Organized Interiors Blog

Laundry Room Upgrades for a More Functional and Enjoyable Space

The laundry room may well be the one room in your home you enjoy visiting least.

Like it or not, however, doing the laundry is an essential part of maintaining a clean and functional household.

According to General Electric, the average American family does 8-10 loads of laundry every week.

The average laundry cycle is 87 minutes, from the time your clothes go in the washer to when they come out of the dryer. That works out to somewhere between 600-750 hours per year most families spend doing laundry.

Yes, we’ll spend a good deal of that time multitasking while the washing machine and dryer are running. Regardless, that’s still a lot of time we spend in the laundry room every week.

Using these laundry room ideas to upgrade your space, you can make your time spent doing one of the home’s most time-consuming tasks more enjoyable.

modern laundry room

Create a comfortable and functional laundry space

Laundry rooms don’t have to be drab environments that lack charm. With the right design ideas, a renovated laundry room can become a comfortable and attractive space that’s also highly functional.

This will ease the aggravation you undoubtedly feel each week carrying out your laundry duties.

Consider centralizing your laundry room’s location

The current location of your laundry room isn’t necessarily where your renovated laundry room also has to reside.

The default basement location for laundry rooms is a thing of the past. More and more homeowners choose to have them on the main and upper floors of their residence.

Three main factors will determine whether or not a laundry room can be centralized in your home:

available space
whether or not your plumbing and ventilation can accommodate a laundry room relocation
noise levels of your washing machine and dryer if they’ll be located close to sleeping and living areas (appliances are sold with added suspension and extra insulation features to reduce noise)

A centralized laundry room location helps facilitate a more efficient workflow. It’s easier to access and closer to the bedrooms where most of your dirty clothes are coming from. That saves you time in the long run.

Improving the lighting improves the atmosphere

Good lighting plays an important role when it comes to improving your laundry room’s atmosphere. Who wants to spend any more time than they have to in a dreary, dimly lit room?

Accent or ambient lighting on your ceiling can make a world of difference. Under-cabinet lighting and task lighting can also really transform your room’s appearance.

Laundry room must-haves

Obvious laundry room essentials include a sink and a durable flat surface for sorting, ironing, and folding clothes. Think about adding any of these helpful features:

built-in laundry hampers with removable bags take up less space with their pull-out design and allows you to sort according to colour
pull-out ironing boards are another practical space-saver
hanging rods and adjustable valet rods allow you to air-dry clothes in your laundry room
pull-out drying racks are another option for hanging clothes that you don’t want to put in the dryer

Stylize your laundry workspace

Make your laundry room more than a cold, impersonal workspace. A storage solution like custom laundry cabinetry can do wonders for modernizing your room’s look.

It can also keep unsightly laundry and cleaning supplies behind beautifully designed doors and properly organized. You can also add locks to keep your children safe from harmful chemicals.

Add personalized touches to your laundry room to encourage your presence. You can add plants, framed artwork and photos or other artistic wall hangings, a rug, curtains or blinds, wallpaper, and a device for playing music.

Why not a multi-purpose space?

If the size of your house allows it, a renovated laundry room can become an even more functional space.

Reap the benefits of a multi-purpose space by also turning your laundry room into an exercise room, crafting area, storage space, or mudroom.

A renovated laundry room with modern touches can go a long way towards making laundry duties less burdensome.

To create a laundry room whose door you’ll actually want to keep open and spend time in, set up a free in-home design consultation with us.

5 Smart Reasons for Getting a Dressing Room Closet

Are you a clothes enthusiast short on closet storage space?

Could the routine of getting ready for work or social engagements use a refreshing change of scenery that frees you from the bedroom or bathroom?

Here’s an idea – a dressing room closet. In recent years, dressing rooms have become a highly coveted addition to homes as more people discover their many benefits.

Here are five reasons to add one to your home.

1. An abundance of storage options

Adding a dressing room (also referred to as a “large walk-in closet”) to your home considerably expands your clothing storage options.

This gives you the freedom to organize your clothing, shoes, and accessories in a manner that exactly fits your vision.

2. A dressing room eliminates bedroom clutter

Just imagine the liberating feeling of adding a whole extra room that can, in part, be used to store your clothing and accessories.

A dressing room will eliminate the bedroom clutter that has limited your organizational capabilities for too long.

Better clothes organization directly translates into an improvement in efficiency when it comes to getting ready for work or social functions. That’s because everything is in its place and much easier to find.

3. Enjoy unlimited design potential

The design potential for a dressing room is only limited by the lengths of your imagination.

Feel like showing off your impressive wardrobe? Then an open-concept dressing room design will work for you.

