What is a "Hack" you ask?
Well, it's defined as a clever, ingenious or out-of-the-ordinary way of solving a problem in your life. Thinking "out of the box" if you will, that simplifies your life.
I've come up with solutions that I like to call Domestic Hacks.
Though my kitchen is of a decent size, it lacks enough storage. There are 5 doors or doorways into/out of my kitchen, taking up precious wall space where cabinets should/could be. Plus one whole wall is a half wall with a heating unit smack dab in the center of it, so no room to put any kind of storage unit/shelf/cabinet there either. I do have a dining room hutch/cabinet combo but the cabinet part holds serving dishes, china and silverware. There is no free space left in that piece of furniture either.
My problem is where to put my many kitchen table tablecloths when they are not in use. I have a collection of seasonal tablecloths I like to cover my glass topped kitchen table with. If you have ever viewed one of my shopping trip post photos, you've seen at least one of the cloths in question here.
But I have no place to store the cloths not in use at the moment. Even folded up flat, they do take up precious room I can't spare.
So I store the tablecloths not being used at the moment ON the table!
I currently have 5 layers of tablecloth on my kitchen table.....
Since it's Spring, the flowered cloth is visible on top.
But lurking underneath are 3 Winter themed cloths that are not specifically Christmas and 1 Fall cloth. I just rotate them to the top of the stack depending on the season.
Easy solution, right?lol
I saved some storage space, expended little energy, saved time getting cloths in and out of their storage place and I didn't have to spend any money to solve my problem.
Just one of my many "Domestic Hacks".
Do you have any Hacks you have come up with?
Sluggy
Well, it's defined as a clever, ingenious or out-of-the-ordinary way of solving a problem in your life. Thinking "out of the box" if you will, that simplifies your life.
I've come up with solutions that I like to call Domestic Hacks.
Though my kitchen is of a decent size, it lacks enough storage. There are 5 doors or doorways into/out of my kitchen, taking up precious wall space where cabinets should/could be. Plus one whole wall is a half wall with a heating unit smack dab in the center of it, so no room to put any kind of storage unit/shelf/cabinet there either. I do have a dining room hutch/cabinet combo but the cabinet part holds serving dishes, china and silverware. There is no free space left in that piece of furniture either.
My problem is where to put my many kitchen table tablecloths when they are not in use. I have a collection of seasonal tablecloths I like to cover my glass topped kitchen table with. If you have ever viewed one of my shopping trip post photos, you've seen at least one of the cloths in question here.
But I have no place to store the cloths not in use at the moment. Even folded up flat, they do take up precious room I can't spare.
So I store the tablecloths not being used at the moment ON the table!
I currently have 5 layers of tablecloth on my kitchen table.....
Since it's Spring, the flowered cloth is visible on top.
But lurking underneath are 3 Winter themed cloths that are not specifically Christmas and 1 Fall cloth. I just rotate them to the top of the stack depending on the season.
Easy solution, right?lol
I saved some storage space, expended little energy, saved time getting cloths in and out of their storage place and I didn't have to spend any money to solve my problem.
Just one of my many "Domestic Hacks".
Do you have any Hacks you have come up with?
Sluggy
Hmm...I'm sure there are some. One I can think of is extra large platters, holiday platters, etc. I really have nowhere to store them, so I put them on the tops of my cabinets. I have the kind of cabinet that has about 8-12 inches of space between their tops and the ceiling.
ReplyDeleteI just lay them flat up there, out of sight, but before I do, I wrap them in plastic wrap. That way they aren't covered in greasy kitchen dust the next time I need them. I just unwrap them, give them a quick rinse with plain water, wipe them dry and they're ready to go.
Somehow that feels like cheating. Love it!
ReplyDeleteYour Friend, m.
Ok, you are my mom, she did this all the time!
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty clever solution.
ReplyDeleteUntil there's a spill and you get to wash all 5 layers!
My step-mother used to fold her tablecloths so that they hung over a pants hanger and hung them from a closet rod. Less wrinkles that way.
Oh! Here is my domestic hack for you. When I fold my towels and hand towels I fold them so that they are ready to hang on the towel rack rather than the traditional way and then have to re-fold them to hang them up.
What happens when you spill something on the table?
ReplyDeleteMy whole life is one big hack...
One of my favorite storage tricks is to put a magnetic curtain rod (they make them for steel doors) on the side of the fridge so I can hang things from it. I store my table cloths and spare/clean dishrags on towel racks I have screwed into various walls in the kitchen.
I located the litter box on the bottom level of a built in shelf and I hung a curtain in front of it so you can't see it.
The downstairs bathtub (claw foot) holds all of our cleaning supplies.
I put S hooks on curtain rods to hang my jello molds on.
And of course, every doorknob is an auxiliary clothes hanger!
I could go on and on...
What a great idea!!! I love it :) I can't honestly say I have any creative domestic hacks at the moment. If I think of anything, I'll come back and post it.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea!! I wish I actually HAD a tablecloth that fit my table. I am a hack at Christmas time when I use two tablecloths to actually FIT my table...
ReplyDeleteAnnieJ--Lucky you having that head space!
ReplyDeleteMark--Sometimes cheating is a Good thing.lol
Marilyn--I'll take that as a compliment, ok?lol
LisaPie--I forgot to say that all 5 cloths are vinyl, so no spilling worries. I'd be crazy to put plain fabric cloths on the everyday table with 3 kids, right? ;-)
AlexM--I remember your litter box hack...good one! When we use to live in an older home, I had lots of domestic hacks like you.
Pretty--We'll be here waiting...
McVal--I have to do that too at the Holidays on my dining room table.lol
Good job and so ingenious! I love hacks like that!
ReplyDelete