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Forum -> Household Management
Simple things that make a big difference



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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 7:12 am
What have you done that has significantly improved your home or how it runs?

It can be something to improve your house like putting spots in your living room or carpeting your steps.

Or something small but significant - like organizing plastic silverware in a small 3 drawer sterilite - no more silverware spilling all over everytime someone takes a spoon! Or hanging a plastic shoe divider with pockets on the door of the coat closet for hats, gloves, and masks.
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busy mommy




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 8:09 am
1. I always had a hamper in every room but now I just bought another set of hampers for my laundry room. I used to have clean unfolded laundry in the hampers and my kids did not have where to throw their dirty laundry
2. I designated a drawer in my kitchen for dish towels so I don't have to go upstairs to my linen closet everytime I need a fresh dish towel.
3. We just built a toy closet for the playroom and I had them do a double door closet and a single door closet so I can keep games and toys separate and most importantly I can lock the game closet from my younger kids.
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gold2




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 12:38 pm
not sure if this answers your question but a tip which I received from yael wiesner is to clear up one item every time you leave a room, eg when in the kitchen remove some shoes that don't belong there. it helps a lot to remove clutter without having to schedule loads of time to do it
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silverlining3




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 12:49 pm
An over the door drying hanger. No more clothing hanging all around the house.
https://www.amazon.com/Honey-C.....psc=1



This is something I'm looking now into buying. I feel it will make a huge difference, no more torn boxes and game pcs all over in the closet.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G.....TZTEJ
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amother
Wheat


 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 2:16 pm
I bought a bunch of laundry baskets, and I sort my laundry by person after it's done. That way if I don't have time to fold it, we're only looking through one basket.
Not specifically household related, but made a big difference to me, I bought all my kids and mp3 player and I loaded it up with music of their choice. Now, when we go away in the car or anywhere there's no fighting over CDs and DH and I don't have to listen to CDs if we don't want to
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amother
Scarlet


 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 6:12 pm
The trouble is that once I get used to my new "patent" (pronounced paTENT)--what is now called a "hack"--I forget that it was a paTENT and that we didn't always do things this way, and then I'm not so excited about it any more.

Put two big binder clips side by side on the edge of my linen closet shelf. The space between the two clips holds my vacuum cleaner wand upright. Before, every time the closet door was opened, the wand would fall out. I put the odd attachments that don't self-store on the vacuum unit itself in a small canvas bag with a strap and hung it in the closet, so I always know where the attachments are.

Repurposed a desktop file organizer to "file" frying pans and casseroles edgewise in my cabinet instead of piling them haphazardly on top of each other.

Put a small tumbler in my medicine chest to store vertically all those long skinny items like thermometer, nail clipper, nail file, tube of antibiotic ointment etc.

Bought a few folding wooden "tv snack trays" which get used for all kinds of things. Lay a board across them and there's a workbench or desk. Behind the balebos at the seder, they hold extra seder supplies that don't fit on the kearah. In the transitional days just before pesach when the kitchen is basically unusable and we eat in the hall, they become our dining "table".

A wall-mounted coat rack in our entryway serves as a place for guests to hang coats, since our coat closet is nowhere near the entry. During the week we use the pegs to hang bags for each class of recyclables, so our recycling is already sorted and the bags just have to be emptied into the proper bins.

A long-necked squeeze bottle for watering plants. I'm vertically challenged and we have plants hanging from our high ceilings, which meant climbing a ladder to water the plants. No more.

When planning to bake, I pre-measure the dry ingredients and store in covered containers so they're all ready to go when I'm ready to bake.

Separate laundry baskets or hampers for different categories of laundry so it's already sorted and I can see at a glance if there's enough for a load.

Wash hand laundry like bras and pantyhose when I take a shower and hang them to dry on plastic hangers over the tub.

My all time favorite emergency hack was when our upstairs neighbor had repeated leaks into our bathroom. I opened up a big umbrella, turned it upside down and placed it in the tub at just the right angle to catch and direct the flow of water into the tub instead of having it stream all over the floor.

Butternut squash or any other hard yellow-orange squash makes a fine substitute for pumpkin in baked goods
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amother
Cobalt


 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 6:23 pm
For pesach I got one year a couple of sets of plastic keter drawers. I didn't need to empty so much space in the kitchen.
When yom tov is over, I store the things in there, cove with plastic and put it away and assemble it next year.

I have a sholom bayis drawer in the kitchen. All little and important things go in there. Pens, notelets, tape, screwdriver, plasters and all the things you never find when you need them.

Scissors are tied on an elastic string and never get lost
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amother
Babypink


 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 6:26 pm
Lazy Susans in every cabinet! A bunch of them!


And a Roomba!
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baked ziti




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 7:04 pm
A big decorative basket in my coat closet for returns.
A container of spare school supplies. I bought glues, sharpeners, erasers, notebooks....in large packs. No more last minute emergencies.
Lists of pantry and freezer items that are updated weekly so I don't end up wasting space on multiples of any items. I also plan my meals around things I actually have in the house and want to use up.
Dunno how novel these hacks are but they were a game changer for me.
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amother
cornflower


 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 7:19 pm
Mini command hooks on the inside of my cabinet door to hang each measuring spoon individually. Now I see clearly if one is missing!
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Shabbosiscoming




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 7:41 pm
A remote control for outlets. Best $15 I ever spent. My living room in my apartment doesn't have overhead lights, so I have lamps tucked in corners with on/off switches in hard to reach places. Now I can just use the remote like I would use a light switch
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amother
Green


 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 7:50 pm
LAUNDRY HACK:
(This works when your kids are a certain age. E.g. half of them old enough to put away laundry)
Each room has a laundry basket (or two, light & dark)

I did a load for their room & put the clean basket back in their room. The older kid in each room was responsible to put away his or her laundry, and that of the younger sib. (YES: boys can put away laundry!!!)

Note, this is hard for my cleaning lady to learn, but there are two types of containers. Hampers (plastic or popups) which are upright and contain DIRTY laundry. Laundry baskets, which are more horizontal, for clean items. Otherwise I can find a hamper or basket in the room & not know if she washed it or not!

Actually, having the cleaning help do laundry was an einfal (revelation!) that I must one day remember to thank someone for. I had help do floors, bathrooms, & even ironing (bec that's what my Mom's help did) etc but never thought of having them wash, dry & fold. Once went to pick up or drop off s/t at a neighbor's house & saw her help doing laundry & I thought, OMG what an idea! Of course probably to most people this is basic if you have enough hours of help.
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lamplighter




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jan 10 2021, 8:40 pm
These are not hacks but systems that work for my family.
Everyone has a bucket for their shoes (in the closet under their hook.
I keep a basket at the bottom/top of the steps for things that need to be brought down or up.
I have one set of hampers that are presorted and do one load a day. Kids come to get their laundry when its down and bring to their room. They do it on their way to bed and its usually not much.
I have garbage cans in every room.
A set of cleaning supplies including garbage bags and brooms/mops on each floor
I make a menu for the week but its based on an outline we follow always.
I prepare enough bottles for a 24 hr period. So no prep. At the end of the day, I make a new set.
I have a shabbos drawer. It has everything to set the shabbos table with (aside for actual china/glasses/cutlery). Like tableclothes, washing towels, napkin holder, benchers, challah board challah knife, candles etc.

Thats off the top of my head
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