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 😂

@RampantIvy horses for courses :-) I'm the opposite, I hate having to use a device to look at things, for me it's less convenient. The files include browsable magazine cuttings, and guarantees, appliance instructions, tradesman invoices, vet and medical stuff - things that don't come digitally. Thankfully, small risk of car theft/break in compared to risk of me forgetting breakdown details and then breaking down...

We now use these. A real game changer but still have the old duvets and covers so really need to get rid.

I would like to do this but I think it would be impractical. I do try though.

If you keep ending up with loads of lone socks, they make good stuffing for cushions or dog beds.

I had no idea. Thank you for the information.

Wow. Will you come and do mine? It'll take a day or three.

@fatlouis , It's straightforward.
@Chaoshastakenover , they're fine for very occasional use but they're bad for the environment. You can use stale bread to clean paint.

@Silverbirchleaf
You can also buy those sugar tins in matching range for icing sugar, plain flour and self raising flour - look great on the shelf :) Think mine came from amazon

Just from today.
Massive sort out of boot room. Previously we had two cheap bookcases in there that didn’t fit and carnage.

our friend and neighbours was getting rid of a large 4 spaced unit (I think Ikea) with two drawers that she had tried and it didn’t fit in her house. It does in ours.
the 4 spaces are now: DH shoes, my shoes, Horseriding/ scouts stuff for son and PE/rugby kit for son. Ridiculously pleased.

we had wedged a computer desk in our Son’s room when we first moved in and it didn’t work, he couldn’t get to the window and he couldn’t open the blind or get the radiator. We binned it today and turned one of the bookcases from downstairs at 90 degrees and put the stuff from the desk on and now he can get to the windows: blind : radiator

We havr a book of doom. A Filofax for the house. When one of us thinks of something it gets added to short/ medium or long (expensive) lists.

big wins for us were decking, and Astro turf - we have 3 dogs and it has changed our lives. At this time of year normally we would get through 6 towels a day wiping paws and two steam mops. Now - no towels and one steam mop a day.

I have just done a freezer reorganise and done a spreadsheet of its contents.

I'll get my anorak.

@SquirrelStateOfMind

The website is just a small number of the lovely things they have in their gorgeous shop.

I can’t walk out of there without a hit to my credit card.

Follow them on Instagram, I obviously can’t speak for them, but suspect that if there was something there that you really liked they would find a way to get it to you.

Inspired by this thread I have fitted a new light fitting that has been sat on my wardrobe for ages now I am so proud of myself 😁 I do need to buy a simple toolkit and a cordless screwdriver any recommendations

Second, universal TV remote control & light remote control for my side of the bed.

Keeping bedding in a box under the bed that it belongs to.

Lots of foldable laundry baskets that live next to laundry bin & I'm the gap between washing machine & wall so I always have one to hand, even if there are baskets of clean laundry in the DCs bedrooms from the last load.

Multiple hairbrushes. One close to any mirrored surface (daughters), with hair bands tied around the handle.

Move small appliances into cupboards to make cleaning kitchen work surfaces easier.

Robo vac does his job while I'm doing mine - I just empty & rotate rooms daily.

Train DCs to set & clear table &,
load/empty dishwasher after dinner daily without being asked.

Shampoo/conditioner/body wash pump bottles in each bathroom & 5l refill bottles.

Bulk buy essentials - toilet paper, rice, pasta, cleaning products, wine.

Save an online shopping list, then add & remove items before planning an order rather than starting from scratch each time.

Lakeland heated airer. Life changing. Dry school shirts on hangers for effortless transfer to wardrobe.

Stock of generic cards & bags of sweets for DC to use for friends birthdays.

Kallax in hall, one box per person for shoes. Towel rail fixed above it for sunglasses. Small shelf with boxes above that for hats/gloves. Pegs for coats. Bench for putting on shoes, and storing guest/overflow shoes underneath.

Custom fitted doormat for porch, prevents it sliding around.

One of those reusable car vent air fresheners soaked in essential oil clipped onto the hall radiator in an attempt to produce a welcoming smell.

