How To Maximize Your Laundry Room Space With DIY Built-In Hampers
Raise your hand if you've been victimized by a tiny laundry room. Bonus points if you've dropped your clean clothing as you wiggle through your cramped space.
Rather than spending your next laundry day with pouting, try hanging hampers. A creator on TikTok, simplystyled.inspo, came up with this three-step hack to make laundry day so much easier — and dare we say, much cuter, too. This technique will maximize your small space and leave you less grumpy about folding a hamper's worth of clothing.
All you need are some slabs of woods, nails and laundry bags. Secure four pieces of wood in a rectangular shape and nail them to the wall with two-four screws on either side. Take a washable laundry bag and secure its edges around your structure. This should create the perfect area for holding your new hamper. This hack can be as affordable as you'd like. Paint the slabs to your desired color. Put a funky pattern on your laundry bags for more fun.
The difficult part might be finding where to put your hanging hampers. Air circulation is important here. So opt for open crannies and corners that aren't hidden. The Little Design Corner recommends that you use SketchUp to create a vision board of your ideal laundry room. Play around with where you can place items, as well as what you can move to make your life easier. Pro tip: delegate space on top of hampers with solid lids to create a makeshift folding area.
A renter-friendly guide to this viral laundry room transformation
Renters, listen up! According to a survey by Rent.com (via US News), a little more than 25% of renters in this study lost their security deposit. 36% were not given a proper explanation. When it comes to DIY hacks in a rented home, don't set yourself up for failure. Take necessary precautions before you dive into room adjustments. Bang whatever nail counterpart your landlord prefers into your laundry room wall and hang your bags from there. This still creates a sense of maximized space, without the anxiety that comes when your lease is up.
Our best advice? Just ask. If you're living in an outdated space with vintage cabinets, counters, floors and appliances, your landlord or apartment manager may be open to you getting a bit more hammer-happy. This is a great way to feel more at home and get rid of those permanent eyesores that put a damper on your space. Specifically with your laundry room, this can mean getting less bulky appliances for washing and drying, as well as dedicating wall space for this brilliant hamper hack. It would also be a great opportunity to create storage space for concealing your laundry necessities and hiding stray hoses.
If your rented space does have a bit stricter of a policy, we recommend opting for working vertically. You just might have been using command hooks wrong all along, so finding quality options to hang your baskets (and other art or decor) is a great alternative.
Other ways you can use this hamper hack
Whether or not you have a small laundry room, this hack is universal for renters and owners. If you're lucky in the laundry room department, the technique can be applied to your bedroom, living room, and so on, to maximize space, declutter your areas and make for more feng shui.
Consider your future plans in the space. It might be time to make some essential home improvements, if you're expecting. How can you transform one room into a nursery? Maybe you're wanting a wine room. How can you play with nooks in your space? Don't be afraid to invest in your aesthetic. Bonus points if you make a kitchen renovation suitable for an in-home bartending station. Using Pinterest can be a major gamechanger for planning a complete renovation.
With any good DIY project, the best part is how you make it unique. According to the Laura Design Collective, decorating professionally begins with the context of the space and the natural repeating rhythm throughout your home: "Contrast creates drama, sparks interest, and adds weight to a space." This means using your hanging technique to move your guests' eyes across the room. If you decide on hanging bookshelves, construct a slightly different shelf for a plant in between each shelf. For this idea, color coding is your best friend. Other options for this simple hanging technique include creating vinyl holders, general storage for clothing, and console tables.