I want to show you the new bars I put on the laundry room wall to add interest and organization to this small room. It was so easy, and it made a major impact for just 21 dollars.
The laundry room is located behind the kitchen, and you can look inside it as you walk down the hall to the back door.
I bought the Bygel towel bars and S hooks at IKEA for $21. This happened on the same day that I wandered around IKEA by myself for six hours and came home with big plans and a reading chair stuffed into the back seat of my car.
First I taped red pencils to the wall where I thought the bars should go so I could step back and be certain before I put holes in the wall. The lowest one is twenty inches above the floor, and the rest are seventeen inches apart. (This is for my 8-foot ceiling.)
Then we mounted the bars to the wall. We painted the screws and mounting disks white so they wouldn’t be noticeable. You can see the bars and not the hardware.
To hang a basket, poke the S hooks through it, and that’s all you have to do. The spray bottles are easy to reach, and it’s nice to have a place to hang wet kitchen towels after wiping up a mess.
I like to use the bars for keeping extra hangers and giving me a place to hang up a shirt or dress if I don’t feel like getting out the drying rack.
It makes me happy to decorate with things that are useful, and since the laundry room is small, a little can do a lot.
About Rachel
What a great idea Rachel! We put up some extra shelving in our current laundry room, but it’s the ugly white coated metal variety. We’re moving next month — and the new house won’t have space for a shelf like that — so your solution might be perfect!
Plus, it’s extremely cute. Off to pin it now…
Jessica @ Quirky Bookworm´s last post…31 Days of Awesome Kids’ Books: Ballet Shoes
I saw the pictures you posted of your future house. It looks like it’s going to look great!
Thanks! I’m excited to have a new place to tackle – we’ve been here 6 1/2 years, so a change will be fun.
Jessica @ Quirky Bookworm´s last post…31 Days of Awesome Kids’ Books: Katie in the Kitchen (Katie Woo)
Ooooh! I’ve been trying to come up with a different storage solution for our Shaklee spray bottles. Love this idea! Thanks for sharing.
Wow! Just wow.. We have a really teeny laundry room.. Actually, it is a guest bathroom converted into a laundry room.. Rods like these would be really helpful.. Thanks, Rachel!
Prerna@The Mom Writes´s last post…15 Free Printable Menu Planners for Busy Home Managers
I’ve had trouble coming up with any sort of laundry room organization. Ours is tiny. This ikea solution would totally work. Using vertical space like this would really help! Thanks for sharing.
Mel@TheDizzyMom´s last post…green chile lime hash
I hung the same type of bars in my small laundry room (it’s the passageway to the garage) a couple months ago. I LOVE them – they’ve added so much functionality to the space. I like how you painted over the brackets – it looks really clean. I may be pulling out my paint to do a little touch-up in the near future.
Really love simple solutions like this. I put an over-the-door bar with hooks on our laundry room door, which I use to hang clothes when they come out of the dryer. (No ironing=good!) But I often run out of room on the hooks. I really like this solution, and I have just the wall for it. Thanks!
Rita@thissortaoldlife.com´s last post…Master bathroom reveal!Our retro, frugal, salvaged retreat
This is an excellent idea! We put shelves in our bathroom a while back, but I think this would be a perfect addition!
Heather´s last post…{31 Days} Intentional Living – Day 9
Fantastic!! I think I can use your idea to display the mini quilts I make. Cute. Cute.
Donna´s last post…Halloween Or Strings Winners Are…… Susan and Sheila
I was contemplating the same idea in our little laundry closet. Mostly because having our stain removers sitting on the floor seems like a bad idea with little kids in the house. I did the cheapy Command hooks option instead- hanging our spray bottles high and out of reach- because we’re renting and because I’m lazy.
Katherine@YeOldCollegeTry´s last post…A Post Without Pictures
This looks lovely! Do you have any problems with the metal S-hooks sliding too much along the bars, or is that actually an asset?