Keep a squeegee in the shower caddy & use it after every shower to keep water marks at bay.

Use clips on opened bags of frozen peas etc. to stop them spilling. Keep them in a magnetic pot, stuck to freezer.

Reflective sticker on the driveway fence post stops c
ars hitting it when reversing in.

Another one - the Simple Human half-moon bin if you have a bin against a wall. I can't believe this isn't standard - it's such a good idea as it protrudes less into the room and takes up less space. They also do smaller ones

www.simplehuman.co.uk/products/semi-round-liner-rim-step-can-45l

Custom fitted doormat for porch, prevents it sliding around.

A recessed doormat or a mat well is great for this. I wouldn't describe it as a 'small fix' because if you don't have one, it need to be fitted but if you are moving house or getting entrance hall re-done, strongly recommend this.

Like this: https://entrancemattingireland.ie/blogs/2024/recessed-door-mats-an-essential-element-of-your-business-entrance

This post is so funny! I too have spent 46% of my time spinning washing like prime livestock at the county show! Wanted to reply yesterday but fell asleep! Maybe write a comedic journal of your road to employment. Have no top tips as my house is a midden. Good Luck! Xxx

For those debating how best to label Tupperware for the freezer etc, can I suggest these? Non-permanent marker that will write on shiny surfaces, comes off when washed.

(For those of us at school in the 80s, yes it is basically an overhead projector pen!)

Also along with frozen chopped veg, I buy the multi packs of peppers when they’re on offer, or in the reduced section, chop them all up and freeze on a tray, then keep them in a bag in the freezer, then I can grab a handful or two and chuck them in, they cook fine from frozen.

I bought a pen holder from Etsy that is magnetic so it sticks to the fridge, which then has a designated pen that lives in it - always a working pen in a place we know where it is. It’s accompanied by one of those magnetic list pads so there’s always paper handy if you need to make a quick note of something.

Hooked all living room and office electronics/lights to Bluetooth plugs. Now one tap on my phone to switch every off.

I have a robot vac , it's a basic eufy 11s but it does the job fine for me , it copes with wood , lino and thick carpet floors.
If it died I'd replace it with my next pay check.

Wowzer, this looks amazing. Where is it from? Thanks

Ive just ordered this, thank you!

Username9020 ; I do my main shopping online from Sainsburys, and they keep a record of "favourites"; so I check those first. As regards peas etc, I decant them into margarine tubs, which live in the hanging baskets of my chest frezer.

Oil hinges on doors and windows. Makes me happy everytime I open the formerly stiff window.

Fab thread, I've been slowly working my way through the thread whenever I get a couple of minutes to myself.

I need some ideas please! I've currently got 1 shelf in my kitchen cupboard where I store my spices. I have a few cardboard packages of Indian spices (like this one: https://www.bombaybasket.co.uk/details/mdh-sabji-masala-100g?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17347326665&gbraid=0AAAAACRnuPlgTnQ46hvSgXUCkmqFFDgy0&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5bjVBhCiARIsAJzMVnTY_6xh7XmgXSvDR7q1WUdDdfT0jFI3pbeauH5K8NL3GqvjkC3zGKgaAnLzEALw_wcB).

But Most of my spices are in Bonne Maman jam jars, as they fit 100gms of powdered spices.
This means that the spice shelf is a mess, I can't easily see what's in the back of the shelf, I can't find the right jar easily even though I've labelled the top f the lid.
I haven't found any spice racks that fit the Bonne Maman jars. And my kitchen is super tiny.
I've seen kitchens in India thathave a narrow shelf built onto the bottom of kitchen cupboards, that are perfect for spice bottles, but haven't seen anything like that here.

Ideas please- I hate my spice shelf and I want to incorporate a better solution when I get my kitchen redone (not going to get any bigger though unfortunately

@ScottBakula and others, how do robot vacs cope with general "stuff" on the floors? My sister had one and loved it but had quite a minimalistic flat and used to pick her dining chairs up at night to give the vac a clear run. We have dog beds, dog toys, rucked up mats etc. We've got a couple of hard floors but mainly carpet with dog hair (and my hair🙄).