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What is ONE item that changed dramatically and surprisingly your home life for the better

288 replies

Bookbooks · 17/04/2023 06:18

Looking for inspiration to start the process of tidying up (all aspects of) my life.
I already posted another thread related to this.
As an individual, I am very organised and perfectionist. I love order, cleanliness and tidiness. BUT, my house/ life rarely looks the part. I want to sort out my life once and for all so that it is always either spick and span or easily back on track.

On this thread I'd like to ask you what is ONE item (big or small/ expensive or cheap) that, when you acquired, changed your home life for the better so dramatically and surprisingly that you honestly wonder how you were able to cope before it graced your life.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
eloquent · 17/04/2023 23:06

Definitely my cleaner.

fussychica · 17/04/2023 23:14

After a row about washing up about 43 years ago bought a dishwasher. Never looked back. Drove me made being without one each time we've renovated a house.

sunshineandshowers40 · 17/04/2023 23:32

Our cleaners have made a big difference, they come once a fortnight.

IhateMondaymornings · 18/04/2023 00:08

My buckhoe gardening tool. Just the best for digging out weeds, especially right by other plants buckhoe.co.uk/product/the-buckhoe-right-handed-option/

greenthumb13 · 18/04/2023 00:10

Hangers and items on the level that my kids can today away coats/toys/shoes etc themselves

BruceAndNosh · 18/04/2023 01:01

Not remotely a dramatic improvement, but I do appreciate the battery powered sensor lights we have in the bathrooms. No need to put the light on at night and dazzle yourself or wake others with the fan

Bookbooks · 18/04/2023 05:53

Ishouldbeoutside · 17/04/2023 18:38

What is a spray mop

A Spray Mop is a floor cleaning mop designed to spray out a controlled amount of cleaner onto the floor as you clean it. Its more convenient, easier to use, and quicker to clean floors using a spray mop over a conventional mop and bucket.

Like this
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8551159?clickSR=slp:term:spray%20mop:2:82:1

OP posts:
Bookbooks · 18/04/2023 05:55

smoothieooo · 17/04/2023 14:45

My Ninja air fryer. DS1 used to warm the oven up for 'beige' food, then forget it was on. He can just pop whatever in and air fry, bake or grill for the required time then it turns off.

I've got a whole chicken which needs cooking today when I get back from work and using the pressure cook then air fry function means it'll be ready in around 45 mins without the faff of having to watch it constantly. It can also prove bread, dehydrate, make yoghurt and slow cook but I haven't tried those functions yet!

I do this for roasting chicken too when I am in a hurry. It always comes out delicious!

OP posts:
Bookbooks · 18/04/2023 05:57

Isheabastard · 17/04/2023 13:32

It’s not a thing but a saying “don’t put down, put away”, or the other one ‘put it away once not twice’

So if you get some scissors out, put them back when finished, or if you come in the front door, put your coat on the hook not the chair back.
I try to arrange the house so putting back or away is easier.
This has sometimes meant me buying extra stuff. Extra kitchen scissor to keep in kitchen as well as the drawer that has sellotape, scissors in etc. nice bowl by door for keys. Plenty of hooks for coats. Or a nice basket close by for outdoor shoes.

Analyse the junk hot spots eg paperwork, toys, and find a visually pleasing storage solution. Where stuff gets ‘left’ is the most natural place for its home to be.

It would have been better if DH and Dc had joined in. But dc has grown up and moved out, and I am now separated.

That's the kind of organisation I like. It keeps things organised without much effort.

OP posts:
thatsn0tmyname · 18/04/2023 06:00

I love my dishwasher and an old fashioned family organiser calendar for the wall. So much going on, these days, I'd be lost without it.

Bookbooks · 18/04/2023 06:03

isthismylifenow · 17/04/2023 12:37

Mine are quite varied,

My combination ice and water cooler is my lifeline. Saves having two different machines. Both are necessary during the summer (hot country).

Cutting negative people out of my life as much as possible. I try to live as calm as possible, which is so much for my mental health. The revelation come about after a horrid divorce and many flying monkeys as 'friends' as a result. My friendship group is small, yet genuine.

I don't watch or listen to the news extensively for the same reason. If there is something really important, I will know about it by some means or other, but I don't make a point of reading or listening to news every day.

