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Original poster

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
xogossipgirlxo · 18/04/2023 09:52

Dyson vacuum- I used to hate carrying, plugging and unplugging cord vacuum around the house. Now it's 5 minutes job that I don't mind doing.

Dehumidifier- really dried up walls in our bedroom, it feels much warmer now. I can't imagine life without this device anymore.

Not very much home life, but:

Car with automatic gearbox
Electric toothbrush :P

ThatFraggle · 18/04/2023 10:04

GretaGood · 18/04/2023 09:14

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

So do you put the duvet into the wash once a week?

Hugasauras · 18/04/2023 10:20

Ooh yes coverless duvets! I usually use a cover on ours just for aesthetics but just chuck the entire thing in the washing machine on sheet change days, tumble dry and back on the bed with no wrestling with changing superking duvet covers. Saves a lot of time and hassle.

GretaGood · 18/04/2023 10:40

ThatFraggle · 18/04/2023 10:04

So do you put the duvet into the wash once a week?

Show quote history

No dry clean duvet a couple of times a year.
wash sheets fortnightly

SophiaSW1 · 18/04/2023 10:51

Nespresso machine Smile

isthismylifenow · 18/04/2023 11:03

Bookbooks · 18/04/2023 06:03

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

Show quote history

I had a look and see you do get them, quite pricy compared to ours (actually I got mine free as part of a carbon free intuitive), but for what you save in electricity or gas I think its a good investment.

We have a major issue here with power supply, (yesterday we didn't have electricity for 8 hours ) so I started off pea and ham soup, boiled in on stovetop for 10 mins in the morning, then into the bag, was still piping hot and well cooked by suppertime.

Doomscroller · 18/04/2023 11:24

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.

I tried this for my husband and I. But I must've bought the black socks from multiple places. Ended up with a huge stash of black socks and none of them are quite the same shade or length so none seem to make pairs 😂😂😂

VincentVaguer · 18/04/2023 12:00

does the Wonderbag get filthy? Can you wash it?

mrszerrouk · 18/04/2023 14:23

ageingdisgracefully · 17/04/2023 09:04

Knagglig wooden boxes from ikea, panted to match the decor. They stack and hide a multitude of cluttery sins.

One main accent colour throughout the house. Creates a cohesive look.

All socks are black, as are knickers and bras. Saves time on matching in the morning.

I'm a sucker for a virtual fireplace too: mine's a crackly youtube one.
,
I'd love a freestanding larder! Also working on shoe storage.

One of the good things about wfh for me is more time to spend on sorting the house!

Purlease can you tell me if the boxes would fit A4 papers?! 😬

VikingLady · 18/04/2023 14:44

A whiteboard on the fridge for a running shopping list. Just take a photo on your phone before you go to the shop. Keep the pen on top of the fridge.

I stopped folding, sorting and ironing most clothes. Each kid has three boxes - one for all undies, one for t shirts/leggings/jeans, and one for pyjamas and jumpers. Party dresses and other posh or special clothes go in my wardrobe for safe keeping. Clothes can be away in a couple of minutes after coming out of the dryer, and creases drop out anyway (no school uniforms in our house)

ShowsLikeThese · 18/04/2023 18:15

An upright spoon rest. Could not live without it in my tiny kitchen. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Spectrum-Diversified-Spoon-Ceramic-Nickel/dp/B000T28RQS

Key hooks so keys are always where they should be (once you train yourself!)

Boot dryer to avoid smelly shoes (if you or your family members play a lot of sport or hike regularly)

https://www.amazon.com/Spectrum-Diversified-Spoon-Ceramic-Nickel/dp/B000T28RQS?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum--chat-4786726-what-is-one-item-that-changed-dramatically-and-surprisingly-your-home-life-for-the-better

isthismylifenow · 18/04/2023 18:58

VincentVaguer · 18/04/2023 12:00

does the Wonderbag get filthy? Can you wash it?

Yes you can wash it, but I put a couple of tea towels in for the pot to sit on so it's not directly on the padding.

But as you use a lidded pot and just leave it in there, it doesn't get too grubby.