If you want your belongings kept out of sight, consider keeping them behind custom closet doors or in a wardrobe closet. Other design options to think about are:

closet organizers
shelving
furniture like a sit-down vanity, dresser, or comfortable chair
closet accessories like valet rods, laundry hampers, and shoe racks
a multi-purpose centre island providing storage space for watches and jewelry, as well as a surface to fold and iron your garments
a full-length dressing room mirror

4. Create your own private sanctuary

A dressing room is much more than just a clothing storage area. It’s a dedicated space that becomes your own little sanctuary.

Enjoy its privacy and comfort as you ruminate about your wardrobe options, put on makeup, unwind after a long day, or (naturally) get dressed.

5. Maximize your home’s functionality

A guest bedroom is nice to have, but how frequently does it really get used? Couldn’t that spare room be put to better use if you don’t entertain many overnight guests?

A dressing room turns your home’s spare room into a better utilized purpose-driven space, because it will get used every single day.

A dressing room doesn’t have to be unobtainable just because you lack a spare room. If your master bedroom is larger than your needs require, you can create a private dressing space by installing a partition wall.

Dressing rooms combine the luxury of a private dressing area with the functionality of an additional clothes storage area. Their unique design possibilities will also reflect your tastes and style.

These dressing room ideas can get you started, but feed your imagination further by booking a free in-home consultation with one of our designers.

9 Effective Spring Cleaning Tips for the Home

The arrival of spring brings the rejuvenating promise of warmer weather, longer days, lighter clothes, colourful gardens…and also the dreaded spring cleaning.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of spring cleaning your house or apartment this year, you’re not alone.

A recent survey of 1,000 UK residents found that 41% of them were also daunted at the amount of spring cleaning work their residence required. 68% felt negatively overall about having to spring clean.

Regardless of your enthusiasm for spring cleaning, it’s an important job that helps to cleanse and declutter your home.

Follow these nine tips to get your spring cleaning done effectively this year.

1. Establish realistic spring cleaning goals

Spring cleaning is all about intensifying your regular tidying up routine so everything gets an effective deep cleaning and thorough reorganizing. This will take time.

Instead of cramming all of your work into one stressful weekend, use a more realistic approach by tackling spring cleaning over a couple of weekends.

Even an hour of work on a weeknight or two over that period can make meaningful strides towards completing your goal.

2. Don’t hesitate to delegate

With so much spring cleaning work to be done, why should the burden rest solely on you? After all, your family members have all contributed to the mess and clutter in your home.

Break up the workload by delegating spring cleaning tasks to the rest of the family.

3. Entertain yourself, but stay focused

Make sure to inject a little fun into the spring cleaning process. Listen to your favourite music, podcasts, or audio books to alleviate some of the dreariness.

Tip: refrain from having the TV on while cleaning, as it’s more likely to distract you and decrease productivity.

4. Open and wash your windows

There’s nothing like opening your windows and feeling that invigorating first spring breeze entering your home after a long winter.

Keep them open as long as possible to refresh the air in your home and clear out some of the allergens that have accumulated over the past several months.

Washing your windows should also be one your first spring cleaning tasks. Here are some effective window washing tips:

don’t clean your windows in direct sunlight – choose a cloudy day to minimize the chance of streaks from your glass cleaner drying too quickly and leaving a film that attracts dust and dirt
after applying your window cleaner with a sponge or rag, use a squeegee with a rubber-edge blade and be sure to wipe the blade after each stroke (this prevents dirt and particles from building up and scratching your windows)
dry your windows with either a microfibre cloth or, believe it or not, a newspaper (they’re surprisingly absorbent and won’t leave streaks because they don’t have lint)

5. Simplify spring cleaning by reducing clutter

Any efficient spring cleaning should include a thorough decluttering process. Carefully consider which of your belongings deserve space in your home.

A good rule of thumb is that if it hasn’t been used or worn in the past year and doesn’t have any sentimental value, then get rid of it.

Organized Interiors has storage bins for the items you deem worth keeping and off-season clothing.

If you’re plagued by more serious closet organization issues, then schedule a free in-home consultation with one of our designers.

6. Work from the top down

All rooms should be cleaned from top to bottom for maximum effectiveness. That way, any dust and dirt that gets knocked loose will be on the floor for you to vacuum or mop up later.

Make sure not to ignore your light fixtures or the corners and ceilings of rooms, where cobwebs tend to appear.

7. Scrub, dust, and mop till you drop

One of the most time-consuming spring cleaning tasks will be making sure every possible surface in your home is given the proper attention.

Items like shelving, windowsills, countertops, sinks, wooden furniture, and appliances should be scrubbed and dusted. Ensure you give a good mopping to your uncarpeted flooring areas.

