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The fastest way to declutter a laundry room is to decide what the room must do, remove everything, return only what serves that purpose, and then give each remaining category a defined place on the shelves. Shira Gill’s method, described in a January 11, 2022 Architectural Digest project diary, starts with one question: “What do you want from the space you’re decluttering?”
Start with the outcome, not the containers
Before touching a shelf, describe the result you want in practical terms. In the project diary, the desired laundry-room outcome was being able to retrieve supplies without a pile tumbling down, feeling relief on entering the room, and knowing where everything belonged. Your answer may be different: perhaps you need a clear folding surface, safer access to detergent, or a way to separate pantry overflow from laundry products.
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Gill’s wording is useful because it turns a vague clean-up into a design brief: What do you want from the space you’re decluttering?
Write one or two observable outcomes. You will use them later to decide whether an item, category, or container earns space.
Describe the room’s job
- List the activities that genuinely happen in the room, such as washing clothes, storing cleaning supplies, or holding backup household goods.
- Note the points of friction: items that fall forward, supplies hidden behind other supplies, or categories mixed together.
- Define what “easy to use” means for this room. A useful definition is being able to identify and reach a needed item without moving an unstable stack.
This step prevents a common error: buying attractive bins before deciding what the room is for. A container cannot solve an unclear purpose or an excess-inventory problem.
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Empty the room before you edit it
Take everything out of the cabinets, shelves, floor corners, and temporary piles. Place like items where you can see them, but do not make final category decisions while objects are still hidden in the room. Emptying the space exposes duplicates, forgotten stock, and containers that are already empty.
In Sessums’s project, the edit included stale, half-empty snack bags and empty detergent bottles that were not going to be reused. Those examples illustrate the standard: an item stays only when it is useful to the room’s purpose and has a realistic role in the household. Do not keep an object merely because it could theoretically be useful someday.
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Make an edit pile, not a permanent “maybe” shelf
Work through each item and choose a clear disposition: keep for this room, relocate to a more appropriate room, donate or give away when suitable, recycle or discard according to local rules, or set aside briefly when a safety or disposal question needs resolving. The method does not require a particular disposal service; it requires that uncertain items leave the active storage area while you decide.
Keep only what is essential to the room’s purpose. “Essential” is contextual: a household that washes cloth diapers may need supplies another household does not. The point is to make the decision against your stated outcome rather than against an imaginary universal checklist.
Check the room after the first pass
Once the room is empty, look at the shelves and floor as usable space rather than as places that must be filled. This pause makes it easier to see which items belong elsewhere and whether a category is being stored in the wrong zone. It also gives you an accurate shelf and depth check before you purchase anything.
Sort what remains into categories
After editing, group the items that are staying. Gill’s project used three broad groups: laundry and household supplies, pantry items, and linens. These are examples, not a mandatory taxonomy. Your categories should match the objects and routines in your home.
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| Possible category | Examples | Useful question |
|---|---|---|
| Laundry supplies | Detergent, stain-treatment products, and washing accessories | What must be reached every wash day? |
| Household or cleaning supplies | Backup cleaning products and related tools | Which products are active, and which are reserves? |
| Pantry items | Oils, cans, dry staples, or overflow food storage | Does this belong in the pantry, or is this room genuinely its best home? |
| Linens | Washcloths, towels, and other household textiles | Can the textiles be lifted without disturbing another stack? |
| Pet supplies | Food or care items stored in the room | Would one dedicated container prevent mixing with chemicals? |
Use as many categories as make the room legible, but avoid categories so narrow that every shelf becomes a separate project. A category is successful when you can name it quickly and return items to it without hesitation.
Assign categories to vertical shelf zones
Gill recommends organizing the sections vertically on shelves instead of leaving them mixed together. Give each category a defined zone from left to right, top to bottom, or shelf by shelf. Put the things used most often at the easiest reach and reserve higher or less accessible shelves for infrequent stock.
Keep the active supply visible
Separate daily-use products from backup inventory. A detergent bottle used every week should not be hidden behind a year’s supply of refills. The same principle applies to pantry overflow and linens: the front position should correspond to the household’s actual frequency of use.
Use shelf boundaries as visual cues
A bin, jar group, or deliberate gap can mark where one category ends and another begins. The goal is not maximum density. Leave enough clearance to lift a vessel out without knocking neighboring items forward. If a shelf is too shallow or tall for a proposed container, change the container or the location rather than forcing the fit.
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Keep incompatible items apart
Do not mix food, linens, and cleaning products simply because they share a shelf. Distinct vertical zones make the room easier to scan and reduce the chance that a pantry item or textile becomes buried among household chemicals.
Choose storage vessels only after editing and sorting
Gill’s recommendations are category-level tools, not a tested product ranking. The correct choice depends on what you are storing, the shelf dimensions, how often you reach the item, and whether a lid or label helps. The project diary does not establish a universal brand, price, durability rating, or container dimension.
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| Vessel | Best use described in the method | Decision check |
|---|---|---|
| Open canvas bin | One bin for laundry supplies, one for pet supplies, and one for backup household or cleaning supplies; also suitable for linens, washcloths, or another chosen category | Can you lift the bin safely, and does an open top suit the access frequency? |
| Turntable | Oils, cans, and similar pantry items on a shelf | Will rotation expose the items that otherwise sit at the back? |
| Airtight jars | Pantry staples; Gill suggests ordering two sets to obtain a variety of sizes | Does the jar size match the quantity you actually keep, and is the seal appropriate for the food? |
| Large bin | Less-used pantry staples and overflow | Can you identify the contents without emptying the whole bin? |
| Labels | Optional labels for canvas bins and airtight jars; a clip label is also mentioned for a wooden pantry bin | Will a label help other household members return items correctly? |
Open canvas bins
Use separate bins when a category needs to be lifted as a group. The project examples are laundry supplies, pet supplies, and backup household or cleaning supplies, with linens and washcloths as additional possible contents. Because the bins are open, you can see or reach the contents without opening a lid. Do not assign a bin to a category that is too heavy or too deep to handle comfortably.
