What small household fixes have made everyday life noticeably easier?

[HardyPinkPanda]

I’m between jobs at the moment and have decided to use some of the time to basically snag my own house.

I’m going through every room and making a note of all the little things that have mildly irritated me for YEARS, but which I’ve somehow just accepted as part of life. You know the sort of thing - not actual problems, just things you regularly curse under your breath and then continue living with for another five years.

So far I have:

1. Ruthlessly slimmed down the kitchen cupboards so I could lose one cupboard and fit a tumble dryer. Every winter I normally spend approximately 46% of my waking hours hanging damp clothes around the house and rotating them like prize livestock, so I’m disproportionately excited about this.

2. Reorganised the Tupperware so every container now lives WITH ITS OWN LID. No more rummaging through 17 lids while slowly losing the will to live.

3. Thrown out about 12 random, ancient, slightly raggedy towels that had been granted permanent residency in the airing cupboard. It now has SPACE. Things are FOLDED.

4. Replaced the sieve that hasn’t had a handle since approximately 2020. Why did I just... live like that?

5. Put bigger shoe storage by the door, so we no longer have the traditional hallway shoe landslide.

6. Rewired a switch so it finally works the way you instinctively expect it to work rather than requiring a tiny moment of irritation every single time.

Honestly, none of this is exactly world peace, but the cumulative improvement to my quality of life is ridiculous. I keep thinking, WHY DID I PUT UP WITH THIS FOR SO LONG?

So humour me: what tiny, boring, seemingly insignificant thing have you changed/fixed/bought/reorganised in your house that has made you disproportionately happy?

I want the really mundane ones. The things nobody is putting on Grand Designs but which have genuinely made your day-to-day life better.

Basically, tell me what else I should be wandering around my house looking for 😂

I feel like such a dick 🙈 just looked at my Tesco ones and there is the label on the lid 🙈🤣 In fairness majority of mine are Asda and they don’t!

😂 oh well. Spices not from Asda now.

I had exactly the same thought. OP is absolutely hilarious. Funniest post in a long time!😂

I haven’t done this in current place but in my old house I had a pulley for hanging washed clothes. great space saver when drying clothes indoors (open windows and door if possible to avoid mustiness)

mine is more things I’ve bought

Bought a new dustpan and brush after using one with a snapped handle for years

a rechargeable waterproof lamp for the bathroom - for when I want a shower/bath with nice lighting and not glaring overhead!

a pet hair remover reusable roller, brilliant for beds, sofa, carpets, rugs…

African net sponge. Exfoliates and doesn’t get stinky like the shower puffs plus you can do your back

not household but I hate the feel of hand cream - so every night just before I turn the light off I do foot cream, hand cream and lip balm

Tesco and Aldi have names on the lid.

I have found room in drawers for my knives (got rid of yucky knife block) and got rid of the pot on the side that holds masher/big spoons etc and put those in a drawer- also put a giant vase that I never use in my lounge where it looks lovely and put our trays and chopping boards in the cupboard - now my sides are just left with microwave, kettle, toaster and airfryer - so happy 😀 The kids will think I have gone crazy in the morning 🤣

OP you have inspired me. It’s not always about spending money is it? Sometimes it is just about moving stuff where it is better suited and doing the niggly jobs. My kitchen does feel a bit echoey now though!

Must go through whole thread (when I have more time)…

Drilled small holes in my garden chairs so that they don’t collect water when it rains.

Haha love this. Funny, I'm considering going a slightly different direction and creating a few 'scenes' in the kitchen that look pretty. Well in my head it does but let's see how the execution goes. Basically, to try and free up some prime real estate cupboard space I am considering a mug tree and some curated groupings of chopping boards / cookery books / plants etc. to look 'aesthetic'. Could end up looking cluttery though?

You're right about not always needing to spend money... About a month ago I swapped vases and candles and photos around, putting them in new places around the house. It really did the trick in lifting things a bit.

I have colour coded with ribbons all my bedsheets:
King size - green
Double - yellow
Single - white

Fitted sheets two ribbons, flat sheets one ribbon.

Clock in every room
Fancier wipe-clean tablecloth
Vinyl flooring roll to line kitchen drawers
Lower hooks for kids in hallway
Wearing the same style outfit everyday with linen shirts (no ironing)
Cast iron casserole pan - used for so many dishes
Meal plan
Glasses and cups and saucers more resistant to breaking
All white plates easy to replace
washable rug in hallway which dries quickly
Not holding onto kids clothes
Shelf for laundry detergent above washing machine
These refillable soap bottles with really wide brims on amazon and 5L soap bottles to refill
Hairdresser size shampoo bottle with pump

I have got open under stairs space in my hall. it’s where I keep decorating stuff, tool box, airers and hoover etc. I can’t afford built in storage but it never looks tidy and I hate it being on show. How shit would it look if I got some pretty fabric, hemmed it and used Velcro to cover the space? Or any other ideas that are very very low cost? My hall is small but nothing else is in it (we all keep coats and shoes in our bedroom or by the back door so I really am the only one who goes under the stairs)

Love my hair dryer and straightener holder - mine is similar to this

Getting rid of all those bloody Gü ramekins. Yes, they do come in handy. Nobody needs 20 of the bloody things though! Gave to community centre for the craft group.