Lori @ In My Kitchen, In My Life´s last post…Past Blast: The Happy Camper Returns
I don’t slide them around too much. I just put them where I want them.
Love the idea of painting the brackets. It changes the look from utilitarian to sophisticated. Good job!
Looks great, Rachel! I just did a bit of laundry room decorating too! Where you walk by the room you can see the iron board hanging up. Finally, after putting it off for years, I made a simple vibrant cover with a vintage curtain panel. It was so satisfying and simple to do! Love those projects best. (I’ll post a tutorial soon).
Robin from Frugal Family Times´s last post…Free Apps (Part 1): Grown-Ups’ Edition
I need to do that too. Mine has been worn out for a while.
Robin, my ironing board is “strategically located,” too. It’s in desperate need of a new cover. But since it’s one of those extra wide “deluxe” ironing boards, store bought covers don’t fit. I would love to see that tutorial.
It was so easy to make! The tutorial will be up on Thursday!
Robin from Frugal Family Times´s last post…Easy Personalized Pillows with Iron-on Jean Patches
I had to laugh – my friend couldn’t believe I could spend so long in Ikea, just browsing and considering, so to hear you spent 6 hours…. brilliant!!
That was the first time I ever went by myself. It was so fun! My kids love to play at IKEA but they’re young, and my husband just wants to get in and get out.
“my husband just wants to get in and get out”
haha, mine, too. Dave Ramsey says when husbands go shopping they’re on a mission, while women are in it for the experience.
Bridget´s last post…Eating Wiener Schnitzel in the Twilight Zone
How completely adorable! Love, love, love.
I also can see how this set-up isn’t prone to accumulating clutter….like my laundry area shelves do. Thanks for the inspiration and how-to, Rachel!
Anne @ Modern Mrs Darcy´s last post…Who’s Your Naysayer?
I love this idea! I think I might use a version of it in my teeny-weeny bathroom. // IKEA is so great for coming home with ideas and reading chairs stuffed into your car. Love that place.
Anne´s last post…Autumn’s Reminder
Awesome idea – Im going to do it!
I hope you ate some swedish meatballs while you were there.
salmon and raspberry iced tea!
Bridget´s last post…Eating Wiener Schnitzel in the Twilight Zone
I have been looking for S hooks like that for years! I never looked at Ikea.
Where did you get the light fixture you have in your laundry room? I’ve been looking for something like that for a while.
I bought it at Lowe’s a few years ago, and I think it’s this one Lowe’s has now:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_97312-2122-8625-34_4294935637__?productId=1115077&Ntt=flush+light
Stain-remover tips — I placed all my pages of stain remover tips info into clear plastic sleeve protectors. Then I looped them all with twine and hung them on a towel bar. Now whenever I need cleaning info, it is handy.
I also include all my “recipes” for DIY laundry detergent, DIY glass cleaner, baking soda uses, vinegar uses in my sleeve protector “notebook”.
What a great idea! I’ve been looking for ideas for how to organize our small laundry room. When I read your post I could immediately see how useful using the Bygel bars could be. You always have such wonderful, creative solutions to things!
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Rachel, Thanks for this find!
I’ve been looking for an inexpensive, low profile solution for damp washcloths and kitchen towels that get hung in my laundry room before they get tossed in the hamper. (Currently they’re on a bulky drying rack). These rods will be perfect in a stacked arrangement like you have.
I also like your idea to “float” the bars by painting the hardware. Ingenious!
And now I have a good excuse to visit IKEA. ‘Haven’t been there in ages.
Bridget´s last post…Eating Wiener Schnitzel in the Twilight Zone
Do you have any options for people who do not live close to an Ikea? I would love to shop online, but their shipping fees are too high. ($59 and up)
Rachel, this is a fantastic idea!
Great idea! I love how you can’t see the hardware! I also love that little hanging basket! I want one of those!
Shannon´s last post…Question From a Reader – What to do with Baby Clothes and Toys
Looks great! So affordable too!