Turntables
A turntable is suggested for oils, cans, and similar pantry items placed on a shelf. It is useful when the shelf depth creates a hard-to-reach back row. Measure the shelf and check the item footprint before buying; the source describes the use case but does not provide a universal size.
Airtight jars
For pantry staples, airtight jars create a consistent group and make the stored quantity visible. Gill suggests ordering two sets so you have a range of sizes. Match each jar to a staple you truly keep, and leave headroom for practical filling and handling. The article does not claim that one jar shape or capacity works for every pantry.
Large bins for overflow
Less-used pantry staples and overflow can go into a large bin rather than occupying prime shelf space individually. Keep the bin in the pantry category’s zone and make sure its contents remain identifiable. If you cannot remember what is inside, the vessel has hidden rather than organized the stock.
Labels are optional navigation aids
Labels can be added to canvas bins and airtight jars, and the project also mentions a clip label for a wooden pantry bin. A label size is printed in the article as 1.25t x 2.25w
; treat that wording as the article’s notation and verify the intended dimensions before ordering or cutting labels. Label only after the category and vessel are stable. A label that describes an old arrangement creates confusion.
A complete laundry-room decluttering sequence
- Write the outcome. Answer Gill’s question in one sentence and list the specific frustrations you want to remove.
- Clear a staging area. Use a nearby surface or floor area where every item can be seen without blocking exits or appliances.
- Empty the room. Remove shelf contents, floor piles, and hidden reserves so you are not editing around obstacles.
- Remove obvious discards. Set aside stale, unusable, empty, or unwanted items. Follow local guidance for disposing of chemicals, food, and packaging.
- Relocate out-of-place items. Move belongings that belong in another room instead of creating a mixed “miscellaneous” shelf.
- Define categories. Start with broad groups such as laundry and household supplies, pantry items, and linens, then adjust them to your household.
- Place categories vertically. Assign each group a shelf or clearly bounded zone, keeping frequent-use items easiest to reach.
- Test the uncontained arrangement. Put items on the shelves without buying anything new. Check whether you can retrieve one item without causing a collapse.
- Select vessels for proven needs. Add open canvas bins, a turntable, airtight jars, a large overflow bin, or labels only where the category and shelf call for them.
- Load and label. Put each category into its vessel, add an optional label, and leave enough clearance to remove the vessel safely.
- Run a retrieval test. Take out the item you use most often, then return it. If another category shifts or becomes hidden, change the zone or vessel before declaring the job finished.
Make the arrangement easier to maintain
Maintenance begins with the same clarity as the initial edit: every item needs a known category and home. When you finish using a supply, return it to that category rather than to the nearest empty surface. Keep backup stock in its designated zone so it does not compete with active products.
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Periodically look for the signals that the edit needs repeating: a bin that cannot be lifted, items accumulating outside their categories, or a shelf where objects again tumble forward. Revisit the stated outcome and remove or relocate whatever is preventing it. This is a small reset, not a reason to empty the entire room every time.
Sessums reports that, after organizing, she felt less anxious about the room, noticed more available space, saved time, and found the arrangement seemed easier to maintain. Those are her observations from one project, not measured results or guarantees. The method’s practical test is whether your own room lets you find and return items with less friction.
Common problems and precise fixes
The shelves still feel crowded
Return to the edit. A larger bin or more labels will not create space when the room contains more inventory than its purpose requires. Remove duplicates, empty packaging, and items that belong elsewhere before changing containers.
Everything is in a “miscellaneous” bin
Open the bin and create categories that reflect actual use. If two groups are routinely retrieved together, they may share a vessel; if one group is hard to identify, it needs a clearer boundary or label.
Food and cleaning products keep getting mixed
Give pantry items their own vertical shelf zone and move cleaning or household supplies to a separate zone. Use distinct vessels where necessary, but solve the location problem first.
A turntable or jar does not fit
Do not force the item into the space. Recheck the shelf’s width, depth, and height, then choose a vessel that fits or assign the category to another shelf. The recommendations are functional examples, not requirements to use a particular size.
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Labels become inaccurate
Wait to label until the edit, category decisions, and shelf placement are complete. If the household’s inventory changes, replace the label rather than preserving a description that no longer matches.
What belongs to the decluttering method—and what does not
The method consists of clarifying the outcome, emptying and editing, grouping by category, assigning vertical shelf zones, and selecting vessels in response to those decisions. The article also names Shira Gill’s book Minimalista as a toolkit for editing, organizing, and maintaining a home.
Sessums says the organizing work inspired her to switch the washer and dryer for an LG WashTower. That appliance change is a personal makeover choice, not a required step in Gill’s decluttering process. You do not need to replace an appliance to apply the method.
Once the edit is complete, Gill summarizes the final action this way: Once you have edited, all you have to do is plop each category into the appropriate vessel, add labels if you like, and enjoy.
The important sequence is the order: purpose first, editing second, categories and shelf zones third, containers last.
The Bottom Line
Define what you need the room to do, empty it completely, keep only what serves that purpose, group the survivors, and give each category a vertical shelf home. Choose bins, jars, turntables, and labels only after those decisions are made.
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