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What small household fixes have made everyday life noticeably easier?

192 replies

HardyPinkPanda · Today 00:45

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 😂

OP posts:
Thread gallery
14
sueelleker · Today 10:47

HardyPinkPanda · Today 09:42

Honestly I have wanted a tumble dryer for years but we are already short on kitchen space and every time I mentioned it DH said it wasn't possible plus too expensive to run, blah blah...
With winter looming, this time I just decided that wasn't an acceptable answer. There was one single cupboard unit next to the washing machine and in the end it was easy just to pull out. Plumbing and electrics have been more of a challenge though. I just couldn't face another winter of banisters and radiators filled, and me constantly turning items like they were cooking, just to try and speed up drying time. Kill me now!

I have a condenser dryer, which lives in the spare room. No plumbing needed.

Greenjersey · Today 10:48

We have a tiny kitchen and were fast running out of storage. I bought a narrow wardrobe 2nd hand, painted it to match the kitchen and added shelves. Now stores veg at the bottom, dog food, biscuits and other assorted stuff. Cost £25 and makes a great larder.
Tupperware is the bane of my life! I have loads of lids and no boxes. My adult daughters must have cupboards full of them. Off to buy a load of takeaway containers from amazon.

godmum56 · Today 10:53

sueelleker · Today 10:47

I have a condenser dryer, which lives in the spare room. No plumbing needed.

same here. I gather the new heat pump ones don't need plumbing either. The water from my current condenser dryer is used on plants.

Choccyp1g · Today 10:53

HardyPinkPanda · Today 10:02

The foil/cling film thing... does this cut them? I HATE dealing with cling film, trying to find the end and then trying to cut it in a straight line when you've found it.. A few tantrums have been had! Does the end thread through something?

I looked excitedly at the reviews, and it seems it doesn't cut well. Some people gave 5stars with comments like "looks very smart, but the cutter broke/ felloff/ doesn't cut"

FinallyHere · Today 10:54

This thread makes me so happy, thank you lovely people.

A pair of sissors in every location where you might need a pair. No going hunting anymore

Desk drawer, kitchen drawer, dressing table drawer. With the wrapping paper, with the toolbox, with the sewing kit. By my bed.

Seasidewalker · Today 10:56

FinallyHere · Today 10:54

This thread makes me so happy, thank you lovely people.

A pair of sissors in every location where you might need a pair. No going hunting anymore

Desk drawer, kitchen drawer, dressing table drawer. With the wrapping paper, with the toolbox, with the sewing kit. By my bed.

Yes! Definitely lots of scissors- ikea multipack is fine.

TheProvincialLady · Today 10:57

JudgeJ · Today 09:53

My late OH did this with socks, black for winter, autumn soring and he bought some lighter coloured ones for summer as black socks look stupid with lighter shoes. However after numerous washes the colour of the black ones seemed to degrade over time.

Yes we have done this for many years but the socks always end up different shades of black/grey and don’t match after a while. That’s because pairs don’t get washed together so individual socks get washed more/less often and with different quantities of washing liquid/dried on the line vs in the house etc.

Silverbirchleaf · Today 10:57

Only just started reading this thread, but Tupperware boxes for me also. I used to stack the boxes inside one another (to save space), and store all the lids together. Now I keep the lids on each box and stack them on top of each other.

Dog food - stopped using frozen food that you had to defrost, and use ordinary dog food. Makes life so much easier.

Badbadbunny · Today 10:57

Decluttering and organisation does it for me. The old adage of "a place for everything and everything in it's place!" Took a while to "train" DH and DS, but we all got there in the end!

I have lots of storage, i.e. cupboards, drawers, etc., insisted on divan beds with drawers underneath which are a game changer for spare duvets/pillows/bedding etc that are kept under the bed they are for. Organised wardrobes with Summer/Winter sections and integral shelves/drawers. A cupboard for outdoor clothes and shoes by the front door so they don't "infiltrate" inside the house. Designated drawers for things like stationery (pens, paper, envelopes, stapler, hole punch, sellotape, stamps, etc), another drawer for minor DIY stuff like batteries, bulbs, screwdriver set, pliers, insulation tape, fuses, tape measure, etc, a drawer for "mending" containing sewing kits, ribbon, elastic, patches, etc. Kitchen organised into drawers and cupboards, i.e. a cupboard for tinned goods, a cupboard for packets, cutlery drawer, drawer for things like kebab skewers, tin opener, etc., one cupboard for glassware, another for cups, another for crockery, etc. Also drawer for electricals such as chargers/charging leads, phone battery packs, earphones, etc. I also have an upstairs and downstairs "cleaning" cupboard with duplicates of things like polish, dusters, sprays, loo cleaners, even two vacuum cleaners - one up, one down - massively reduces the time wasted going up and down stairs!!

