Play the Kitchen Game

I find that waiting in the kitchen for things like the kettle to boil, the microwave to ping or the washing machine to finish tends to be dead time when there is just a few minutes left.  There's no point in going elsewhere to do anything - by the time I get there, the time will be up and I just will have to go back to whatever it was I was doing in the kitchen.  So I just hang around, waiting.

But I spotted a good way to take advantage of this time - play the kitchen 'game'! Grab a cloth and see how much you can wipe down, put clean dishes, glasses and crockery away, empty the recycling, anything that yu can quickly do to tidy just a little. And stop whenever what you are waiting for has finished! You'll be amazed to see how much can be accomplished with little effort and in very little time.

Label your Cables

Okay, this one, if you think about it, seems obvious.  But I haven't yet done it and I should, and I will.

How many chargers and USB cords and cables do you have around the house? I have many. And I don't know what they all do until I test them.  So I am going to label them!  You can get special ones from Amazon and everything!

Storing Kitchen Food Bags & Foil

Boxes of food bags, cling film, foil, wax paper etc tend to get thrown under the sink in this house.  They then get pushed to the back of the cupboard and I can't find them, or they get squashed or everything starts falling out of them and there is a big mess of plastic and paper.

So a top tip is to use a magazine rack to store the boxes in - either in the cupboard or attached to the door.  And, even better, you could use a few of them to store other 'under the sink' items tidily and efficiently.  Brilliant!

Funny Top Tip!

Good housekeeping?

Keeping the car clean & tidy

Travelling by car means there is always rubbish by the end of it, whether it be car park tickets, food packets, tissues etc etc and it's really annoying to not have anywhere to store it during the journey.  A nice idea is to use a spare cereal container, line with a plastic bag, and place in one of the footrests.  It can then be easily used but also sealed to stop spills and smells, and then items dispensed of quickly and effortlessly at the end of the trip.

Storing shoes

I have quite a few pairs of shoes* and I know I need to think of neater ways to store them than thrown to the bottom of the cupboard, plonked in the hall or just dropped wherever I decide to remove them. So I've found two ways that may work, but they both will take a little time and investment.

The first is to store them in cardboard shoe boxes, with a photo of the shoes on the front of the box.

The second is to invest in some clear plastic boxes, so you can see which shoes are in which box.

With both methods, the boxes can then be stacked neatly in a cupboard or a shelf for easy access!

* Slight understatement.....

Storing and transporting gadget cords

I've found that, more and more often, I am having to bring with me cords and chargers and headphones (oh my!) for my various electrical gadgets. It's really annoying to have them all bundled at the bottom of my bag, getting tangled and confused and ultimately, the plastic coating getting torn and broken.

So I have a lot of cords.  But I also have quite a lot of spare glasses cases.  So a top tip is to use a glasses case to store the cords in! I can wrap the cords round tidily, place in the case and they are protected and easy to access.

Hanging clothes without slippage

It's really annoying when I am hanging clothes and they keep slipping off the hangers. No matter what I do or how I wrap them round, nothing seemed to work - until I found this simple top tip! Wrap a rubber band around each end of the hanger and this provides a simple ridge to stop the slippage.  Problem solved!

Cleaning Skirting Boards

I find skirting boards are a real faff to try to keep clean - it seems that no matter how often I wipe them, they are always gunky!

So a tip I've found is to use tumble dryer sheets to wipe them with.  The dust and dirt collects on the cloth without smudging or sticking, to produce lovely, clean skirting boards!

You don't have to buy any special ones - just use the ones you may have already, or buy supermarket own brands!