Small and simple tips to make life easier No2

[IAmKerplunk]

Hope nobody minds me starting a new thread? I am finding it very helpful!

Found it.

Yay! Thank you.
Now we just sit and wait for others to give us their fabulous tips 🤣

I keep the children’s school uniform in the downstairs utility room. Once it comes out of the dryer it can go straight in the cupboard, and as they get dressed downstairs anyway it saves a lot of hassle! I keep some underwear there as well. Each child has a shelf and it’s honestly helped loads

I don’t have a utility room but my school age dc have a drawer where there are sets of uniform all together - so trousers, top, tank top and underwear all in together.

We don’t allow laundry to hang around - the minute it s dry it is put on the kitchen table and each dc is expected to take it up to their room and put away. Their pile is on ‘their’ space on the kitchen table so if they haven’t moved it by dinner time they have nowhere to eat 🤣

I keep a big fold out hanging toiletries bag fully stocked for the full family at all times - mostly with travel sizes but it's big enough to take a few full size too. There's always a laundry bag, phone charger, reading glasses and a book in my holdall too, makes a last minute trip so much easier.

Ooh watching /thanks!

Yay new thread! Place marking with a not particularly genius tip - I bought our schoolchild two identical lunchboxes and water bottles. Much easier to manage and keep clean!

I am organising my late DH’s tools.

I have shoe boxes on the garage shelf labelled. Screwdrivers. Cutting. Spanner’s. Allen keys. Hammers. Etc

then I put all his screwdrivers on the table and I chose two good quality of each screwdriver, plus some unusual ones and some tiny ones and I put those in the box. Then I looked at all the ones that were really knackered and I threw them in the bin. The rest really should’ve followed the ones that went in the bin, but I couldn’t do that so they went in a zip lock bag and they’ve gone in his big tool chest as spares.

I then applied this method or similar to all the other tools. I now have a neat shelf with easy to access tools and other things like usable mastic and glue is in another box.

We have a business where we would need to take tools to it and I have a small crate in the garage which I then all put of things I think I might need for a job I’m attending. I’m trying to be organised so that when I come back from that job I re-file everything that was in the crate.(DH lugged the huge toolbox to jobs. I can’t even lift it)

I also took a very large clear plastic make-up storage cube and put a set of screwdrivers, marking pens, duct tape, scissors, blue tack, couple of pencils and pens, et cetera which I now keeping my boot of my car for using at work related locations that I might be at without realising I may need tools.

I took the doors of dc2’s cupboard (basically a built in wardrobe area). The doors were annoying (small room) and it was dark-ish even with the light on. Now dc2 can see all his stuff. I got him a little step stool so he can independently reach the stuff at the top.

One Kallax box is exactly the size of one load of laundry for my machine. We have a unit in the hallway and two of the boxes are for laundry. As soon as a box is full, the machine goes on. One load a day or every other, plus sheets and towels, and I'm no longer drowning. I think having a bigger laundry basket in the past used to make my life weirdly more difficult - when it was full, it was several loads, plus heavy.

I'm also a slattern and never, ever sort whites from darks/colours. (And nothing has ever gone wrong...)

I have loved reading all these tips. Picked up a few new ones and patted myself on the back when I've read some that I already use.

I have a cupboard front over my boiler, which is in my Utility, so it can't be seen. On it is the TO Do list for DH.

Also in my Utility, DH has put up a suspended pole over the sink. I use this for all my laundry things (see pic) and it's great.

I have dividers in my sock drawer, so my socks are sorted by colour. Saves so much time.
Sure there are lots of others but I can't think at the minute.

When we moved house, our new house had a wooden clothes pulley on the ceiling of the utility room. It can take a full load of laundry and once its pulled up you can still get to the rest of the room easily. Far more useful than a floor standing clothes horse for drying inside. I had never seen one before.

Yes I have a Sheila Maid at the other end of my Utility. They are brilliant for drying inside.

Also called a Maiden. I'd love one but fine have the right space and/or ceiling for one.

I have a well-stocked stationery bureau. I love the stuff so often buy souvenir pencils, notebooks etc.
The lid folds down to be a wrapping station, assorted notebooks, gift bags or printer paper are in the drawers and school supplies, tape etc are in the pigeonholes.
I also have a good quality hole punch, stapler and tape dispenser.
It means everything is THERE and not scattered around the house. Great for the days when they need a new rubber and a glue stick at 7:30!

Dry clothes on hangers so the creases fall out and you can put them straight back. Only iron if absolutely necessary.
Light a candle to eliminate cooking smells like cabbage or fish.

Place marking. Loving the tips.

@IAmKerplunk Have you got a link to the first thread? I think I missed it and this one looks fab.

We have a school uniform drawer for each DC as well, saves scrabbling around all over the place for socks etc.

My best tips are-

Have multiples of often used items - lipbalms, chargers, scissors, nailclippers, hair ties, mascara, anti bac spray, and have them dotted around the house, car, in various bags etc.

A little drop off point near front door for keys, hairbrush, hand cream.

I have adhd so need to see things and store things where I use them.

I have recently been planning an open wardrobe, and in the meantime I have a nice open basket with all gym clothes in that I can just grab from and go, which is working really well.

Do a load of washing every day

Never iron, hang stuff to dry on hangers

Regularly declutter and put bag straight in car for next time you're passing charity shop. Less stuff = less decisions and maintenance

If you have grass growing up between patio stones and pavement slabs, pour boiling water over them. It really works.

@SatinHeart https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/housekeeping/5578969-what-small-household-fixes-have-made-everyday-life-noticeably-easier?page=10

Great threads, thanks!

My top tip are

Battery storage bag. Great to have them all in one place, no more hunting for batteries and you can see at a glance when a particular size is running low.
Tanness 140 Battery Organizer Storage Case with Tester - Large Capacity Shockproof Holder Bag for AA, AAA, 9V, C & D Sizes - Portable Travel Organizer (Batteries Not Included) : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Garage storage. Ikea PAX frames (50cms wide), tall ones to make the most of the height. No need for doors, and arrange with pull-out baskets and drawers. Great for wrapping paper, ribbon, tools, etc. You can see at a glance what is where and easy to get to.

Wall-mounted drying clothes airer/rack that folds in when not in use. Pop up high where there is space (utility room, etc). Hang to dry straight on hangers and into wardrobes when dry.
Youyijia Foldable Clothes Airer Wall Mounted Clothes Airer Retractable Clothes Drying Rack for Indoor and Outdoor Use : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

I made a little cut-out cardboard template of my house number and then use spray paint to mark any bins/recycling boxes/bags as necessary. They sit next to each other in my shed.

Looks very neat and takes a few seconds per receptacle. I get antsy when I see freehand numbers scrawled and all drippy on other bins!

I quite like my freehand numbers. I used a tube of acrylic paint from an unused painting set one of my DC were given years ago so no drips.

Well done💐☺️