Nothing goes in the "wrong" cupboard!

DH now has a very well organised garage where he has all kinds of tools, all in cupboards and drawers (like I said, I trained him well!), and some "professional" tool boxes on castors with drawers etc (like they have in car workshops/garages), all his power tools are on shelves, cables all neatly rolled up, packets/boxes of things like saw blades, sand paper, etc all next to the matching power tool! Same in our garden shed with the gardening tools and equipment - everything hung up on hooks or on shelves.

Along with that, I am a big de-clutterer, and at least yearly have a big clear out, by going through all the drawers, shelves, cupboards, etc and being ruthless to either sell, charity or bin things we've not used that year. In between times, I get rid of things on a day by day basis that are broken, damaged, used up, etc. - there's virtually no chance of anyone picking up a dried up pen as we're all "trained" to ditch them when they start to dry up rather than just chuck them back in the drawer!

Re household repairs, etc., again, we do things as we notice them. Whoever turns on a light and it blows is the one to change the bulb, likewise fuses on electrical items. We keep "part used" tins of paint, so if there's a scuff or scratch on woodwork or a painted wall, we'll just get a paintbrush or roller and sort it out at the first convenient opportunity after we notice it. Likewise with things like electric switches, sockets, plugs, sink taps, sink wastes etc - if it's something whoever notices it can sort out, they do it - if it's bigger/complicated, we have a conflab and make a plan, whether it's time we need to DIY after buying what's needed, or (heaven forbid) get a tradesman in to sort it. But nothing gets left for more than a few days before it's either sorted by us or we arrange for tradesmen to come and look at it.

Same with our 3 cars. All organised inside, things like wipes, cloths, cash for car parks, sunglasses, tissues, pens/pencils/paper, bottles of water, insurance certificate, and road map, inside the car either in the glove box or door pockets. De-icer, rug, umbrella, tyre inflater, etc in the boot. All 3 washed and vacuumed every month.

We also have "go-bags" which are small canvas bags containing drinks and snacks which which "pick up and go" when we go out, if we think we may end up delayed etc., even for short journeys sometimes, i.e. crisps, bottle of water, snack bar, etc., and we'll usually pop in a piece of fruit on the way out. If we don't use it, we just bring them back, pop the fruit back in the fruit bowl and hang up ready for next time!

I've never had the time nor headspace to waste time searching for things, i.e. looking in random drawers/cupboards, looking "under" things or "on top" of things. Never had, ever since childhood. I need the certainty of knowing that whatever I need WILL be where I expect it to be. It's like an investment in time - yes, it takes up front time to be organised, with is a "time cost", but in the long term, you save so much more time by not wasting it looking for things, not having to "make do and mend" because you can't find the exact thing you need, not having to waste time/money making unnecessary trips to the shop to replace things you've lost/can't find, etc.

Mt563 · Today 10:58

A load of Ikea kuggis boxes (plastic with lids with a recess so they stack nicely) in various sizes, now those random collections/ things have homes: batteries have a box, receipts have a box, spare parts have a box, so much easier to find and also put things away.

I also use a lot of ikea skubb boxes (material, no lid) in drawers to organise things.

My main focus at the moment is finding a home for everything. Even if for now that means a box by the front door to dump school bags in.

Morepositivemum · Today 10:58

if our two toilet seats were changed(both wonky!), I think it’d do wonders for everyone’s sanity! Lifted from mn- toilet cleaner and spray in both bathrooms, all stuff for laundry and bin in the ultility room instead of under the sink!

ProcrastinatorsAnonymous · Today 11:00

This thread is heroic.

We have this tupperware set from Lakeland - square boxes of varying depths, but all have same size lid so can just stack them all up and grab any lid. Threw rest of mismatched / inherited / random tupperware out.
https://www.lakeland.co.uk/products/10-stack-a-boxes-food-storage-containers-750ml?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20891625552&gbraid=0AAAAADtoD6Omt2H9F6bQ76yW4t73AduRr&gclid=CjwKCAjw_KjVBhAHEiwAnC0N9FJhmACC1pOO06cJ9g4T5pAGfThCEjO-o9rslVtCFAx4el232caaLxoC1bIQAvD_BwE

Also - I bought a spare battery and spare filter for our cordless Dyson so can do entire house in one go and use boost function etc without worrying about battery. Battery or filter always needs changing at the most inconvenient time, so now I just grab the spare.

Loads of coat hooks, including child height

Each child has a dedicated box for their shoes - box then gets shoved under bench out of the way

Kids have similar-but-not-same sized feet, so ribbed socks for one child, non-ribbed for the other - easy to see whose socks are whose when sorting.

