course, now that we are trying to sell another house, our washer in our current home died too.
I wonder if our new house will sell quickly now, as it seems a new washer and dryer may be a bit of a magical selling point to potential home buyers. We did have a showing a day after setting up our new laundry room and it went excellently (they are very interested!) so only time will tell…
We call Johnny Cash “Laundry Dog” because he loves hanging out with us while we do laundry for some reason
I decided to turn this “lemon” of a life adventure into lemonade by purchasing an LG WashTower and reorganized our tiny laundry room. Read on to learn about our small laundry room organization ideas.
Some people choose to take their laundry machines with them when they sell their house, but we never have. We never have known exactly what house we were moving to next, so taking machines with us that we don’t know if we’ll even need or have the room for just doesn’t make sense to us and our needs.
Why the LG WashTower?
I had eyed the LG WashTower for many years while living in our current home in Sanibel Island, Florida. The Whirlpool set that came with the home when we bought it in 2020 was a very nice set. It was from 2008, but still working great and looked good, so we just kept them and I made a mental note to get the LG WashTower at some point.
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I LOVE my giant rolling Hulken bag for laundry and so much more. Read my full review here or use this link to check it out on the Hulken website and get 10% off using my link or code CBC10 at checkout!
Before and After of our small laundry room
I added cute removable vinyl decals to make the older machines a bit updated and to fancy them up as you could clearly see the machines in our bathroom. I won’t put them on this new set, as the new owners may not want that, but I will do it again in my next home. See how to add vinyl decals to your wash machines in our 1-minute video below or via our YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
Angle view from the back wall of our laundry area
Our tiny laundry room (or our “laundry space”)which is inside our guest bathroom (not my favorite place, but at least it’s indoors as many homes on the island have them outside due to the year-round decent temperatures), was a tight squeeze, but we made it work. It made me miss the giant laundry room I designed in our previous home (see that here), but we made a dream come true of moving to Sanibel, so a smaller laundry area was worth it.
My husband at Lowe’s, analyzing how to hook up the LG WashTower
Each machine had drawer pedestals they sat on to give us storage for our laundry detergent and other laundry needs. When I bought the WashTower after the Whirlpool washer finally died (it lasted 16 years, which is a great and it happened to die during Labor Day weekend, which meant LOWE’S HAD A SALE!!!), I knew we’d lose the drawer storage, so I decided to buy a cabinet set to go next to the tower. I turned to my art studio storage for an idea to use the same type of cabinets, which were from Lowe’s. See my art and multipurpose room storage solution in this article.
Grab my Hulken bag discount code in the image above!
My Opinion After Using Our LG WashTower
I am liking it. Like anything new, it’s taking some time to get used to, but it does what it’s supposed to do. It washes and dries our clothes perfectly. I love the app telling me my laundry is done and I like being able to access more washing and drying settings on the app (I like that you can save them too).
The whole system is quieter than our older set, which is great when you have a small living environment. It plays a little cute song when everything is done, which is more pleasant than some loud dings and buzzes from other washer and dryers I’ve used. My friend has the WashTower too, and he loves using it in his condo. It’s a great space saver!
Yes, you can wash and dry at the same time using this set and no it does not need a stacking kit. Our delivery person rolled it right in our home and set it all up in less than 30 minutes. I’m 5’1” and can reach the top (the dryer) very easily.
The Estate storage at Lowe’s
Laundry Room Storage Solutions We Used
We purchased a lower cabinet and an upper cabinet from Lowe’s by the Estate Storage Cabinet collection. We love some other storage solutions by Amazon and Walmart, but we needed it fast (as we keep having consistent house showings), and Lowe’s was very convenient. You can also order similar cabinets from the following retailers:
How I store my laundry soaps now
Tools You Need
My husband put them together very quickly and easily with tools he had on hand. He is loving his Hart tools from Walmart, but you could use what you have. The Hart tools have been great for at home use and they are very low cost compared to many other tool brands.
The upper Estate storage cabinet
He had to replenish his tool collection when Hurricane Ian ruined many from its floodwaters (one of the reasons why we are selling and moving to Georgia next…a dream achieved is a dream achieved and now we will move forward into another one!) and he choose a lot of Hart tools after we had a good experience with a Hart vacuum.
My laundry room rug is an old one from Target
He used the following to put together the cabinets (links out to Walmart):
I wanted a lower cabinet so I could have something to fold clothes on, so the bottom cabinet serves as storage and as a folding area. You could easily add a counter over it, as we purchased a wood cutting board for the similar cabinet in my art room (this Kenmore Acacia Wood board fits the Estate drawer cabinet perfectly), but we won’t do that for now.
See my husband showing off our new organization idea in our 1-minute video below or via our YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
We did not mount the bottom cabinet to the wall, as the dryer vent kind of prevented it, but you can do this if you can/want. We did mount the top cabinet to the wall next to the LG WashTower. My husband liked this particular cabinet because it has a piece of wood that you mount to the wall first so you can get it level (and get it into a wall stud!), then you mount the cabinet to the wood piece.
This storage solution would work in condos and apartments
Our only complaint about the lower cabinet is the drawer doesn’t open and close as smoothly as we’d like, but we don’t use the drawer often, so it’s not a big issue. We could add new rollers, but we’ll let the next house owner do this if they want.
I added a little decor to the laundry area that can be removed as needed
Other Laundry Room Supplies I Love + Mirror Hack
I already had my magnetic metal laundry valet (I got it at Walmart, but Amazon has the same one too) which I use to hang our octopus hanger from to dry delicates and other shirts. I added a small rust resistant curtain rod at the front of our laundry area on the ceiling that serves as more wet or dry clothes hanging space.
I love my Octopus hanger
I like to fold and hang things before taking them to the rooms they belong too. I LOVE my Hulken bag for laundry. Read about it here or use this link to check it out on the Hulken website and get 10% off using my link or code CBC10 at checkout!)
We got our Octopus hanger at IKEA, but you can get it on Amazon too
My small collapsible Laundry Goods bag was a Target purchase (it’s cloth but lined), and I throw dirty wash cloths and towels in it to await washing. I like this collapsible pop up laundry basket too, which is also great if you have a small laundry area. I made my own laundry room wood hanging board (living at the beach and having a pool, you always have wet towels!) and you can see that project here. I added a long mirror on the wall by the cabinet to “open up” the space. Adding reflective things in a home like mirrors and framed pictures can make a small space look bigger.
Our LG WashTower laundry room idea
Timing is Everything
I’m sure there are tons of more small laundry room storage solutions, but this literally came together in a matter of three days. Our washer died on a Sunday (Labor Day Weekend…love those sales!) we ordered the WashTower the same day (we knew the Whirlpool was old, it smelled like it was going to catch fire, so it was dying for sure…we had no time for potential “fixes” that we knew weren’t going to last long), and Lowe’s delivered it on Tuesday.
On Monday we bought the cabinets at Lowe’s and by Tuesday night, we had it all set up. We had a house showing on Wednesday morning, so despite dealing with a lemon of a situation, the timing worked out! Life sure can be interesting.
If you loved this article, we know you’ll love this one too: Amazing Ways to Organize and Store Your Beauty Supplies
Carolyn J. (C.J.) Braden is the owner of Carolyn’s Blooming Creations is a regular contributor and editor for CBC. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.