8. Vacuum everywhere else

Give your carpets and rugs a comprehensive vacuuming and, if required, a shampoo or steam cleaning – they’re bacterial and germ havens.

Take the time to move furniture so your vacuum reaches those normally unreachable spots and also vacuum the upholstery.

Drape and curtain fabric can be dulled by dust, so carefully run your vacuum over them (if they’re not too delicate), clean them in the washing machine, or have a professional attend to them.

9. Give yourself a break

Pace yourself with well-deserved breaks. The inclination to power through and get the spring cleaning over with as quickly as possible may be tempting. Avoid spring cleaning burnout, however, and don’t overdo it.

By following these nine tips, you’ll experience an effective spring cleaning and the sweet satisfaction of knowing your freshly scrubbed home is all ready for the upcoming seasons.

If an immaculate home interior inspires some new design ideas, then visit our showroom or contact us.

How to Increase Your Clothes Drawer Storage by up to 50%

Folded clothing and linens in your dresser, wardrobe, and closet organizer drawers tends to become a disorganized mess.

The standard practice of stacking clothes in these areas is antiquated and doesn’t optimize your bedroom’s storage space.

The “KonMari Method” of vertical clothes folding from Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo changes all of this.

She’s the best-selling author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.

Using her clothes folding method, you can keep your drawers organized and gain up to 50% more drawer space.

Traditional clothes drawer storage is outdated and impractical

Think about the way your clothes drawers are currently organized.

Most likely, your items of clothing are just piled on top of one another, meaning you’re likely to end up with messy drawers full of wrinkled clothes after rummaging around trying to find a specific item.

When your drawers are full, this problem is only compounded.

The KonMari Method: simple yet effective

Kondo’s philosophy is simple: by vertically folding your clothes in a precise manner, you can save lots of space by storing them upright in your drawers and keeping everything much more organized.

With the KonMari Method, your clothing is folded into a rectangular shape and then compacted or tucked into a tight bundle. This allows them to stand up vertically, much like a file folder in a filing cabinet.

You’ll then gain as much as 50% more drawer space that allows you to create rows of your clothing. Now whenever you want a specific piece of clothing, everything is visible, completely accessible, and much more organized.

Vertical folding for your clothes and linens

The KonMari Method of vertical folding doesn’t require any extra time to do and can make a world of difference to your drawer space options.

All you need is a flat surface and after viewing the short videos below, you’ll be amazed at how much drawer space you’ll gain by vertically folding:

long sleeve shirts and T-shirts
underwear
long pants and shorts
socks and stockings
pajamas/nightwear
linens

How to vertically fold t-shirts

Increase Your Storage Space With a Stylish Wardrobe Closet

Lack of adequate storage space is a common problem that leads to time-consuming organizational chaos in the bedroom.

Frantically scrambling around to find a particular item before you’re late for work isn’t a great way to start your day, is it?

Adding a stylish wardrobe closet is one solution if an expensive renovation isn’t an option.

Wardrobe closets increase the amount of storage space at your disposal and can help alleviate the frustrations of functioning in a messy bedroom.

How much time could this valuable addition to your storage space save you every day?

More bedroom storage space options

A wardrobe closet instantly adds additional storage space to your bedroom, maximizing its storage potential. Now you have more room to hold and organize your:

clothes
shoes
belts
ties
linens
handbags
personal items

You can even add mirrors to your wardrobe’s design, allowing for more room where your existing bedroom mirror is.

Functionality with style

Wardrobe closets aren’t just functional by helping to expand your closet space, they also enhance your bedroom’s visual appeal.

Stylish wardrobes bring a sophisticated and contemporary sensibility to your bedroom that you’ll be proud to show off to friends and family.

Not just for your bedroom

For your home’s spare room that doesn’t have any closet space, a wardrobe closet can be added to transform it into a guest bedroom.

Wardrobes can also be used as a hallway closet if you don’t have one, or be used in just about any storage-challenged room.

Long-lasting quality

Cheaply made wardrobe closets from big box stores don’t deliver quality or longevity. And don’t forget about the headaches and time required to assemble them!

Higher quality wardrobes will serve you much longer and simply look better. Add a beautifully crafted piece of furniture to your home, not a mass-produced piece of product prone to leaning, sagging, and falling apart.

Superior design flexibility

Custom-fitted and free standing wardrobes from closet organization specialists allow for greater design flexibility to reflect your tastes.

Choose from a wider selection of closet finishes to complement your bedroom’s existing décor.
You can also customize your wardrobe closet with a variety of door and drawer styles to select from, as well as enjoying the many accessory storage options available.

A practical wardrobe closet can help with your closet space woes and will quickly become an essential part of your bedroom’s makeup.

For solutions to all of your wardrobe storage needs, arrange a free in-home consultation with Organized Interiors today.