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Those who live in small apartments and not-so-luxurious buildings know that in-unit laundry is an amenity worth serious consideration. Sure, maybe there’s no elevator, and your work commute is longer than you’d like it to be, but at least you don’t have to haul heavy bags of dirty clothes to a laundromat. If we’re being honest, though, as far as drying your linens and apparel, you’re often better off avoiding machines that generate high heat. Repeated cycles through the dryer can end up damaging the fibers in the long run, so nine times out of 10, hanging your wet items is the way to go.
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Now, I know what you’re thinking: Small space, remember? If you’re in a studio or one-bedroom, there’s hardly enough room to set up a full-sized drying rack, let alone drape freshly washed towels, bedding, and bulky garments. But as far as bed sheets go, we found something on Amazon that achieves the best of both worlds. The WAIKAS spiral sheet hanger lets your linens fully air-dry while also saving space.
There’s not much to explain regarding this product’s design and function. It’s essentially a hanger, but instead of the sloped form you use for jackets, it unwinds in a circular pattern. With a diameter of nearly 17 inches, the spiral is able to fit most standard-sized sheets — namely, fulls and Queens according to customer reviews. All you have to do is fold your flat sheet in half and slide it onto the outer end of the spiral, then loop it inward until all the fabric is hanging securely. Then just hook the hanger in your closet, on the shower rod, or on a clothesline outside, and wait a few hours. In the meantime, you won’t be stepping around the entire width of the sheet or fussing over where to place the rest of your clean laundry.
Thanks to its stainless steel frame, each hanger is surprisingly strong, and Amazon shoppers have no qualms about its durability. “These are perfect for our larger items that need drying,” one reviewer wrote. “I worried that they might not be sturdy enough for sheets, but I had some damp towels to try and figured they would be heavier than bedsheets… It did not sag or bend from the weight of the damp towel.” When your linens are done drying, you can separate the spiral from the hook for easier storage. So why wait? Grab your own spiral hangers now — at just $15 for a pack of two, there’s nothing to think about.
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There’s a reason “doing laundry” is classified as a chore: It’s boring. (Well, at least to most — if you find thrills in washing and drying, more power to you.) But if you’re someone who dreads laundry day, having an attractive and organized laundry room can help make it just a little bit more bearable to tackle load after load.
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Before Tahira Nagori (@the_aesthetic_side_of_homes) set out to renovate her laundry room, it wasn’t just a boring space — it was non-functional, with just two builder-grade shelves to corral necessities (and out in the open, no less). “It became a dumping zone for my family,” says Tahira. So she set out to make it both pretty and functional.
“The small size of this room was very challenging, but I love to design challenging spaces,” says Tahira, who took on this project as part of the Fall 2022 One Room Challenge.
First up, Tahira hired a plumber to move the washer and dryer connection and drain to a different wall so that she could stack the washer and dryer — a smart space-saving move for such a small room. Beyond that, it was all a DIY endeavor.
To create her storage-rich cabinet setup, Tahira purchased cabinet boxes from IKEA and created her own shaker doors to fit. Then, she painted them a gorgeous teal blue — using a sprayer for a super smooth finish — and added pretty vintage-inspired hardware.
Using the same teal color to paint the beadboard wainscoting helps the room feel cohesive, even with a bold floral wallpaper installed above it. Tahira lets the same paper peek out from a couple of the open shelves, too.
A new sink is a practical addition to the laundry space, but Tahira made sure it was beautiful, as well, choosing a fluted apron-front sink and a vintage-look shepherd’s crook faucet. Behind it, she installed a backsplash tile in a palette of dreamy blues.
A bold-yet-classic black-and-white checkerboard floor brings everything together. But that’s not newly laid porcelain — instead, Tahira used peel-and-stick tile to get the look for a fraction of the cost (and the labor).
This was a big transformation for a tiny space, with the total cost coming to about $5,500. Every ounce of effort was worth it, says Tahira, who notes that the room turned out exactly how she had envisioned it. “It looks so beautiful, and now I have tons of storage,” she says.
“I poured my heart and soul into this room,” says Tahira. “This room tested my limits to the max, but I am so proud that it turned out better than I expected with every single detail. I will cherish this room and the DIY makeover experience forever.”
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It feels like every day, I learn about new things I need to be doing around the house to avoid damage. Only recently did I realize the importance of turning on the exhaust fan in the bathroom while I shower and not plugging too many devices into one power strip. When I really think about it, I don’t know how I’ve made it this far without setting something on fire — which is a plausible reality if you don’t take care of your electric appliances. Not to spook you even more, but laundry room fires are more common than you’d like to think, with failure to clean the dryer listed as their leading cause. What’s more, dryer fires increase in prevalence during the colder months, so now’s the time to start taking better care of your own in-home drying machine.
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Fortunately for you, here at AT we’re dedicated to actionable service journalism on every home-related topic, from the best dog beds to how to organize your pantry. Therefore, you’d best believe we found the perfect preventative tool for cleaning your dryer. The Holikme dryer vent cleaner kit will make this puzzling task so easy to complete. Plus, it might help your dryer run more efficiently.