I stopped drinking alcohol and life just seems better for doing so. I will have the odd cocktail if I feel I want to, but it will only be while socializing. I feel better, am less anxious, and wake up fresher every day.

Not sure if you get them but for cooking without a huge cost, I cannot rate my Wonderbag enough. Cook the soup/stew/curry or whatever for 10 mins, pop into the bag and it continues to cook all day. Its a slow cooker using no fuel.

I am sure I have more but will leave it there for now. 😀

@isthismylifenow Wow! I just looked up Wonderbag and it is simply genius!

OP posts:
Bookbooks · 18/04/2023 06:11

@Paq @VincentVaguer I can't help being a perfectionist. I wish it wasn't the case but it's my nature. That said, having children made my priorities shift. My house is never perfect and if I manage to make it clean and organised one day, it would cease to be so soon after. I always feel stressed around mess but now I don't have any choice but accept that it's part of having young children.

OP posts:
Bookbooks · 18/04/2023 06:12

Simonjt · 17/04/2023 07:08

A husband, getting one cut my work load in half and slashed my bills in half too.

Robot hoover.

😂
Genius!

OP posts:
Bookbooks · 18/04/2023 06:24

Thank you everyone for sharing what changed your life for the better. I need to go back to meal planning as it saves me so much mental energy. I also need to try to batch cook. I discovered slow cookers a few years ago and it was a revelation. I haven't used my slow cooker though since I bought an instant pot a few months ago. I rarely use my pots now. I love my airfryer and my breadmaker. I haven't bought bread since acquiring it a few months ago.
Another thing that is very useful to me is having motion sensor rechargeable lights in the landing and stairs:
https://amzn.eu/d/4Z28Lzm

https://amzn.eu/d/4Z28Lzm?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum--chat-4786726-what-is-one-item-that-changed-dramatically-and-surprisingly-your-home-life-for-the-better

OP posts:
Ladyofthelake53 · 18/04/2023 06:46

ScottBakula · 17/04/2023 13:11

I have been considering getting a yoghurt maker for a while , partly because I eat it most daysxand also it would be useful to use up milk when I have too much .
Would you mind advising on the below
Are they easy to use?
Can I use full fat milk ?
Is there a brand you would recommend

Easyo although the sachets are not cheap. You can make it yourself i just find using this less faff

Ishouldbeoutside · 18/04/2023 06:49

Bookbooks · 18/04/2023 05:53

A Spray Mop is a floor cleaning mop designed to spray out a controlled amount of cleaner onto the floor as you clean it. Its more convenient, easier to use, and quicker to clean floors using a spray mop over a conventional mop and bucket.

Like this
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8551159?clickSR=slp:term:spray%20mop:2:82:1

Thank you. So many great ideas on this thread.

UsernameNotAvailableNow · 18/04/2023 06:59

hippygirllucky · 17/04/2023 07:00

I stopped trying to separate socks for everyone in my house (we all wear roughly the same size sock), got rid of them all and bought 20 pairs of plain black socks. They all get washed and live in a big fabric clothes storage bucket in a wardrobe. No more trying to match socks, no more losing one in the washing. Everyone just grabs two black socks from the bucket. Seems simple, but soooo effective and saved so much time.

This is genius.

ThatFraggle · 18/04/2023 07:19

@LaviniasBigBloomers

Do you have a link to the electric lock, please?

@Captaincorellisxylophone or others

On my Netflix I can only see the fireplace but no thunderstorm (I'm in England) or do you mean just a thunderstorm on YouTube?

GretaGood · 18/04/2023 09:14

Bedspread over uncovered duvet.
Sheets instead.
No wrestling with superking duvet covers.

Puffthemagiclizard · 18/04/2023 09:18

piddocktrumperiness · 17/04/2023 19:57

@confusedallthetime1 @Puffthemagiclizard I have a dehumidifier but I don't see it dries clothes any quicker unless I'm doing it wrong? It blows out cold air too. I have the Russell Hobbs one. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07V6MB1HS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. How am I supposed to be using this to dry my clothes quickly?

@piddocktrumperiness are you using it on the correct mode? Mine has a clothes dry setting. I can dry a full load of shirts and socks etc in about 2 hours, jeans and hoodies would take longer.
I have a wall hung airer and place the dehumidifier directly under it, honestly it's so efficient.

BertieBotts · 18/04/2023 09:27

The tumble dryer. Heat pump Beko. Best I could afford. I love it and it saves me so much time.