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That looks fantastic! So clean and simple. I don’t have room for that system, but we do have a rack with some hangers in our laundry room (aka our back porch). I use the tops of my dryer and our small freezer for storage, and as a place to keep my homemade laundry soap. It’s quite cozy, but it works for me.
Your place looks cheerful, I bet using that laundry room is a real pleasure.
Mooberry Farmwife´s last post…Crafty, Frugal, Matchy
Perfect!!! Thank you so much! This is just the solution I’ve been looking for for our laundry space. (Which isn’t so much a laundry space as a hallway in which the washer and dryer happen to reside. Poor planning on the part of the previous homeowners…)
THANKS!
AimeeWrites´s last post…Hey, Look! I’m Using a Pen!
this is brilliant! I have rods in my laundry room, but not nearly so cool as this. LOVE this look and the functionality.
Margo, Thrift at Home´s last post…Community Gathering for 200
That laundry room organization is so great Rachel.
It looked really neat and I love that.
I’m inspired to clean my laundry room this weekend.
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For those who don’t live near an IKEA, or for those who want to save a few cents, you can do this for (probably) even less $ if you install two screw eye hooks like these into your wall (http://bit.ly/OmAwt3) and stick a steel dowel like this (http://bit.ly/UQm9vp) through them. (You’d install the screws as if they were the mounting disks in the picture.) Those links are just examples, btw—the dowels and screws come in various sizes, so you might want to go to an actual store and make sure you get the width you want (and make sure the dowel will fit through the screws you buy).
I discovered this little trick when we lived in a one-bedroom apartment with a tiny kitchen, and I wanted one of those fancy pot racks. Those were WAY too expensive, though, so I did this instead, and hung my pots/pans from the dowels with S-hooks.
that’s very cool
This is an amazing makeover. If someone from BHG doesn’t offer you a job, they’re not worth their salt.
We did something similar with one of those “behind the door” towel racks (White, from Bed Bath Beyond for like $15). We mounted it onto a wall in our small laundry room and it makes a great drying rack for undies, swim suits, etc., that’s not too obvious to people walking through, because it’s behind the bar that goes across for hanging clothes. We also put our large guinea pig cage up on a wire rack, so that her food and supplies could go underneath it (and shoes), and clean clothes baskets could sit on top.
Can you tell me the diameter of the bar for your Bygel Rails? I am looking into doing this, but am about 4.5 hours from the nearest Ikea!
The diameter is ⅜”. Length is 39″.
I love this idea! We are in the process of moving to Alaska, which means no more Ikea… boo.
Amanda @ The Scacchi House´s last post…Spoons Are Optional
Love the towel rack idea. Brilliant! I’ve used a portable clothes line in my laundry room, but this takes much less space and doesn’t allow shelves to accumulate clutter.
(And I LOVE Ikea!)
This is a great idea! But really I am jealous of 6 hours of wandering around IKEA!
I had to laugh when I saw the S hooks holding your basket in place…because it reminded me that I wasn’t as fancy when I attached a white wicker basket to the open white shelving in my laundry room. I used twist ties to attach the two handles of the basket to the bottom of the shelving. They are white twist ties, though, so they blends in.
I hang spray bottles from the shelving like you’re using your rods. They are on the far end of the shelving–hard to reach since these are fairly infrequently used–so I used a Sharpie to write the name of the product on the side of the bottle that faces out so it’s easier for everyone to know what he/she is grabbing. I don’t have to follow other family members in there to point out the carpet cleaner, etc., that is obvious to me but invisible to everyone else.
I love the look of your laundry room additions! Great job!
This is such a great idea! I have been looking for a solution for hanging clothes after they come out of the dryer for about a year. My laundry room is skinny and long. And cabinets take all the space on the one side and the other side I needed something narrow since there isn’t much room left to put in a large hanging rack. This will work perfectly in my laundry room. Thank you!