With this kit, you get one 360° lint brush head and flexible plastic rods, which you can connect to one another to form a 30-foot-long snake. On the end that doesn’t have the brush head, attach a power drill. Once you’ve opened up your dryer vent, push the brush into the hose, and turn the drill on to make it rotate. Because of its substantial length, the brush will be able to pull out all the built-up lint from the vent hose — just ask the 18,240 customers who gave this product a five-star rating. “Hadn’t cleaned the 6-foot-long dryer duct for 20 years,” one reviewer wrote. “This unit cleaned out about a cubic foot of dryer lint. Easy to use and flexible enough to make two right-angle bends along the way.” The kit might also come in handy if you find that your dryer just isn’t working as well as it used to. It’s quite likely that built-up lint is the problem!
The best part is that you don’t have to clean your dryer vent more than twice a year. At least with this kit, when the time comes to get it done, you won’t feel any anxiety or doubt about how to do so. This product is also on sale now, so you can purchase your kit for just $22.
We’re helping a couple who aren’t strangers to do-it-yourself projects.
Matt and Lindsey Binion bought their mid-1950s house in the midtown area of Mobile, Ala., a few years ago and have been busy making it their own ever since.
After completely renovating their kitchen because of a water leak, they installed their old kitchen cabinets in the laundry room to give it a bit of a facelift. However, its overall look and functionality need some improvement. So, we’re here to help!
The Projects
The new cabinet configuration works with the room instead of against it. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
Rearrange the Cabinets
Matt and Lindsey were on the right path when they repurposed the old kitchen cabinets for storage, but their configuration just wasn’t working for the room.
There were large gaps between the cabinets and the walls, and items ended up being placed all around. The room was treated more like an indoor garage than a laundry room.
So, we reposition them and remove some to create storage that makes sense for what the couple needed from it.
Then we sand, prime and paint the cabinets a fresh new color.
Lindsay won’t have to wash clothes in the kitchen sink now that she has a utility sink in the laundry room. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
Add a Utility Sink
In a house with four boys, a laundry room with a utility sink is a must.
Lindsey has been using their new kitchen sink to wash their boys’ muddy clothes after sports practices. And after handwashing, she has no place to hang clothes to dry.
To install the utility sink, we first moved the water and dryer so we could access the plumbing. Unfortunately, we found some water damage behind the wall.
Unbeknownst to the couple, water had been dripping from the cross-linked polyethylene, or PEX, line for a few days. We immediately cap the line with a Sharkbite cap until the plumber arrives to install the sink.
Our plumber uses an oscillating saw to cut the PVC pipe so it can be rerouted to the sink. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
When our plumber arrives, we cut a hole in the drywall so he can access the pipes and reroute them to the spot the sink will be. The plumber then runs the new drain line for the sink and extends the water supply lines from the spot where we capped the leak.
We then replace the drywall around the new pipes and finally install the laundry sink cabinet and sink.
The luxury vinyl tile is the same flooring in the kitchen, so now the two rooms are connected. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
Replace Flooring
The tile grout on the laundry room floor is coming loose, so we’re going to replace it with some leftover luxury vinyl tile that the couple used in their kitchen renovation.
Thankfully, we caught the water leak in the hex pipe just in time for us to treat the subfloor with antimicrobial spray and let it dry overnight. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
After we remove the tiles and backer board with a pry bar, we find a wet spot on the subfloor where the PEX pipe was leaking. Because we caught the water leak early, we won’t have to replace the subfloor. We use some dehumidifiers and fans to dry it out overnight, and then treat it with an antimicrobial spray to make sure no mold comes up through the floor.
To level out the subfloor, we mix some floor patch compound that he spreads over the surface to fill in low spots and smooth out the transitions. We then installed the rectangular luxury vinyl tile long-ways in the room to complement the narrow room.
The new cabinet has room for everyone’s laundry basket, plus plenty of countertop space for folding. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
Install Countertops and Cubbies
Matt and Lindsey used a piece of plywood as a makeshift countertop for the repurposed kitchen cabinets. But, the plywood wasn’t a prime surface for folding laundry, so the couple was forced to pile laundry in the living room and fold them from their couch.
To make this counter space more functional, we first install 1-by-2 cleats to support a new butcher block countertop as well as a shelf unit that will organize the kids’ laundry baskets.
We use 3/4-inch plywood and 1×2 boards to create the cubbies for the laundry baskets. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
For our shelf unit, we cut our wood pieces on a table saw outside and assemble them with nails and wood glue. We then attach them to the cleat we installed next to the base cabinets.
Polyurethane seals the butcher block countertop so it’s more durable. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
Next, Lindsey coats the butcher block with polyurethane. After that’s dry, we install the countertop over the shelving unit and base cabinets.
Matt and Lindsey had a decent-sized laundry room with lots of storage space, but because it had been thrown together with salvage materials from an emergency kitchen renovation, the surfaces all looked a little worse for wear and the room lacked the thoughtful organization and visual appeal they really wanted for the space.
But now, the old recycled cabinets have a clean new look and a simplified layout that works with the room rather than overpowering it. The new luxury vinyl tile flooring has replaced the old cracked ceramic tiles and connects the room to the rest of the house.
The laundry sink makes the family’s everyday chores easier and less stressful, especially with the hanging space directly above it and the new countertop is both attractive and useful for a family with lots of laundry to fold.
Plus. We did it all for less than $2,000 in materials.
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Sarah is a staff writer at Apartment Therapy. She completed her MA in journalism at the University of Missouri and has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Belmont University. Past writing and editing stops include HGTV Magazine, Nashville Arts Magazine, and several outlets local to her hometown, Columbia, Missouri.
