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 😂

Putting a ‘Wear Again’ basket/bucket/box into each child’s bedroom right at the end of their bed for clothes that have been worn briefly so can’t go back away into drawers but aren’t dirty enough to need washing yet.

It is just a small thing but with a large family the reduction in washing without ending up with a floordrobe in every room was genuinely life changing.

A row of wooden hooks on the bedroom walls for all clothes that can be reworn

Train your family to use a flannel after bath or shower to wipe down their body before towelling. Fewer sodden towels.

Or buy towelling bathrobes. I can't remember the last time I used a bath towel.

Or use small towels instead of bath sheets. A small damp towel is easier to wash than a large one.

I dry my feet on the t-shirt I've taken off not the towel. The t-shirt is going in the wash anyway.

When I wash my hands, I shake the water off them first so that the towel doesn't get so wet.

I use a small thin hand towel in the kitchen for drying hands and rags or newspaper instead of kitchen paper. The newspaper is for things that can go in the compost bin.

“TV on lo-o-ng folding bracket with all cables buried in wall and equipment hidden in cellar so all we see is the screen.”

Photos please !

Some from me

• Washing machine in a bathroom cupboard (needs a switched fused connection unit installed). Taking your dirty clothes down to the kitchen / back up again becomes a thing of the past.
• Pet flap behind a kitchen unit ! No other option in our tiny kitchen as we didn’t want one in the back door. The cat learned very quickly how to open this from inside, and an easy push from the outside.
• WiFi repeater in the garden shed - gives coverage at bottom of the garden.
• Wall bed / foldable office desk. The desk is made of old scaffold boards and when folded up forms a headboard for the folding bed. Monitor etc goes on top of the wardrobe. Office to bedroom in 5 minutes.
• Loft bedroom Velux insect screens. We live on the edge of a marsh, these are a lifesaver on hot summer nights.

I got sick of the salt and pepper mills leaving grains behind on the shelf where they're stored, now I store them each standing in a ramekin.

Apologies if these already mentioned but I haven't had time to read everything yet - there's a lot to add to the Amazon list!

Tippex to temporarily hide chips in white paintwork - it doesn't match, but it's far closed in colour than brown wood.

Kitchen black/whiteboard to write the days activities so everyone knows what's happening and where people are, and also a list of 'empties' for the shopping list

Did you know that you can buy specific double tray holders for them on Amazon ? There are lots of different designs.

I have the kind of mills where the grinder is at the top.

When I needed surgery on hips had trouble carrying things whilst using a cane. I bought a decent sized round tray with really deep sides that I could carry with my free hand so if I wobbled nothing slid off.

I still use it now, no slopping here.

I use one like that. Is doesn't make a mess. It had Bart's fancy berry peppers in it originally but just black peppercorns now. It's been re-filled a few times.
Tellicherry Peppercorns Mill – Bart Ingredients

thank you. intersting idea

WiFi repeater in the garden shed - gives coverage at bottom of the garden.

This makes me sad. If you are in the garden you should be enjoying the garden and not needing Wifi.

I used to have a large bucket, you can put things in and carry it about, especially anything that might spill. If you have the sort of crutches with a handle sticking out, you can hang a bag or smaller bucket on the handle. Nothing heavy, as it will swing and destabilise your support.

I have just emptied my dreaded wire draw. You know, the one with wires/chargers for phones, iPads, kindles, earphones, hair straighteners etc etc.
They all look the bloody same, they are not!!! Hours wasted working out which of the gazillion wires fits into a particular gadget for charging. Usually when in a rush & need to charge the phone power pack.
i have now put each wire into its own clear plastic bag with a label stating what it is and what it charges. I have put all the bags neatly in a draw. I wish I had done this years ago! Game changer !

@stiffstink
wow that’s one hell of a ‘done’ list 🙌
all I’ve done is get a load of old bedding in a bin bag to go to dunelm for recycling

I didn't know Dunelm took old bedding. One to remember.

Only certain stores do, check before you go 👍

We used to do that but now have top dispensing mills instead.

I use a deepish shoe box with cables coiled and stuffed (a couple/ roll) into loo roll tubes standing upright. Pack 'em right way up you can see the terminations at a glance - saves labelling and nothing to buy.

What about WFH on a laptop ? Is that a proper use of the garden in the summer, or should I be inside ?

Ewbank carpet speedsweep - yes the push along ones from decades ago - quick sweep of the worst bits of floor.

Yep. Got one of these. It brings up the pile on my living room carpet better than the vacuum cleaner.

CheeryGoldHiker ; My bathroom's just about big enough for a bath and washbasin (loo is separate) There's no way I can fit a washung machine in there!