That Dry Soon dryer from Lakeland really is that good.

Got one of those zip-up storage bags from Ikea for wrapping paper, bows etc. In fact, we have two - one for Xmas one for birthdays.

Box full of generic kid and adult birthday cards ready to go

I buy a few decent generic kids gifts when I see them for a good price - try to buy thoughtful, specific gifts for birthday parties, but it takes the pressure off to know you have an emergency one if you forget / don't have time.

This is a luxury one, but we have a full height fridge, separate full height freezer and an additional freezer in the cellar. Eliminates fridge jenga and means we can batch cook and freeze A LOT. I also use the cellar freezer to freeze any vintage / Vinted purchases in case of moths and freeze knitwear before putting away. This will sound crazy to anyone who has never had a serious moth infestation - but take it from me, it is absolutely worth it to avoid ever having to deal with that again.

Another luxury one - built in joinery that properly fits the spaces and maximises storage. Particularly if you're in an old house with sloping attic ceilings, or high ceilings where you can maximise high storage. Also, above doorways can be a good place for an extra shelf - we used to have this above our bathroom door.

We book in a handyman once a year to whizz through a load of small jobs that build up - makes a huge difference. He can do in a day what would take us an entire bank holiday weekend and several arguments!

Dedicated box for lightbulbs with a list of the lights they are used for - and re-order as soon as you use up the last one.

Extra long phone charger

Pinboard for all the kids' timetables / party invitations etc

One of those Ikea kallax size boxes permanently on the go as a charity shop collection

Small toolbox of everyday things (screwdrivers, pliers, superglue etc) kept somewhere accessible rather than having to go to cellar where the main DIY stuff is

750ml Stack-a-Boxes Food Storage Containers – Lakeland

10 x 750ml Stack-a-Boxes Food Storage Containers & Lids. Colour-coded lids to stack when full & nest when empty. Dishwasher, microwave & freezer saf

https://www.lakeland.co.uk/products/10-stack-a-boxes-food-storage-containers-750ml?gad_campaignid=20891625552&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADtoD6Omt2H9F6bQ76yW4t73AduRr&gclid=CjwKCAjw_KjVBhAHEiwAnC0N9FJhmACC1pOO06cJ9g4T5pAGfThCEjO-o9rslVtCFAx4el232caaLxoC1bIQAvD_BwE

Badbadbunny · Today 11:01

@FinallyHere

A pair of sissors in every location where you might need a pair. No going hunting anymore

Yes! Duplicating/triplicating things makes life so much easier. It's why, on a bigger scale, I have two vacuums, one upstairs, one downstairs. But yes, I have several pairs of scissors, in the kitchen, a lounge drawer, a bedroom drawer, etc., likewise notepad and pen in kitchen, lounge and bedroom, in addition to those in our household stationery drawer.

viques · Today 11:01

Really simple.

A pair of scissors and a waste paper/ rubbish bin in every room. Plus even more scissors in the kitchen .

Ah, I see great minds at work here! The upstairs downstairs hoover is also a game changer, except that the downstairs one is a much better hoover so every so often I have to carry it upstairs 🙂

HardyPinkPanda · Today 11:05

sueelleker · Today 10:47

I have a condenser dryer, which lives in the spare room. No plumbing needed.

Due to way it needed to fit in, emptying the water was going to be an issue. Same with the fluff catcher which still will be a bit of an issue as it means removing the kitchen cupboard plinth every month. Its been a mission to get this in for us!

OP posts:
k1233 · Today 11:06

My dining room window looks into the garage - it's like a lattice sided carport with a small atrium near the window for light. A number of years back, I got tired of the vertical blind there and wanted a light linen curtain. Issue was you could see through to the car. So I got a frosted, static cling film and did the windows. Best thing ever. Get the light but can't see through.

What do I need to do? The hall light bulb was here prior to me moving in. I have been here 15 years. It's an old efficiency type - turn it on and need to wait for it to warm up before you can see properly. Annoys the bejimminies out of me and I need to change it. Same as the garage and front door bulbs. Why the delay? I'm an accident waiting to fall off a ladder. One memorable time, I was on the second rung. Forgot, thought I was on the first rung. Stepped down, stumbled badly because it was further than I'd thought. Stumbled backwards and got taken out at the knees by a large pot plant, crashed into the outdoor table and hit the ground, dislocating my collar bone. Not safe on ladders...

BlueSodaPop · Today 11:07

singthing · Today 08:42

I moved my food processor and laundry supplies into cupboards and shelves I could access without having to move 20 other things first. Now I just reach directly for them. Like you I have no idea why I put up with it for so many years.

