10 Things: Savvy Shortcuts

Amid all we do, working in some shortcuts can make things simplified and speedy.  It’s not rocket science; it’s just an attempt to cut out unneeded steps to smooth out the design of the everyday tasks around the home.

 1.  Keep hosiery and lingerie bags in the bottom of your dirty clothes hampers.  When you sort your laundry for washing, there are the bags, ready for filling.  When they come out of the dryer, drop them right back in the dirty clothes hamper.  

2.  Store cleaning basics – disinfecting wipes, spray, scrub brushes, glass cleaner, and paper towels – in each bathroom cabinet under the sink.  Instead of carting a carrier from room to room, having supplies right where you use them is the most streamlined method. 

3.  Fill a small bin with tool basics – hammer, screw drivers, pliers, a wrench, measuring tape, picture hanging supplies – and keep it inside in the laundry room or under the kitchen sink.  For basic jobs, it’s much handier than retrieving supplies from different cases in the garage.    

4.  Use wall hooks liberally throughout the house.  Whether you’re establishing a place to hang tomorrow’s outfit components in each closet, hang key rings right inside the back door, hang pet leashes in the entry, or hang each bathroom user’s bath towel individually, each designated spot is easy for retrieving and putting away your items. 

5.  Keep a decorative throw blanket over the arm of a living room sofa or chair and one draped at the foot of the bed.  No need to hunt in the linen closet when you’re chilly right now. 

6.  Use a boot tray at your family’s home entrance to store outdoor shoes too dirty to return to the closets.  No piling or tracking necessary.    

7.  Fold trash bags and keep a few in the base of each trash bin.  When the full one comes out, the replacement is right there in the bottom, ready for placement.

8.  Arrange your kitchen cabinet contents for WHERE you use the items.  Plates closest to the table, mugs closest to the coffee maker, glasses closest to the ice maker, and bakeware closest to the oven all mean ease of use when cooking and cleaning up. 

9.  Be mindful of refills before you actually need to restock items like toilet paper, paper towels, cosmetics, cleaning products, detergents, and so forth.  Always have the backup ready to go by keeping a running list and replenishing when a supply dips below half, not when it’s running on empty. 

10.  When you have a series of products to use, arrangement them in order of use from left to right for expedited, one-after-the-other grab-and-go.  Think about your arrangement of products in the shower, in the bathroom drawer, and in the laundry room cabinet.  Chronological structure can be the change you need to simplify.In.Just.About.Every.Room.       

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star April 28th.

 

 

         

That's a Wrap

Designing a thoughtful gift can be a special surprise for your gift recipient.  With Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and graduations in the months to come, plus a string of other gift-giving opportunities like birthdays and anniversaries throughout the year, it is always a good time to think ahead and be prepared with your wrapping paper at the ready.

Instead of scratching your head and trying to dream up the perfect singular gift, consider putting theme gifts together with multiple smaller items inside.  You can work off of one element to put you on the right track to a fitting theme, like a hobby, interest, or characteristic of your recipient.  A niece who loves to cook, a mom who enjoys travel, a grandson focused on a sport, or a friend who is known for his love of coffee can all be catalysts to putting together unique gifts that will be very well received.

For a cooking enthusiast, a stock pot filled with a new cookbook, silicone utensils, a meat thermometer, wooden trivet, and some dish towels would be a welcome addition to their kitchen.  For a baker, a new custom mold pan, like a muffin pan or pan for cake pops, with accessories such as foil baking cups or cake pop sticks, plus gel food coloring, colorful spatulas, a pretty apron, an egg timer, and icing tips and tools would help a recipient whip up a tasty batch of sweets.  An avid traveler would appreciate a small carry-on bag with a bag scale, earplugs, travel neck pillow, a set of toiletry bottles, and travel magazines, likely carrying them all aboard their next flight out. 

For someone with a love of the game, hone in on their sport of choice with some selection of equipment, safety items, athletic wear, or maybe even top it off with tickets to a sporting event.  If a gift recipient is known for truly enjoying something, like coffee or movies, pad their collection with a gift basket, bag, or bin with pieces that follow suit.  A coffee themed gift can be made up of an attractive mug, bag of flavored coffee, set of teaspoons, a box of raw sugar, cocktail napkins, or accessories for their own coffee brewer.  A movie lover would be thrilled to have a gift card to the theater or a movie rental service, plus boxes of candy and popcorn, a bottle of popcorn butter or powdered flavoring, a throw blanket for watching from home, and a few classic DVD favorites. 

