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 😂

Waffle bedding is evil genius level of awesome. I’m stealing that immediately! ❤️🤣

What bra thing?!

We’re doing the same in our bedroom right now with open ikea pax units.

Bedding needs to be ironed?
@Mygreyhair ,Women's Bra Tops - UNIQLO UK

Not rocket science.

Just socket science.

And making porridge.

I have a couple of scarf coat hangers in my cupboard. They are and now I can see them all I don’t just wear one all the time.

A bit like this one I can’t see the one I actually got

That's how I feel, but the whole point is to be able to measure in it! I do have other jugs I can use for watering, so I think it can go to a charity shop.

We have a Billy bookcase and Curver boxes for washing. A box is about the right size for the washing machine so when a box is full I do that wash. 4 person household so may be different for others. Darks, whites, reds/pinks, blues/greens (M/F household split!) plus sportswear and hand wash/delicates.

I wouldn't say laundry is a joy but it's easier to keep on top of everything and ensure no one runs out of any type of clothing that they only use one colour of e.g. black pants or white socks.

I use sugar soap spray and a microfibre cloth, works well and then just paint over anything else.

It's on my laptop (and backed up elsewhere) and I email it to myself every time I update it, so yes, I can access it on my phone.

A really great way to organise scarves is to fix two old style tie or belt rails to the back of the wardrobe door. you need a second one lower down to tuck the ends into so they don't flap around.

It uses up dead space and they are all immediately visible.

Sort of like this but I don't knot mine just fold them as they are easier to remove like that and take up less space

https://www.digsdigs.com/scarf-storage-ideas/pictures/221017/

I just use an indelible laundry pen and write K or D on the laundry care labels.

Thanks, we'll definitely be looking at these. I always love a reason to visit Ikea 😁

Utility rooms are amazing. Also non ironer here.
Another good one is the flash speed mop. So quick and easy!

A long tall bookshelf for jeans and trousers storage. Easy to find what you want.

Another one is the lake land heated dryer, omg a life changer!!

Were they the steel containers with lids? These? IKEA 365+ food container with lid, rectangular stainless steel/bamboo, 1.0 l - IKEA UK

Yes, the plastic clip on lids fit too. I don't have any bamboo lids but I don't think they are as secure as the clip on lids.

Replaced our big old heavy hoover that I could never be arsed hauling up/downstairs (meaning I hoovered one floor much less often) with two light stick hoovers, one for upstairs and one for downstairs.

Those flash wipe mop things in the bathroom, means I can do it very regularly between proper cleans - makes a difference.

Looking at what I actually use regularly in the kitchen and putting the stuff I don't away - we almost exclusively eat out of those wide shallow bowl plate things, but the standard plates were taking up tons of space on the crockery shelf. In the storagey cupboards they went. Ditto the toaster, which we used once in a blue moon - into a cupboard instead of gathering dust.

Not fighting the natural pattern of how we live: keys always end up on the kitchen side despite the hooks in the hallway, so now I have a big dish in the kitchen for them to go in. I was forever unplugging my charger from my bedside table and moving it to my office or kitchen and then not having it when I needed it - so I just bought one for every room of the house because I know I forget to charge it and now there's always one when I need it. Our clothes live in our home offices because we often work quite different shifts and the bedroom as a place to get ready got annoying - and then within that, my husband hates hanging things on coathangers, so he has some Ikea hooks for things he wears often/wants to be able to grab easily, I need to be able to see my clothes or I forget what I've got/it gets a mess so I've got an open clothes rail.

Omg this is actual genius! Recently done my room up & bedside tables don't match the built in wardrobes. Am so going to do this!

My tip is get an ottoman bed. Changed my life.

‘Not fighting the natural pattern of how we live’

I think this is a massive one. Once you accept that you can find solutions.

Hahaha we’ve got one too and this is exactly what I use it for!

@DustyWindowsills Tell me more about the dismantable @boiler cupboard please. I had to rip the old boiler cupboard apart with my bare hands when the new boiler was fitted.

I want a boiler cupboard! It looks so ugly on my wall and I hate it

I like to add the joseph toothbrush holder because the base comes off so it is easy to clean. Ours gets filthy quickly.

I have 2 pairs of linen h&m curtains for our bay room living room. I used ikea hooks and wash them with the hooks attached (probably shouldn’t do this but I am exhausted). With kids touching them all the time dry cleaning would cost a fortune. I also hang them up wet as the linen is very forgiving. They have blackout lining too.

My ruggable dining room rug is also great as i wash it in a 9kg washing machine. It is the flat one which sticks to the pad.