Also not a thing but the podcast A Slob Comes Clean - this has been legitimately life changing for me.

SheldontheWonderSchlong · 18/04/2023 09:31

Rutaceae · 17/04/2023 07:33

Fireplace for your Home, a one hour programme on Netflix which is just that, a fireplace with some burning logs.

Friends laugh when I tell them that the three versions now available of Netflix are by far our most ‘watched’ programmes on the service.

I think I played ‘birchwood edition’ three or four times yesterday while I sat in my front room either reading or researching holidays on my laptop.

We don’t have a real fire and although this obviously is a pale imitation of the really thing it transforms the big black ugly rectangle of the tv into something that brings calm and comfort into the room. The flickering light and soundtrack brings me immediate calm. So SO weird, I know it is, but I love it.

dh prefers The Witcher fireplace as I suspect he likes to imagine himself sitting alongside some warriors wearing an ace or something 😂

This is always on at home - birch wood edition in particular, I just love the crackling and popping....so relaxing. People laugh, but I'll never be able to have a wood burner and this is the next best thing.

The kids know that 'put another log on the fire' means 'rewind a bit'!

SheldontheWonderSchlong · 18/04/2023 09:35

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 17/04/2023 08:46

My tabletop dishwasher. There just wasn’t the space to install a proper one here, but I found one that you don’t even need to hook up to the sink - you fill it using a jug and the waste pipe just goes into sink. I love it to the point that I now feel resentful of the pans that are too big for it 😁

Yep, I have one of these and I love it too.

Although sometimes I think it takes just as long to try and arrange stuff to fit it in than it would to actually wash up, but it's the principle! Not being able to fit pans in is, of course, annoying, but far less annoying than standing at the sink for ages at a time. I do dream of a proper dishwasher though....

BertieBotts · 18/04/2023 09:48

I read the Marie Kondo book several years ago and enjoyed that too but never quite managed to complete the process. Dana (A Slob) is much more realistic in that sense; she explains decluttering as a maintenance chore rather than a one off project (though it can be somewhat of a project at first). This is helpful to me, as I had not previously seen it that way.

However some things that I took from Marie Kondo which I do use:

Store things in such a way that you can see everything all at once, and don't need to dig under items to get other items out. If you have to move item A to get to item B, it's likely that item A will get left where it is and it will look messy. Her solution to this is to stack everything vertically, like books in a bookcase. It's not the only way; visibility and accessibility without making a mess is the key.

Store things near to where you finish using them, not where you start using them. The logic behind this is that if we want something, we'll put effort into getting it, but if you have to put effort into putting something away you simply won't. I think this is actually key to a lot of human behaviour - we ascribe morality to things (It's the right thing to do to put something back/it's a lazy or arsehole thing not to) - have you seen that meme about how returning a supermarket trolley is the ultimate test of whether someone is an arsehole or not? I think that's incorrect - you rarely ever see trolleys abandoned right next to a corral. My guess is that if you provide more corrals, people put their trolleys away, and distance from the nearest corral is likely the most effective predictor of whether or not people will return trolleys. If you want to encourage a behaviour (including in yourself), think about what's difficult about it and reduce/remove that or make it easier in some way. If you want to discourage a behaviour, put something in place that makes it more inconvenient (e.g. Aldi does not have loads of trolley corrals, but they charge you £1 instead.)

I also use that previous one in reverse ie I put my guitar where I can see it when I'm listening to music, which makes me more likely to pick it up and play it. I put the kids' books where they can see and reach them so they are more likely to bring one to me and ask to read.

If you love something and you have decided to keep it, don't hide it away in a drawer, find a way to display it so that you can see it regularly and it will make you happy.

Use the "good china".

Think about the purpose of your rooms and what you want your ideal life to be and how you can use your rooms/house to support that.

If you're hanging onto stuff "in case I need it later", rather than focusing on the money saved in buying that item later, contrast the effort/cost in replacing that item when you need it later with the space you'll gain now (especially when multiplied over 50+ items that you might later only need to replace one of). Consider this cost as like "renting space" for the shop to store the item for you in case you need it later. (This was such a game changer for me. I am yet to convince DH, who thinks that it's more economical to spend money on crates from Ikea to store all the cables that we might need one of later and he'll probably buy a new one because it will be old by then anyway.)