Since staying in is now the new going out – I have teamed up with interior website thatsclever.co.uk to share some top tips on how to maximise your space and look after your home during the lockdown period and beyond.
Millions of other people are like me, with a business to run and clients to take care of. Juggling this alongside a partner and kid to support, it’s no wonder many of us struggle to set aside enough time for the proper upkeep of our homes. Even if you don’t have much time, you can still maintain a home effectively – as these ‘hacks’ from ‘That’s Clever’ show. Here are a few things I have picked up since spending more time at home in 2021 and possibly the year to come.
Source your food more economically
There are various ways to save money on food. You can, for example, try growing some of your food, as Family Handyman suggests. In the long term, this can help you save money – but you would also be well-advised to plan your food shopping carefully and in advance. Another way is to determine exactly what meals my family and I will consume across the week. With a written schedule of meals for the week, we can easily avoid buying food our household doesn’t need. It also means less waste and no unnecessary runs out to the supermarket.
Use essential oils to polish furniture
This isn’t one I was aware of until now, but if you’ve run out of furniture polish, you don’t necessarily have to rush to get some more. That’s because, even if you see unsightly stains and blotches on your wooden furniture, lemon essential oil quickly allows us to polish any dark wood and effectively clean stains and spots as Best Life explains. Bear in mind, you shouldn’t use this trick on surfaces where food is prepared, as many essential oils cannot be safely consumed.
Use ice cubes to remove candle wax from furniture
I love lighting candles so this is another another handy tip to keep in mind – if you spill candle wax on furniture in your home, attempting to scrape the wax off is one technique that isn’t recommended. The ice-cube method referred to here involves filling a plastic bag with ice cubes before placing it over the wax, where the bag should be left to sit for a few minutes. Wax that has cooled and hardened enough as a result can then be easily removed without risking ruining the furniture’s finish. Ta-da!
Be strategic with how you store items in your kitchen
There are quite a few different ways you can be nifty with your kitchen space. For example, if your kitchen counters are starting to run out of storage space, you could fix some shelves to your kitchen walls as extra storage. Meanwhile, you could assign specific shelves to specific types of items and tidy them regularly.
Place battery-powered, rather than wired, lights outside
Let there be light! One problem with adding traditional, wired lighting to your home’s outdoor space is that you would need to call an electrician to do the job for you and carry out complex rewiring work. Battery-powered lights, on the other hand, can be much easier to put in place. It’s not hard to find a wide range of battery-powered lights for sale online, either. The online store That’s Clever offers motion-sensing lights that can be set up with little fuss.
What do you think of these tips and tricks – will you consider using any of these in future?