The ribbon that wraps it all together is the thought you put into compiling a gift that sincerely represents them and shows how much you love them and are willing to share your creative flair for designer gift giving.     

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star April 21st.

 

 

 

    

What Is It Good For?

Items around the house, though typically designated for specific purposes, can often be repurposed for a variety of different uses.  Thinking through your options and putting some to new uses can make the tools you have that much more useful.

Let’s start with an easy one.  An abaca media basket is shaped and sold to hold DVDs in an organized, attractive form.  But take the same narrow, rectangular basket and let it hold a loaf of bread, snack items, boxed meals, or canned goods in the pantry.  On a bathroom counter, one can store rolled hand towels, wrapped decorative soaps, cosmetic products, or extra toilet paper rolls in the cabinet.  In a child’s room, media baskets can line up books on a shelf, diapers and wipes on a changing table, or small toys or puzzles in a cubby system.

A kitchen serving tray or cocktail tray can serve a meal away from the table or glasses of punch at a party.  But place one on a coffee table and corral your remotes and coasters in one orderly spot.  Make a tray on your foyer table the first stop for mail, car keys, and sunglasses when you walk through the door.  Use a tray in the home office for stacks of paper to restock the printer, magazines and catalogs for perusing, or a pretty collection of stationery, envelopes, stamps, and pens.  Stacked trays of the same size in the cabinets of a buffet or entertainment center can keep sets of placemats and napkins separated and neat.  A tray on a guest bed nightstand is a resting place for reading material, tissues, and an alarm clock.   

And the list doesn’t stop there.  Picture frames can double as trays, small bowls or tea cups can hold earrings and bracelets, cake stands can be risers for table centerpiece components, and flat sheets or tablecloths can double as drapery panels.  Decorative drawer pulls can be mounted as wall hooks, magazine files can also be an office filing system or craft paper sorters, and a metal beverage tub can turn into toy or sports equipment storage.

Repurpose everyday items to put what you have to good use.  Decorations and household goods can often have a storage component to them.  Playing double duty can bring form and function into the stylish mix. 

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star April 14th.

 

 

 

A Grand Garage

Your days attached at the hip to the lawn mower have gotten more frequent.  The potting mix grounding those bright blooms is leaving a trail to the backyard.  And the tools needed for your latest home project are not as handy as you’d like.  Now that spring has sprung, your maintenance command center – also known as your garage – could use its own overhaul.  Tackling this project can be a sweat-inducing undertaking, but it’s far better than a garage that always looks like a hot mess.

Most garages end up being the household catch-all.  The first step to a garage makeover is to remove the excess.  If you have unused items that could be donated, round them up and let them move on.  If you are storing items, such as seasonal decorations, that could go in sight-unseen storage like your attic space, gather them, contain them properly, and carry them up the fold-down ladder.  Let the garage do its job: hold the family vehicles, sports gear, and tools related to all sorts of home maintenance.  When you pare down, you open up a lot of space saving possibilities.    

Because space is limited, use that perimeter around your parking spaces to the best of its ability.  That means taking things vertically and maximizing your storage space from garage floor to ceiling.  Shelving systems you put together can be lined up next to each other and provide shelf after shelf of storage space.  Back the cars out and use the open floor area to sort your keeper items into categories before filing in your shelves.  Stack the paint cans together.  Use breathable bins to house bottles and bags of weed killer, insect granules, potting soil, and the like.  Keep your cordless tools in their carrying cases with bins next to them for all the accessories like drill bits and battery chargers.  Use clear plastic storage containers with lids to hold extra paper towel and toilet paper rolls to free up the laundry room cabinet space.  Use mounted wall organizer strips to line up tools like your broom, mop, rake, and other garden tools.  Roll up extension chords and garden hoses in individual bins to avoid tangles and knots.  Mount racks to hold sports equipment up on the wall and use open air bins or large crates to keep sports gear rounded up.  Save designated areas for larger items like the mower, edger, large ice chests, trash container, and recycling bins.         

Find a place for everything and keep everything in its place with the right tools for your tools in an organized, compartmentalized garage fit for showing off each time that double door raises. 

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star April 7th.