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 did this when my boys became teenagers and both only wore sports socks. I went one further in laziness but just throwing them loose into a basket in the bottom of the airing cupboard- didn’t even need to dump them onto the floordrobe in their bedrooms!

Mines not a time saver, but I am so pleased with my new kitchen. All we did was replace the tiles, worktops, sink and taps. The cabinets are 21 years old, but still look good. It has transformed from a kitchen I hated, to a kitchen I love. Total price, including labour - £1553. So much cheaper than a new kitchen!

I only have nesting Tupperware.

I bought new dishcloths! I kept washing and re- using the old, stained and holey ones because they still worked (more sustainable, better for the planet...) but every time I saw them, it was depressing. Now, when I've got some really dirty job, like washing plant pots, cleaning muddy boots etc, I use one of the old worn-out cloths and then throw it away. It feels so liberating.

I love this. I am terrible for piles of paper and putting off sorting. Thank you!

Excellent idea!

Oh shit! I missed that day at school 🤣
Is my frozen soup responsible for the climate crisis, and looming AI apocalypse? I'm sorry!!

Oh I have another one! When I make a batch of soup to freeze I don't add all the liquid it says to in the recipe. Like I make a soup concentrate, so I can put 3 portions in each pot and when I reheat it, I add the extra water or milk. Takes less freezer space

I use these boxes from Lakeland. They come in different depths, but the same diameter; so the lids are interchangeable. www.lakeland.co.uk/products/10-stack-a-boxes-food-storage-containers-750ml As per a previous post-I roll all my clothing tops, and have them in plastic boxes labelled with the colours. (I may have too many tops!)

There is a danger of decluttering too much! In March 2020i decided to go through my larder cupboard and donate or throw away tins if I had a lot of one type, eg 12 tins of tomatoes and those half opened boxes of things we no longer eat. I felt very virtuous and the food bank was delighted with the tinned goods.

I compiled a list of things I was short of but then the country went into lockdown and started stockpiling food so I ended up with very little decent food items to make meals with!

I love a clear out, so am often on top of that side of things, but this thread has given me a couple of jobs.

1. (doing this to trigger AI comments!) I'm going to get new storage tubs for the christmas things once they come out of storage this year and I can see what's needed. Although I have a dedicated space for them that's out of sight in the under stairs area, they're all in random bags and boxes and whatnot.

2. This thread has reminded me that my airing cupboard became a random storage closet over the summer for a few odds and ends, so will clear that out asap.

I don't have any tips, but I will add that when I do a clear out that results in a trip to the tip, I put the offending items by the front door so that we remain annoyed until we go to the tip. We like a clear hallway so this gets sorted asap.

Lots of chat about the plastic tubs, although we do store them lid and bottom together, we have somes sets that we absolutley loathe but that are relatively new and in fine condition so it would be a waste to dispose of - I'm going to use these tubs in future when we have company/guests and they are leaving with a little bit of food.

My DH really wants a drier but we've not been able to work out where it would go. I will do a kitchen clear out and see if we can lose the cabinet next to the sink and power supply.

I put up two low shelves on each side of my bed instead of having bedside tables. I have just as much storage space, it looks less cluttered and it's easier to vacuum. It doesn't sound like much but honestly, it cheers me up every time I look at them.

Fab thread 👏

We've done some of these things but then health, work, caring got in the way. I've just taken early retirement so I'm getting back to it.

Rationalising plastic storage was a game changer for us, do not ever be tempted to buy the sets with masses of different sizes containers with multiplying lids! As others we use takeaway containers for freezer storage - they stack nicely, lids are held together with elastic bands but I like the idea of putting them in a bag. Other than that we buy Ikea 365 tubs with clippy lids, these work as lunch boxes and for general storage both fridge and cupboards. We don't have masses, the lids stay with with base and many of them are interchangeable anyway.

I'd love an overhead washing maiden but it doesn't work here. We use a dehumidifier in the winter, I very rarely iron and lots of clothes go straight on hangers to dry.

