What cheap items have you bought for the home that have helped get rid of mild daily annoyances?

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I’m slowly making a list of things that annoy me in the house, and thinking about what to do/buy to fix the issue. I’m talking cheap things, like a pack of new drawer knobs as some of ours are broken.

What thing solved an issue that had been annoying you for ages?

We bought a stainless steel coffee press thing after breaking the 3rd glass one. I didn’t even know they existed before looking for alternatives!

I’m in the middle of a ‘not-quite-spring’-cleaning so finding lots of little things that need fixing!

This explains why I have annoying holes in the side of my bin! PITA when trying to wash it out as water always comes through when I tip it up. Damn Brabantia (bin was £5 from the tip 10 years ago though, so I'm not going to moan too much!).
Doesn't seem to stop the bin bag getting stuck either, but maybe it would be worse without them.

I have wooden toaster tongs with a magnet (originally bought one for Dad who used to prise toast out with a knife )

Silicone wine tumblers to go in the washing machine as powder doseage thingies .
As you cannot get dosing balls without paying silly money , these are dishwasher safe , food safe and squashy so silent in use .
I put my powder , Astonish stain powder and soda crystals in, plenty of room.

I bought a 40p 1 litre jug in Asda the other day.
It replaces a small plastic beaker that I had in the bath for rinsing. I do t know what others use to rinse hair and such in the bath, but I can recommend a 1litre 40p jug.
Going from a 200ml beaker filled and poured a hundred times, to a 1 litre jug is amazing.
(I'm easily pleased tbh)

And this
www.qvcuk.com/Flipo-Battery-Organiser-Storage-Case-with-Battery-Tester.product.520761.html?sc=PSCH&qq=mh&

Battery case , all in the box , not rattling about in a drawer .

Even DH (who is very scathing of my QVC habit) was impressed .

A 3 section recycling bin that I use for washing. Darks in one, lights in another, whites in the other.

A small plate beside the hob for wooden spoons etc.

Beer towels for the tea-making area, to soak up any drips.

one of these. Not cheap cheap, but worth every penny and last for ever. Mine is the spare room, but lots of people put them over the stairs. You can just buy the ricin ends and pulley and source wood anywhere.

I’m vaguely annoyed. I must have hundreds, I’m really easily irritated, and very proactive. But I can’t think of a single one!

Definitely glass baking trays for me. Sick and tired of going through endless metal baking trays which inevitably go rubbish and are hard to clean when things stick. Glass ones are gleaming a year on, so easy to clean, shove them in the dishwasher and nothing sticks. About £10 each from Amazon but will last years.

Ive now also got glass tins for roast potatoes etc

Two sets of clear stuff, one for upstairs, one for downstairs. Seems simple but never occurred to me before.

We had a hot outside tap fitted for about £80 and it’s been amazing for washing the dogs down after walks and filling up paddling pools.

I have two glass bottles from IKEA which are filled with squash each morning and kept in the fridge. So lovely drinking it nice and cold.

Thanks so much for this our plug has been broken for ages and I never knew these existed! Just ordered one, very excited 😃

Those little shelves you can put in kitchen cupboards so you can raise the items at the back so you can easily see what’s in there - don’t use them for plates etc but find it hugely useful for store cupboard so I can instantly see if a tin is tomatoes or beans rather than having to pick them up and look. Game changer.

Tubeless toilet rolls

Oooo also in our previous flat we had a pull out clothes dryer that went over the bath - amazingly good for space saving in a small apartment or house rather than having clothes horses crammed everywhere. Even though ours was a shower over the bath we just pushed the clothes away from the shower when showering then spread them out again after, but that was only necessary if the dryer was really full.

@Luredbyapomegranate what’s the door thingy called? I’m having to leave ours open for a sick dog and I don’t like it open all the time.

Robot mop and vacuum. I love it more than some family members!!

An outside plant stand from Wilkos

@Eeksteek

Lochlatch - on their main site they also say they have Petlatch which is maybe a bit bigger

If you stick it into Amazon you will see a few options

And a shower tidy that was made for,the shower end from Lakeland so no suction so saves the crash in the night and not tarnished as of yet

What did you want a link for?

A large Ikea bag for putting out the washing - I keep the pegs in it all the time. Stick it on your shoulder and off you go.

A large Ikea bag for repotting plants - put the compost inside the bag and then pot inside the bag - all the bits that fall out just stay in the bag.

These for milk tops - I've had the silicone ones but you've gotta shake that milk up before pouring! www.amazon.co.uk/Cosy-Little-Home-reusable-specifically/dp/B07PZVQM1D/ref=sr_1_5?crid=SSDAREQS9BJN&keywords=milk+bottle+tops&qid=1661619101&sprefix=milk+bottle+tops%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-5

Not exactly a thing..bit I label the shelves on my fridge so everyone knows that for example pesto is in the door shelf far right. So idea is you can see if one is already open. It works if everyone in the house actually does it. I am a bit of a control freak fridge fascist but was despairing over having 3 jars of pesto and 2 milks open.

Also keep the marker pen right next to fridge so dates can be written on left overs.

Also sorry if I am deviating here...but if you are tired of black sharpie pen being constantly taken...put a pink or orange lid on it and nobody will steal it.

Nutella lids fit perfectly over cat and dog food tins to store in fridge. You get to eat the jar of Nutella as an added bonus.

Enjoying this thread BTW!

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Huge tupperware box that sits in the fridge containing all the little jars of mint sauce, hollandaise, miso, etc - so easy to lift out the box rather than keep juggling them on a shelf.
Still trying to find a use for the lid.

Smart plug for a fan so in the night if I wake up warm I can just verbally turn it on and off without getting up (I don't like leaving them running through the night)

This isn't a purchase but lots have mentioned jars- i just tap the edge of the lid a couple of times on the worktop and they come off really easily

One thing I will do this year is buy a pack of generic age 6 cards for my son's classmates' birthdays.

Freezer contents on a spreadsheet.
Headers such as meat, fish, here's-one-I-made-earlier, etc
Cells include which freezer/shelf, weight, for how many, etc.

I know exactly what is in each freezer & where it is. When I remove or add items, I write them on the printed sheet & re-do the ss, & move the rest up so I know what items are the oldest.

Works very well - providing DH obeys the rules.

Ziplock bags
Permanent markers
Masking tape
Tupperware

Use all of the above for batch cooking :freezing and labelling food.

Also have a huge catering sized pan for making ginormous batches of soup, pasta sauce, apple compote etc. Makes loads, not as much washing up as several pans.