I’ve you’ve been following the series of blogs on small spaces, you’ve tackled the bigger spaces bedrooms, wardrobes, and living spaces. Now we’re stuck with the rooms that should be simple but somehow aren’t.
Bathrooms and laundries.
They’re small, yes, but you use them constantly. Multiple times a day. And when they’re not working? You feel it straight away. The rummaging. The cluttered drawers. The never-ending shuffle of products and piles with no real system.
It’s exhausting.
The good news? When these hardworking spaces are set up properly, everything flows better. Mornings feel smoother. Washing doesn’t pile up the same way. You stop fighting your space—and it starts supporting you.
These rooms don’t need a complete overhaul. With some thoughtful tweaks and the right tools, they can work beautifully.
Start With Your Reality, Not Your Pinterest Board
Before you buy a single organiser or shift anything, take a moment to think about what these spaces actually need to do for you.
Ask yourself:
- What happens in this room every day?
- What always ends up on the floor or benchtop?
- What would make this space easier to use and maintain?
When your setup follows your real life and not some idealised version or what worked for someone else, then everything becomes easier to keep functional.
Bathrooms: Small But Mighty
Bathrooms are often one of the smallest rooms in the home; however, because they’re used daily, it’s essential to think slim, vertical, and multi-purpose.
Look Up (Seriously)
When floor space is limited in the bathroom, try to visualise going vertical with your storage choices, as this helps maximise space while keeping everything organised. Tall and narrow storage options can completely transform a cramped bathroom into something that feels calm and organised.
Try this:
- Beside the toilet or vanity: A narrow rolling cart (like IKEA’s VESKEN or similar options from Howards Storage World or Target) is perfect for housing toilet paper. or your everyday go-to items
- Above the toilet: A slim cabinet or shelving unit can hold towels, skincare, and backup supplies without taking up floor space.
- On the walls: Install floating shelves beside the mirror or above the sink for things you reach for daily – IKEA’s LACK shelves work brilliantly in tight spaces.
Pro tip: Keep daily-use items between eye and waist height. The spares and bulk buys can live higher or lower which will free up your prime real estate.
Contain the Chaos Inside Cupboards
Look, we all have those bathroom cupboards that are basically black holes. You know the ones – open the door and three things fall out, you can never find what you need, and somehow there are four half-empty bottles of the same product.
Small bins and drawer dividers are absolute lifesavers here. Group like with like: hair stuff together, skincare together, shaving things together and so on. When everything has a designated spot, you’ll actually know what you have (so you stop buying duplicates).
Laundries: The Hardest-Working Room
What’s causing you the most grief in this room? Usually, it’s having no system for the dirty laundry—and sometimes no home for your ironing pile either.
To begin with, take some time to think about the categories of washing you usually have—for example, lights, darks, and towels or linen. From there, you can set up a washing basket system to capture these different loads as they come in, so they don’t end up languishing on the floor.
However, if there’s no room for this in the laundry, consider placing sorting baskets in the areas where clothes are naturally taken off and dropped—such as bedrooms, bathrooms, or even the hallway. On the other hand, if you do have space in the laundry, there are some great divided laundry hampers available that make sorting even easier.
Finally, when I renovated my laundry, I chose to have drawers installed in the cupboard so I could sort washing into different categories; as a result, it keeps the walkway clear and the whole space feeling calm 😊
Vertical Space Saves the Day (Again)
Tall shelving units are your best friend in a laundry. They maximise storage without taking over the room.
Here’s what works:
- Wall-mounted options: Install shelves or cabinets above the washer and dryer for detergents, stain removers, and cleaning supplies.
- Freestanding units: A sturdy shelving unit can hold baskets, cleaning supplies, or any of those items you like to store in your laundry that doesn’t currently have a home.
- High cupboards: If you’ve got cupboards up above, you can use containers or baskets to store items. Again, grouping like with like in the baskets makes your life easier. In general having a container to pull out makes it so much easier and safer to pull things down without playing Jenga or Dodgeball with loose bottles.
Think in Zones
This might sound a lot more structured, but it can make life so much easier, create dedicated areas:
- Dirty zone: Hampers or sorting baskets for incoming laundry
- Active zone: Where you fold, treat stains, or deal with items that need attention
- Clean zone: For storing detergent, fabric softener, and cleaning supplies
- Storage zone: an area to store items you choose to store in this space that doesn’t fit this category. (Some like to have some maintenance tools; gardening supplies – because they have no garage/garden shed; first aid items and more.)
When each area has a purpose, you’ll find the space flows better and you’re not constantly fighting clutter.
Wrangle Those Cleaning Supplies
Cleaning products tend to multiply like rabbits. Having a rolling cart, lazy Susan, or tiered organiser under the sink or in a cupboard keeps everything visible and accessible. So, no more buying a third bottle of glass cleaner because you couldn’t see the ones hiding in the back.
Having these in containers or slide out drawers can be useful. Store the new products when purchased, behind the open ones, so you don’t have 3 half empty bottles in the cupboard.
The Real Secret
At the end of the day, organising isn’t about perfect containers or Instagram-worthy shelves. It’s about creating a space that makes your everyday life feel easier, calmer, and less frantic. These small, hardworking spaces deserve systems that actually support how you live so start with what frustrates you most, tackle that first, and build from there.
If you’re ready to create a home that works beautifully for you, then I’ve got you covered:
Join the conversation in our Facebook group and share your wins (and your challenges!) or explore the WellSorted Home Course for methods to help you transform your whole home.