Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trapped in a DCUM miserable, sexless marriage for the sake of the kids. DH died. Donated/sold all of his crap. House is so much easier and nicer to keep clean.

If DH did die, I'm sorry for your loss. Otherwise...great comment

Greatest, simple, inexpensive home improvement that my change my life for the better.

Anonymous wrote:

Shelves up the sides of my kids' long narrow closets, instead of across the back.

The closets hold so much more this way.

Can you post a pic of something similar? Thanks

I tried to find a pic online but no luck. I had no idea that this is such a novel concept

I will try to describe it:

We have lived in several houses where the kids' room closets are those long narrow ones with the bifold double doors. The closets are around 2 ft deep (or less) and about 6 ft long. There is usually a recess on either side of the door about 1 foot deep, give or take a few inches. We go to Home Depot and get 1x2s cut the depth of that recess for the shelf brackets, and wooden shelving cut the widthxdepth of the shelving, two-three shelves per side of the closet and two 1x2s per shelf. My husband screws the 1x2s on the front lip of the recess and the back wall of the closet, then screws a shelf to each pair of brackets. The bottom shelf is placed a few inches higher than one of those fold out cloth toy bins (like you put in the cubbies), the second shelf is placed high enough for the plastic toy bins to fit on shelf #1. When the kids get a little older and can reach higher, we add a third shelf.

This arrangement allows us to store most of their toys off to the sides of the closet and at a height accesible to them, and keeps the center of the closet clear for bigger toys and a cubby shelf.

I came up with the idea of mounting shelves up the side of the closet after getting frustrated about the wasted space back there after putting cubbies across the back of the closet.

Doing it this way really maximizes space in a narrow closet.

Shoe organizer in the garage. No more giant pile of shoes!

Great thread! We did the fridge thing when our baby was born. It was great, and we had a ranch, but after getting up the umpteenth time in the night, I didn't even walk down to the kitchen.

Love all the other ideas - keep them coming!

Swapped out all of of the preexisting, white plastic switch plate covers and replaced all with oil rubbed bronze covers. Huge difference.

I also have silk cord covers that blend with room wall colors. Nice, simple improvement.

OMG I so want the cabinet ironing board....

Anonymous wrote:Trapped in a DCUM miserable, sexless marriage for the sake of the kids. DH died. Donated/sold all of his crap. House is so much easier and nicer to keep clean.

If DH did die, I'm sorry for your loss. Otherwise...great comment

Anonymous wrote:Trapped in a DCUM miserable, sexless marriage for the sake of the kids. DH died. Donated/sold all of his crap. House is so much easier and nicer to keep clean.

Just checking, ^^sarcasm, right?

Trapped in a DCUM miserable, sexless marriage for the sake of the kids. DH died. Donated/sold all of his crap. House is so much easier and nicer to keep clean.

Replaced dingy old outlets with tamper-resistant ones. Looks much nicer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Installing a wall mounted ironing board cabinet in the bedroom.

What is this "ironing board" that you speak of?

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xg1Z6/Ntk-All/Ntt-wall%2Bmount%2Bironing%2Bboard/h_d2/Navigation?sortByAjax=P_IS_NEW%7C1

You cut out a space between the wall studs and install a small cabinet that holds an ironing board. When you open the cabinet door, the ironing board drops down. When you're finished ironing, the board pops up and you close the cabinet door. You can even store the iron in the cabinet when you're done.

I had it in my old house, and I miss it every day.

Changed the knobs in the kitchen cabinets. Huge difference.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Installing a wall mounted ironing board cabinet in the bedroom.

What is this "ironing board" that you speak of?

+1

Light sensors for the outdoor lights. $10 each and now the lights by each door go on a dusk and off at dawn. I used to just turn them on and leave them on all the time (on CFL's) but it still cost money. This will save money and do it right, lights on at night, off during the day.

Anonymous wrote:Installing a wall mounted ironing board cabinet in the bedroom.

What is this "ironing board" that you speak of?