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 put my spices in those takeaway plastic food boxes, and my herbs in different ones. Then put pasta and rice in a plastic box in the cupboard.,

The best hack ever was when my husband bought a beer fridge. No more fitting it in around the food. (Now we have gone a step further and have two fridge freezers which is very handy.)

Also we have a little study and now we confine our cat to that at night.,

@Therainbowqueen

As requested this is my Wrapping Paper box

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Really-Useful-Wrapping-Organiser-Container/dp/B01E970L1M/ref=sr_1_16?crid=37OD1XFRKQO56&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RJGT5d2q0x-FWol9r2kDcDKWsjnPA9fjI-AtD9LY3RrfxMT9z5fTCViMIWt38klvvi8F_krZHbDNjTLP3iuSjxNwQtt691bBhVjWUFd96EUULv0629ogR2V8CzVtAbUGNq5LCIcyoPoFbhgt_rr5VqYPjfQoJjHgMhsVmPFuyV_DsqK-X7LLSpagEDdqk3X1TaQNjgn__mqASi8R6Iye5nDpmsWTMBUUUUM4-EqCyX-L9wk2ThP-IFXAV5sN2Xrx62yQSPso3y39rDoOGHC0YnhIfkrUFU0QIk1yKu-8mbI.o0Vgk4hL3qiSSQC_6Ittu0lbKIoMwzvMg1JncVBvNYs&dib_tag=se&keywords=wrapping%2Bpaper%2Bstorage&qid=1789814778&sbm=true&setroute=search&sprefix=Wrapping%2Bpaper%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-16&th=1

I have this (possibly not actually this because I’m in the US but it looks the same) for my cans.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/YouCopia-50267-ShelfSteps-Organiser-White/dp/B08B1TK5L3

A midden! Hahaha!

Good to know I wasn't the only one in laundry purgatory!

My siblings, our partners and my mum have been doing Secret Santa for years now it has genuinely improved Christmas.

We use a website that randomly allocates everyone a person, and you can add things to your own wish list so whoever gets you has a few decent ideas. We normally set a fairly generous budget, but it still works out cheaper than everyone buying random bits for everyone else.

The big win is that everyone gets one proper present they actually want, and each person only has one gift to think about, find and buy. So it’s cheaper, far less faff, and the quality of present is much better.

It also dramatically reduces the annual circulation of mugs, scarves, novelty socks and smellies that nobody really wanted but everyone politely pretends to love.

Honestly, it’s been a huge efficiency win on pretty much every front, less money, less shopping, less mental admin, better presents and considerably less unwanted tat entering the house. 😂

What steamer do you have? I am thinking of getting one as I do iron but don't enjoy it so if streamers do the job I may convert!

I organised all the social side for my department in my last job. I introduced charity Secret Santa - every gift had to come from a charity shop, £5 budget. That worked really well.

I wanted some good sharp kitchen knives but was concerned about having them loose in a kitchen drawer and didn't want a knife-blocks worth, so was very pleased to find these, they sit in the kitchen drawer in their sheaths which also have a built-in mini sharpener:

Lurking

Does it stay still? I swear my Simple Human (round)has poltergeist qualities, it will not stay in place on the floor. It’s a pain. Maybe the half moon is the way to go.

Re the question about robot vacs - I have a fairly basic Eufy, bought on impulse on Prime day last year. My only regret is not buying a more advanced model, and like @ScottBakula I’d replace it immediately if it died.

You do have to clear things, mine likes to chew on phone chargers and the fringes on rugs. However I find that quite useful because it makes me keep the floor clear. Otherwise it just pushes things out of the way, e.g. the cat food bowls will just be shunted into a corner.
When I get my next one I’ll upgrade to one that has GPS and maps where it’s going. That way you could avoid certain areas. This one just has sensors so it bounces off things, it’s a bit random and sometimes will clean the same area several times. However, it keeps cat hair to a manageable level.

Another tip is to invest in spare filters for your vacuum, they work much more efficiently if they are changed regularly and this means you don’t have to wait for them to dry before you can use it again. I have them for both the robot and the corded Shark.

I got fed up of having to squeegee the shower screen. I found an old shower curtain, folded it in half, sewed it across the top and slid it over the screen. My shower's over the bath so I made a slit to the top of the bath so it hangs properly inside and out. It works brilliantly. I was so pleased with myself I thought I could have gone on Dragons Den! If anybody ever makes these commercially, I'm claiming royalties or something!

