Q: “What’s in those big drawers below your washer & dryer shelves?”
A: “Somewhere only we go.” 🙂
a.k.a. DIRTY LAUNDRY!
This is where our family keeps a lot of dirty laundry and towels. Why? Read on!
WHY I WANTED THEM:
One of my “Laundry Room Fantasies” was having these big drawers right below our washer & dryer.
Here was my vision: I wanted to have a “Drop Zone” for random things that needed to be washed, but not quite yet.
I didn’t want to get home from the beach with the kids, for example, and have a bunch of sandy clothes that needed to be brought upstairs to the hamper first. I wanted somewhere to drop them right then and there. Downstairs where the actual washing of the laundry would be happening.
But what if the washer was already being used, or I had a load of sheets already in there to be washed?
Enter my divided drawers. There are two of them—one below the washer on the left and one below the dryer on the right.
baskets | pulls | plant | vase | towels | purifying bags | rug | washer | dryer
Each drawer has a divider down the middle, so it gives us two sections per drawer. Four sections total.
Even though this is a small laundry room makeover, you can see how it’s big in function!
Laundry room storage drawers:
Did they deliver?
After using this setup for awhile,
this might be my favorite part about our laundry room design!
I just realized that and it was the shocker of my day. (Sorry, pull-out shelves. I still really love you. And you’re still neck-in-neck for first place.)
I even have a shot of what looks like a representation of this race (it’s as if you can see the drawers pulling ahead of the pull-out shelves and maybe even edging them out by a nose):
baskets | pulls | hangers | hooks | linen pants | plant | vase | towels | purifying bags | rug | washer | dryer
These huge drawers are one of my laundry room fantasies I didn’t even realize was a fantasy until I had it. We all use them ON THE DAILY and they are brilliant.
HOW WE USE THEM:
I divided them up into four easy “categories” for our family’s use:
1: whites to be washed
2: darks to be washed (this is usually where the kids’ clothes end up after they’ve been playing inside or we get home from outdoor adventures)
3: cleaning cloths, dish towels, etc. to be washed
4: misc items like big towels or sheets to be washed
(Too bad I’d just done a bunch of loads before taking these pics; otherwise you’d have gotten to see a bunch of dirty kitchen towels in here. Better luck next time.)
This is like The Holding Area for all incoming laundry. “Please wait here until it’s your turn.” And they all happily do so because hey, what a lovely spot to hang out!
And I love these extra-wide pulls for those extra-big drawers.
Alternatively, you could sort your laundry in these sections not by color but by washes.
Next…
- Want the above laundry setup yourself? You can get the plans for this laundry cabinet here!
- To see the rest of our laundry room, go here!
- If you haven’t yet seen what this room used to be, you’ll want to check out our original post here! 🙂
Or you’ll want to see the 5 Genius Reasons You Should Do Drawers (Instead of Cabinets) in every room of your home!
➜ Our complete list of every single home project is viewable HERE.
Beautiful design! I’m glad to read that you haven’t had any issues with build up in the drawers with so many years of use. My question is, where do you hang damp laundry, say: cleaning towels, until it’s dry enough to go into the drawers? I always have kitchen/bathroom towels that are not dry enough to put into any hamper situation, and i haven’t figured out a “tidy” place to put them utnil they’re dry. I’d love to hear what has worked for you! Thanks, Debra
How do you get to the plumbing or electrical outlet if you have any issues? How did you install the washer and dryer after it was built, seems like a tight space?
I can’t wrap my head around the size of your baskets and those drawers. I am one person, and my loads are huge. I try to do laundry only when I get enough clothes to fill the machine and save water and gas, so I have several loads every 2-3 weeks. How would that work with your set up? I’m sure others must have the same concern.
Hi Chris! Our system has worked brilliantly for us for years, and we love it!😄 Could you be more specific in your question? Cheers!
PS: These shelves above ours still fit massive, jumbo-sized laundry baskets if anyone ever wanted to use those for themselves instead.
I like your design very much. I curious as to how you built the cupboards to accommodate for the vibration created by the washer and drier. How can the drawers below the washer and drier hold the weight of the two appliances?
We built this laundry cabinet well and share the plans in our “Plans & Design Guides” section of the site—just click the menu!☺️ Cheers!
I would like to purchase the plans and start this project. 2 questions though.
-I am new to all DIY things…do you provide the info for where you sourced your drawers and cabinets etc?
-my husband is obsessed with a pan under the washing machine for that slim chance there is a an issue with water. Have you or can you incorporate that into this design?
Hi Megan,
1. The plans have links to all the materials to build the cabinets. As a DIY project, everything is custom built from sheets of wood (Instructions in the plans! :))
2. Yes, a pan can totally incorporated. Something like this can be purchased and placed underneath before installing the Washing machine.
This is absolutely amazing and really THE best way to set up the laundry!
I’ve been wondering for a while what other people do with their dirty cleaning towels. I’ve been collecting them in a open plastic container next to the laundry until there are enough for a whole load, or at least once a week. But I’m afraid I’m just breeding germs in there. How do you avoid that/deal with that in the drawer?
Hi Tamsi, thank you! And yes, for any damp cleaning towels, I just make sure they’re dried before I add them to this drawer. We’ve used it this way for 7 years and you can see the drawer still looks good as new! 🙂 I might wipe or vacuum it occasionally if I notice crumbs or anything accumulating in there, but that’s about it! Super easy! 🙂
Jess