I also got a rack like this for all my baking sheets and it is inordinately pleasing.

Just ordered the baking tray shelf, I currently have them falling out of the cupboard

Lovemycat2023 · Today 11:07

ThreadGuardDog · Today 09:00

I use one of those strong plastic suction hooks for my hairdryer. Works a treat and no drilling required.

Could you share which one please? Thanks

HardyPinkPanda · Today 11:08

ProcrastinatorsAnonymous · Today 11:00

This thread is heroic.

We have this tupperware set from Lakeland - square boxes of varying depths, but all have same size lid so can just stack them all up and grab any lid. Threw rest of mismatched / inherited / random tupperware out.
https://www.lakeland.co.uk/products/10-stack-a-boxes-food-storage-containers-750ml?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20891625552&gbraid=0AAAAADtoD6Omt2H9F6bQ76yW4t73AduRr&gclid=CjwKCAjw_KjVBhAHEiwAnC0N9FJhmACC1pOO06cJ9g4T5pAGfThCEjO-o9rslVtCFAx4el232caaLxoC1bIQAvD_BwE

Also - I bought a spare battery and spare filter for our cordless Dyson so can do entire house in one go and use boost function etc without worrying about battery. Battery or filter always needs changing at the most inconvenient time, so now I just grab the spare.

Loads of coat hooks, including child height

Each child has a dedicated box for their shoes - box then gets shoved under bench out of the way

Kids have similar-but-not-same sized feet, so ribbed socks for one child, non-ribbed for the other - easy to see whose socks are whose when sorting.

That Dry Soon dryer from Lakeland really is that good.

Got one of those zip-up storage bags from Ikea for wrapping paper, bows etc. In fact, we have two - one for Xmas one for birthdays.

Box full of generic kid and adult birthday cards ready to go

I buy a few decent generic kids gifts when I see them for a good price - try to buy thoughtful, specific gifts for birthday parties, but it takes the pressure off to know you have an emergency one if you forget / don't have time.

This is a luxury one, but we have a full height fridge, separate full height freezer and an additional freezer in the cellar. Eliminates fridge jenga and means we can batch cook and freeze A LOT. I also use the cellar freezer to freeze any vintage / Vinted purchases in case of moths and freeze knitwear before putting away. This will sound crazy to anyone who has never had a serious moth infestation - but take it from me, it is absolutely worth it to avoid ever having to deal with that again.

Another luxury one - built in joinery that properly fits the spaces and maximises storage. Particularly if you're in an old house with sloping attic ceilings, or high ceilings where you can maximise high storage. Also, above doorways can be a good place for an extra shelf - we used to have this above our bathroom door.

We book in a handyman once a year to whizz through a load of small jobs that build up - makes a huge difference. He can do in a day what would take us an entire bank holiday weekend and several arguments!

Dedicated box for lightbulbs with a list of the lights they are used for - and re-order as soon as you use up the last one.

Extra long phone charger

Pinboard for all the kids' timetables / party invitations etc

One of those Ikea kallax size boxes permanently on the go as a charity shop collection

Small toolbox of everyday things (screwdrivers, pliers, superglue etc) kept somewhere accessible rather than having to go to cellar where the main DIY stuff is

This is some next level stuff! I love the kallax charity idea. Stealing that!

OP posts:
sueelleker · Today 11:10

k1233 · Today 11:06

My dining room window looks into the garage - it's like a lattice sided carport with a small atrium near the window for light. A number of years back, I got tired of the vertical blind there and wanted a light linen curtain. Issue was you could see through to the car. So I got a frosted, static cling film and did the windows. Best thing ever. Get the light but can't see through.

What do I need to do? The hall light bulb was here prior to me moving in. I have been here 15 years. It's an old efficiency type - turn it on and need to wait for it to warm up before you can see properly. Annoys the bejimminies out of me and I need to change it. Same as the garage and front door bulbs. Why the delay? I'm an accident waiting to fall off a ladder. One memorable time, I was on the second rung. Forgot, thought I was on the first rung. Stepped down, stumbled badly because it was further than I'd thought. Stumbled backwards and got taken out at the knees by a large pot plant, crashed into the outdoor table and hit the ground, dislocating my collar bone. Not safe on ladders...

I did something similar. I was on the top step of a 2 step step-ladder, and missed the first one. Came down flat on my back, and had some very bruised ribs for a few weeks.

herbetta · Today 11:18

Pineneedlesincarpet · Today 08:17

This thread is incredible. The tupperware same size one and the sock one has blown my mind.

I wish I had some tips. My house is utter chaos.

Home Bargains has some good / cheapest ones that fit this bill.