I have a fairly new one now, but my last one I had about 15 years (and just spot cleaned it if I ever needed to)

Tillie12 · 18/04/2023 19:05

the opposite of this but decluttering to absolute essentials and things you truly love. One in one out on clothes etc makes it so much easier to keep on top of! I’m still in the process of learning how to be more brutal

FreezyWater · 18/04/2023 21:18

I actually think this deserves to go in classics, I hate cleaning and tidying and I have to work really hard to motivate myself to do it. I'm moving with two DC soon (losing the H) and I really want to be able to be houseproud and keep it nice.
Robot hoover/mop and spatter screen are on my list 😂

coodawoodashooda · 18/04/2023 21:36

A fast phone charger, a ninja chopper makes me eat so many more vegetables and a smoothie maker

sashh · 19/04/2023 04:37

yogacushions · 18/04/2023 11:41

the wonder bag looks amazing

https://www.wonderbagworld.com/recipes

±

It's a modern version of a hay box. The traditional hay box is, well a box lined with hay or other insulation and you put the pot in and cover with more insulation.

If you have a coolbox you can make one by just adding insulation that could be hay, old jumpers, an old duvet cut up.

https://www.milkwood.net/2015/07/06/thermal-cooking/

Thermal + Haybox cooking: new ways to use an old technique

Haybox cooking involves placing a hot pot of food in a nest of hay and leaving it there to complete cooking. It's efficient and convenient - so it's not surprising its making a comeback.

https://www.milkwood.net/2015/07/06/thermal-cooking

VincentVaguer · 19/04/2023 07:12

sashh · 19/04/2023 04:37

It's a modern version of a hay box. The traditional hay box is, well a box lined with hay or other insulation and you put the pot in and cover with more insulation.

If you have a coolbox you can make one by just adding insulation that could be hay, old jumpers, an old duvet cut up.

https://www.milkwood.net/2015/07/06/thermal-cooking/

Show quote history

I do a version of this by cooking a 2 hour casserole for just under an hour then turning the oven off and leaving it for as long as you need to.

thebutcherswife · 19/04/2023 07:55

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 😂

I didn’t even know this existed! Just put it on and weirdly I feel instantly warmer 🤣❤️

Carriemac · 19/04/2023 08:46

My dog likes to lie in front of the sky tv crackling fire channel 😆

PrettyMaybug · 19/04/2023 10:55

Any food that is pre-made. Pre-made cakes, scones, frozen vegetables. jars of pasta sauce, frozen meals/ready meals, oven pizza, frozen/bagged chicken cubes/quorn mince, frozen pies, frozen burgers, frozen fish fingers and fish etc.... Also Tescos own Indian and refrigerated Chinese takeaway (MUCH cheaper than the takeaway on the street, like a THIRD of the price, and 20 minutes gas to cook it!) and so on...

I have way too many better, more exciting things to do in my life than stand there peeling and scraping and chopping and spending hours preparing for cooking, and then more time in the kitchen letting things boil and bake and fry, blah blah blah.

Cook-from-scratch is so overrated. I don't know many people who do it now. Maybe occasionally but not all the time. (Maybe 1 in 6 meals.) Most people I know - including me - have better things to do. So many pre-made meals now are just as good to be honest with you.

Life is too short to be cooking from scratch all the time. I probably do it about 15% of the time. Spaghetti bolognese, chilli con carne, sandwiches, a veggie stew, salads/pitta bread wraps, blah blah blah. The make-soup-from-scratch people are the ones who make me laugh. Just why? 😆So much easier to open a tin!

ThatFraggle · 19/04/2023 13:53

@PPrettyMaybug

The reasons people avoid pre-prepared meals:

  1. They often contain a lot of preservatives and chemicals which are arguably bad for health. Some go so far as to say they contribute to cancer but the jury is still out on that.
  1. They often contain a lot more salt/sugar/fat than the same meal prepared at home. (The reason manufacturers do that is because more salt/sugar/fat = more tasty = more sales) Obviously eating like that all the time adds up.
  1. Freshly prepared food tastes, well, fresher. Imagine someone made a sandwich, left it uncovered and unrefrigerated on their desk all day. At 5pm, would you want it? That's the way many people feel about pre prepared meals. Some people say they don't notice the difference, but some people really do.

I completely agree with you about things like buying frozen diced onion instead of peeling and chopping a whole onion and things like that.

Hugasauras · 19/04/2023 13:56

Frozen diced onion/garlic is such an timesaver. It's all I use now when cooking.