Repurpose Household Items for an Organized Home

If you are constantly trying to break the clutter cycle in your home and wish to have a more organized space, the answer might be right in front of your eyes. Household items that you have and use every day can be repurposed in creative ways to make your house a more orderly, clutter-free place without spending a penny! Here are a few ideas for taking what you have and transforming it into what you need to get your home in shape.

Ladders- If you have a ladder taking up space in your storage shed or garage, why not put it to work in another capacity? A small, 4- to 5-rung stepladder makes an ideal drying rack for your laundry room. If you have the type of ladder that can be hung from the ceiling, you can mount it sideways to use as a great place to hang freshly-laundered shirts, blouses and pants by their hangers.

Binder clips- If your home office is overrun with binder clips, you might find yourself wondering what on earth to do with them. Before you pitch them, consider the possibilities- binder clips can be extremely useful cord bundlers to organize your entertainment center or computer area’s mishmash of cords and keep them from becoming tangled and unsightly. Binder clips can also be useful in the kitchen as chip and pretzel bag clips, keeping your bagged items as fresh as the day you bought them!

Dish rack- Does your little one love to color but hate to clean up? A standard dish-drying rack can be repurposed as an ideal art supply caddy for children. The recessed area for holding silverware is a great place to store crayons or markers, and the grated areas for holding glassware are a nice place to set coloring books or extra drawing paper.

Picture frames- If you have a beautiful picture frame that is missing its glass or backing, don’t toss it- transform it! By simply screwing hooks into the top of the frame, you can create a picture-perfect place to hang and display your jewelry without worrying about your necklaces or bracelets tangling around each other.

Have any fun repurposing tips from your own household? Share them with us in the comments section!

Need a New Freezer? Here’s What you Should Consider…

    So, it’s that time of year again….the garden needs to be harvested, you’re planning your fall hunting trip, you need to stock up at the grocery store….and you need a new freezer! 

  There are a few things to consider when purchasing your new freezer:

• What types of foods are we putting in this freezer?
• How long will the food be in the freezer?
• Where are you going to put this freezer?
• Should I get an upright, or a chest freezer?
• Frost-free, or manual-defrost?
• What size should we get?

    If you are looking for a freezer to use for your regular day-to-day grocery needs, then a frost-free upright unit might be good for you.  These units do not build-up with ice and are best served for the foods that your family will go thru on a regular basis. If you are looking for more long-term storage, then a manual-defrost chest type freezer would be best.  These units keep your food deep-frozen, while the unit may build up with ice, your food will not get freezer burned.  When you open a chest freezer, the cold air stays down in the freezer.  When you open an upright freezer, the cold air tends to escape.  Chest freezers can hold a lot of food; however, some may find that keeping an upright freezer organized is easier.

    If you are going to put your freezer in the garage, make sure that where you put it doesn’t reach below -5 or above 110.  Put it along a joining wall with your home.

A freezer will hold approx 35 lbs of food per cubic feet, so a 15 cubic feet chest freezer should store approximately 525 lbs of food.

Chest freezers come in a variety of sizes from 5 cubic feet all the way up to 25 cubic feet, and range anywhere from $145-$799

Upright Freezers are usually in the 14-21 cubic feet size and range between $399 & $899.

Choosing the Right Dishwasher for You

When it comes to choosing appliances for your kitchen, nothing has larger differences than those found in dishwashers. Before heading out to your nearest Appliance retailer or ordering one online, you need to ask yourself a few questions to ensure to make the right choice for you and your family.

• Do you pre-wash your dishes?

If you do, then features such as hard food disposers may not be a worthwhile feature.

• Do you run your dishwasher at all times of the day?

If your answer is yes, then look for a unit with a decibel rating below 50db. This will allow you to have a conversation in the same room as your dishwasher and it won’t interrupt your rousing anecdote.

• Do you use a rinse agent such as Finish or Jet Dry?

This is important as not all dishwashers have a heated dry feature. Condensation dry units require a rinse agent to effectively remove spots and allow the water to sheet off your flatware and cups. In addition, heated dry units will dry considerably faster, but at a cost in terms of energy consumption.

• How big are your plates?

I always encourage clients to bring in plates  or tall glasses and test them in a perspective dishwasher. Not all racks are the same, and nothing will frustrate you more than installing something that doesn’t accommodate your dishes.

If you can answer all these questions, your dishwasher buying experience will go much smoother, and ultimately you will be happier with your purchase.