Ooh love that! Mine is literally some clear hooks that I got from b&m 🤣 but they do the job at the moment

They breed in the cupboard! I am sure I throw out about 10 a month and leave us with 4 (for baked beans - can’t have bean juice touching other food) - I even separate them in the cupboard yet by the next month they have found each other, copulated again and suddenly I have another dozen! I wouldn’t mind but I never see the things in my fridge!

Oh this is going to seem daft - but it used to drive me up the wall that neither of the kids were capable of fetching a toilet roll from where they lived in the cupboard under the kitchen sink when the roll in the upstairs bathroom ran out - some time later i realised i could just stock up once a week in the bathroom in the specially designed space for toilet rolls under the bathroom sink.

I love this thread - thank you!

Some things that have made my life so much easier:

I take photos of any new appliance or things like lamps so I always know what kind of replacement part/bulb I need without having to dismantle or move it.

I store bedding in the pillowcase and then pop the bundle under the mattress as I don’t have an airing cupboard or space for bedding. There’s always a clean set right there!

I use M&S stain removal wipes every single day! Think they are £1.25 and they remove everything!!! Make up, spills, the occasional muddy paw from the sofa…

I have a cheap plastic lidded box from Wickes on my driveway for parcels.

I have a wicker basket near the front door that I throw anything that needs to leave the house in. Parcels to send, things I’ve picked up for friends, anything I’ve borrowed…

I have a section in the fridge I call “eat this first.”
Anything due to go out of date gets put here. This has saved me so much money, especially with things like salad, yogurts etc.

I do a 5 minute tidy before I go to bed. Usually wipe down the kitchen worktops, bleach the toilets and wipe the sinks. It makes a huge difference to my mood in a morning!

My mud loving cocker spaniel wears an Equafleece in autumn and winter which stops her getting muddy. I just quickly wipe her paws and wash the fleece. I have a few of them and she’s never muddy!

I got some tiny food bags from IKEA and random cables/chargers live in these now. Each one is labelled with its use. E.g Ring doorbell charger, random head torch charger …

I have a big jar full of random screws / Allen keys / spare bits from flat pack furniture. Easy enough to tip out if I need “a thing.” I find this easier than hunting in the shed.

I keep tiny labelled pots of any paint I use in the house for touching up scuffs or marks that a magic eraser won’t sort. Occasionally I’ve bought tester pots of the paint shade I need for this too. I write which room it’s for on the lid.

I bought a feather duster to clean webs off the ceiling and use it to swish under the sofa (wooden floors) it lives on a command hook on the inside of a kitchen cupboard.

Magicwipe cloths have changed my life!
I can’t seem to get windows clean without leaving giant streaks or smears and I have 2 massive glass panels as my shower enclosure. I used to squeegee the shower glass after every shower. Now I use a Magicwipe cloth and the glass / windows are spotlessly clean and completely streak free. Just wipe and go! I use these cloths to clean everything in my house and have massively reduced the amount of cleaning products I’ve used. Throw them in the washer and they come out like new. I buy them for everyone!

Bought new cutlery, and enough of it (two sets of eight settings).

Previously I had two sets (of six) that were different and so always had to match them up, plus I only liked one set, dp didn't care but also couldn't (apparently) tell the difference. So meal times were me saying "no, you have those, I'll get the ones I like", and unloading the dw was also a pain as I did like the two different sets laid separately in the tray.

Buying new cutlery has changed my life.

Threw out (recycled at Dunelm) 23 pillows and three duvets. Imagine the extra space! No, me neither, it's all full again.....but anyway, I did!

I put away two of my four clothes airers (probably taking up the pillow space actually) and resolved to launder more frequently so I didn't need to use them all. Oh, and this also forced me to put stuff away rather than just move it around.

Ordered from Amazon, arriving tomorrow, one of those wall brackets for your hairdryer and tongs, at the moment they lounge about on the landing waiting to be tripped over or caught up in the laundry pile - once that is on the wall there will be neatness.

Bought a jewellery tray so I can easily see the things I wear on a regular basis. It lives in a drawer so gathers no dust.

What are these magic cloths 🤣i need them in my life @doowkrib

I use a 9l bin in the kitchen that hangs on the cupboard door below the sink. It’s emptied so frequently that it never smells. Fruit punnets and clean items are put directly in the external bin. It also gives me extra floor space in a tiny kitchen.

I think that is a great idea @IAmKerplunk and would love to see a pic of how that turns out

Do you know what - I’m going to give it a go. If it looks shit then it’s not the most expensive mistake!