Having a (labelled) place for everything is a massive help, that involved lots of decluttering so that the space was available but it's made a huge difference. I try hard to put away rather than put down as well.

I'm going to look at cable organisers- i need these!

We are also at the start of planning a new kitchen to replace our 40+ year old one which has tiny cupboards. The lovely lady kitchen planner commented that our existing cupboards don't know their purpose- apparently keeping the iron next to lentils isn't usual! 😂 I've got lots of jobs for the autumn but I think pulling everything out and stori g things more logically may be a start. Apparently I also have a lot of pots, pans and baking trays but I quite like what I have 🤷‍♀️

I've also started keeping cleaning materials in bathrooms and trying to clean as I go rather than making things into huge tasks that I never get to.

This. Not all the same but tubs in one drawer and lids in 2 bags, large and small in the drawer above

I won’t leave lids on Tupperware so used a sharpie to mark the container and lid with a corresponding letter or sign.

Had a light put in the pantry - why oh why did I not get him to put one in the cupboard under the stairs at the same time?!

I was fed up working out which sheets with which duvet set etc. Now each duvet cover, pillowslips and sheet all go into one pillowslip. Now when I change a bed I just grab the pillowslip with everything for that bed in it. Made my life so much easier.

In our house we love technology so we love our robot vacuum downstairs, self emptying shark vaccum upstairs, tumble dryer, air con, carpet cleaner etc.

We've also got apps for everything, I can check the car is locked from my phone as it's an electric car (handy as my husband leaves it unlocked regularly!).

Other things that have helped is just downsizing everything as we always have too much stuff. Also, have back stock of essentials like toothpaste, toilet roll, shower gel, detergent, dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid so you never truly run out. We also keep a long life milk in just in case.

I also deep cleaned the washing machine earlier this year and wipe it dry every single night, haven't had to clean it since as it's just not getting as gross now!

It’s from Loaf and the bed is called Side Stash. Not cheap but very happy with it.

A mini laundry basket for every room. Lives on the stairs in the day time. Random stuff thati find lying around going into the basket along with clean washing. Then when everybody comes home, the basket goes to the correct room and is emptied. Then the following morning the basket comes down with dirty washing and is emptied into the main basket and Is placed back on the stairs in its empty state. Cost me £30 and every day I’m glad I did it.

There are lots of rechargeable stick up motion sensors lights around now, you don't need wiring.

Haven’t had time to read full thread so this may be a repeat, but this little job from Ikea is wonderful and it’s only a fiver.
Variera pot lid organiser 701.548.00

One of these on every freezer container https://www.lakeland.co.uk/products/70-lakeland-erasable-freezeasy-labels-assorted-sizes

And a magnetic whiteboard (like a giant fridge magnet) on the front of the fridge freezer. Divided into the same number of segments as there are drawers, and listing the contents. Magnetic pen holder next to it so updating is instant without needing to hunt for the pen. We know exactly what is in the freezer and where - no more rummaging through 5 drawers and then realising you've already eaten the thing you were looking for.

Pre-packed gym, swim and pilates bags by the door. Swimming costumes and towels washed, dried and stored together so as soon as I come back I take the wet one out and put a dry bundle in, same.with immediately replacing pilates or gym socks. Because they are instantly ready to go, I do go.

You can also get sponges actually filled with soap.

I have one socket underneath my dressing table, very inconvenient having to scrabble about to change plugs. I bought a multi plug long thing with a 2 metre cable and switch, using double sided tape I stuck it on the side of the dressing table next to where I sit with the swich nearest to me. I get so much pleasure every time I sit down, flick the switch and the hairdryer, straighteners and lights all come on at once. I also know that everything's switched off when the lights go off.

Recently discovered how miraculous Elbow Grease spray is

A microfiber swiffer sweeping thing from Amazon , floors swept in seconds just hoover the microfiber head et voila!

Muji carpet lint rollers for furniture and clothing, the best you can get and lasts ages

Ottoman storage beds

They are what I want to replace! And should have done when we changed the kitchen last year (which was from 1977!)