Small laundry room organization: how to keep laundry off the floor
Use the back of the door, the closet rail and the narrow gaps you already have. Where to put hampers and sorters in a small home, and what to measure before you order.
At a glance
Where it goes, and what to use
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Laundry rarely piles up in the laundry room. It piles up on the bedroom floor, behind the bathroom door and in the gap next to the washer. In a small home there is no spare floor for a row of baskets, so the fix is to use the space you are not using yet: the back of a door, the closet rail and the narrow gaps between furniture. This guide covers each option and what to measure before you order.
Start where the pile actually forms
Before buying anything, spend a few days noticing where clothes land. A hamper in the laundry room does nothing for a pile in a teenager's bedroom. Most homes need storage in two or three places:
- Bedrooms, where clothes come off.
- The bathroom, for towels and pajamas.
- Next to the washer, for whatever is waiting for the next load.
Put the storage where the pile forms, not where it looks tidiest, and the floor usually stays clear on its own.
Sort as it collects, not on laundry day
Sorting a full basket on the floor is the step that makes laundry day feel long. A two-compartment sorter splits lights and darks as clothes go in, so each side is close to a ready load. The XL Two-Compartment Over-the-Door Laundry Sorter has printed Lights and Darks labels, a wide top for easy loading and a bottom zipper for unloading straight into the washer. It measures about 25 × 10 × 31 inches and hangs on two 1.38-inch metal over-door hooks.
If one family member's clothes always go in their own load, give that person their own hamper instead and skip the sorting.
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Use the back of the door
An over-the-door hamper turns the space behind a bedroom, closet or bathroom door into laundry storage without using any floor. Most of ours are about 20 inches wide, 31 inches tall and under 4 inches deep, with a wide opening, a front pocket for small items and a bottom zipper.
- XL Over-the-Door Hamper – Gray (includes over-door hooks and two adhesive mounting pieces)
- Large Over-the-Door Hamper – Beige
- XL Over-the-Door Hamper – Navy or Printed Navy
- Large Over-the-Door Hamper – Black (about 18 × 28 inches)
What to measure: the thickness of the door, so the hooks fit, and the gap above the door when it is closed. Also check that the door still opens fully with a loaded hamper on it, and that nothing behind the door (a towel hook, a light switch) is in the way.
Use the closet rail
If there is a little room left on the clothes rail, a hanging hamper sits beside your clothes and stays out of sight when the closet is closed. The Large Hanging Closet Laundry Hamper hangs from two hanger-style supports, has built-in carry handles and is roughly 16.5 × 10 × 31.5 inches. Measure the free rail space and the drop below the rail before ordering, and don't overload it: a full hamper is heavier than a row of shirts.
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Fill the narrow gaps
The gap beside a washer, between a dresser and the wall, or at the end of a closet is often too narrow for a regular basket. A slim hamper fits there. The 45L Slim Collapsible Laundry Hamper is about 15 × 8 × 22 inches, has long carry handles and a mesh top, and folds down to around 1.2 inches thick when you don't need it. It comes in beige, gray, dark gray and black.
Measure the gap at its narrowest point, including baseboards and any hoses or vents behind the washer, and leave a little room so you can pull the hamper out when it is full.
Give sneakers their own bag
Sneakers tumbling loose in the drum are loud and hard on both the shoes and the machine. Padded Shoe Laundry Bags have a cushioned chenille surface, mesh side panels and a covered zipper; use one shoe per bag. Only wash or dry shoes that their manufacturer says are machine washable, and follow the care label.
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Or get the three together
If you want one order that covers a small laundry corner, the Laundry Corner Kit combines the over-the-door sorter, the hanging closet hamper and the padded shoe bags. It costs $7.98 less than buying the three separately.
All of the hampers in this guide ship free to the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C.
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Quick checklist
Tap each item as you go.
- Note where laundry actually piles up before you buy.
- Choose a sorter if you wash by color, or one hamper per person if you wash by person.
- For door hampers, measure door thickness and the gap above the closed door.
- For rail hampers, measure free rail space and the drop below the rail.
- For slim hampers, measure the gap at its narrowest point and leave room to pull it out.
- Check that doors still open fully once everything is loaded.
Product details in this guide come from the current listings. Check each product page for the latest sizes, care instructions and availability before you buy.
