15 Laundry Room Shelving Ideas That Are Both Pretty and Practical

Upgrade your wash-and-dry routine with these smart shelving solutions.

A laundry room is rarely just a laundry room. In addition to its obvious uses—washing, drying, folding—it often becomes a catch-all space for everything from dirty sports clothes and muddy shoes to household cleaners and extra linens.

Outfitting your laundry room with practical shelving solutions helps you make the most of every inch with custom sizing, smart storage bins, and functional add-ons—like hanging rods, drying racks, and supply hooks—that provide places for all your essentials. But choosing options that are also stylish—like the ones on this list—turns this hardworking room into a space that's not only efficient but also enjoyable.

Related: 17 Laundry Room Organizing Tips to Simplify Wash Day

Fill Small Spaces

Maximize every inch of wall space in a laundry room with cut-to-size shelves that fill the gaps between cabinetry and walls. Display natural-fiber baskets, glass storage containers, and wooden accessories for a warm complement to cool-toned tile.

Add a Hanging Rod

Under-counter open shelving in this tiled laundry room keeps towels, detergent, and cleansers within easy reach. A contrasting wooden shelf offers adaptable space for a hanging rod, storage baskets, and fresh flowers to make laundry day feel special.

Choose a Soothing Hue

Give a busy workspace a soothing makeover by choosing a tropical aqua hue for the walls, pairing it with a slightly darker shade for the shelves. Curved corbels and custom shelf dividers are charming details.

Use Your Entire Wall

A full wall of specialized shelving surrounds a stacked washer and dryer, providing versatile shelving and drawers to store everything from a folding footstool to a three-bag sorting station. A basic black-and-white color palette prevents the well-stocked shelves from overwhelming the eye.

Bring in Warm Wood Tones

Simple white shelves mounted on wooden brackets are a modern shelving choice. Woven bins, wood-handled cleaning supplies, glass canisters, and white accessories make the entire room feel uncluttered—but not stark.

Make It Your Own

A custom shelf arrangement allows you to tailor the storage to your exact needs, offering space for tall items, hooks for hanging baskets, and racks for bottled cleaners. Choose a mop, bucket, broom, and other cleaning tools in a single shade for the tidiest look.

Keep the Color Palette Cohesive

Divided shelves painted a pale sage to match this laundry room's lower cabinets also complement the gleaming tile and patterned wall treatments. Using woven baskets allows easy access to items stored up high, while also hiding labels and bright colors to keep the aesthetic cohesive.

Raise Your Storage Space

The bottom edge of cabinets installed over a washer and dryer are often at eye level, making the work area feel closed in. A high shelf makes the room seem larger and provides extra latitude for folding and pre-treating.

Add Freestanding Shelving

A freestanding wooden shelf requires no installation and provides a smooth counter for a workstation or for folding clean clothes—plus plenty of storage for rolled towels, folded blankets, and essential cleaning supplies.

Trim the Edges

Wood trim makes these functional metal shelves an intentional design statement, while the included drying rack adds game-changing efficiency. For extra storage, pair a set sized to fit over your washer and dryer with a free-standing shelf in the same wood tone.

Mix and Match Bins and Containers

An all-white laundry space gets a dose of shine from gold wire baskets (which match the faucet and light fixture) and clean glass canisters. Display practical must-haves in stylish containers to turn them into elevated decorative elements.

HIghlight Open Shelves With Wallpaper

A bold patterned wallpaper backs open shelves in this lively laundry space, while gold-dipped candles, framed art, and color-coordinated books are a cozy accent to the functional counter, cabinets, and pull-out rack.

Go Vertical

Even narrow laundry rooms can accommodate a variety of shelving options, including divided storage cubbies above the washer and dryer, shallower open shelves for bins and baskets, and waist-height counters for corralling cleaning supplies.

Build a Floating Display

Individual floating shelves provide extra storage for stacks of towels and fabric-lined storage baskets; the smaller width allows for a generous range of layout options that can work in nearly any laundry room.

Let It Roll

These square shelves and cubbies neatly fit baskets, boxes, and stacks of towels—but they also roll, allowing you to rearrange them as your needs change to create a storage solution that's flexible and timeless.

Read the original article on Martha Stewart.