I have this one from Amazon and think it’s pretty good
BEAUTURAL Portable Garment... www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FLJD2BR8?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

ha Ha- I wonder if this thread has generated a shopping boom for certain products —

I brought the magic clothes mentioned up thread- I used them and thought they were good but not great and then a friend came over and said ooh look at your windows , so clean - I don’t think anyone has EVER said that about anything in my house before!!! I looked at them through her eyes they really were very clean looking .

they also work well without products. Cleaned my bath with just water. Thanks to the person who recommended.

another tip for me is replace your splash back with a magnetic one- you get them made to measure from metal cutting companies very cheap - and then a magnetic knife block and magnetic spice jars all stick to your splash back.

We had our loft converted recently & our teen boys have their bedrooms up there. Got tired of going up and down another level to fetch dirty laundry (& nagging them to bring it down) so I bought an over the door laundry bag with a zip at the bottom. I have hung it over the loft stair bannisters (so it dangles on the outside of bannisters)
. I just stand on the bottom step of the loft stairs, unzip the bag & let their laundry rain down. This solution is deeply pleasing & I too am considering a dragons den style patent.

This is the little beauty….

https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/wenko-space-saving-laundry-bag-beige?campaign=googlebase&utm_product_type_level_1=Accessories&utm_product_type_level_2=Bathroom%20Accessories&utm_product_type_level_3=Laundry%20Baskets&s_kwcid=AL!15853!3!!!!x!!&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21088964778&gbraid=0AAAAAD_SoLYBZp9NStktVrnHdUZ7gjJ4Z&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw_niudP8lgMV65qDBx2sviWvEAQYAyABEgLjuPD_BwE

You'd need to flatten the rugs. Dog beds and furniture it will go round. Balls and similar toys will be avoided or pushed around. Things like rope tugs or smallish chews could be a problem. I'd recommend getting a box or basket that you can quickly chuck all the small stuff into - for general improvement of your room as well as for the sake of the vacuum.

This is a great idea and I've seen versions of it watching tiny house living on yootoob. I think a hallway is underrated - making one is clever.

Thank you! I was getting sick of seeing magazine articles on 'how to decorate your entryway' and also of the dog dashing in and spreading mud over every available surface! It works in my house - it might work for someone else who has the same problem!

https://amzn.eu/d/03xQU1SP
This is a wall mounted Clothes dryer called a Foxy dry. It is adjustable in height and folds back when not in use. I have mine in a UtilityRoom and now no longer need Clothes Horse etc around the house. Every time I use it I am so pleased with myself! It's so useful and space saving.

I bought a ceiling one for my new utility room, not finished yet. It's a very narrow room but tall so the only way is up! I got the remote control model in one of their sales. DH was horrified by the price but since he's always moaning about washing draped everywhere he soon came round to the idea!

Lakeland Stack a Boxes are the BEST food storage I’ve come across. Love them because the square ones come in three sizes, but all three sizes have identical sized lids! So any lid fits all of your containers, but you have a variety of sizes to choose from. They all stack together, last forever, wash well and the lids seal the containers perfectly. I use them for everything.

They are also on offer at the moment!

Sorry if these have already been mentioned. Love this thread but have not had time to read it all yet.

Depending on the size of your toiletries, this might do? 15cm high. https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/kinnasjoe-waste-bin-with-lid-self-adhesive-green-00591856/

Same here. Except we didn't buy them, they all came from the local Chinese takeaway 😳

Yes, been mentioned twice, by me and just before me, by someone else .

Got a new kitchen in Dec, so decided I was never, ever going to need to 'rummage' around the base units searching for stuff.

I bought plastic storage boxes which fit into the base units, so whenever I need something in there, I simply slide out the box/boxes easily to find what I need.

No more going on hands and knees searching the back of those bloody base units! Bliss.

I also got shallow plastic boxes for deep drawer storage to keep everything neat and tidy in the drawers, so no more searching for utensils etc either.

I also bought plate storage things, so that my plates were no longer simply stacked in order of size. Each size of plate now has it's own 'shelf' within the units, so I don't need to remove smaller plates to get at the big serving ones etc.

I also bought storage 'hangers' that fit underneath my wall and tower units, for storing tinfoil/binbags etc, and they effectively double the useable space there.

My kitchen is now properly set out for maximising storage while making access much, much easier too.

I got everything really cheap online (Temu)