With the internet booming as it is now, the discovery that most things around the home have more uses than was originally intended is becoming a big trend. Parents especially are looking to see what hacks they can have around the home in order to maximise utility; if something cannot double up and be used as an alternative thing, then it’s job is singular and boring!
So what’s lying around your house that could be put to good use?
Spice Racks
This is is quite an old hack, but IKEA Bekvam spice racks can double up as shelves for children’s books. The way that they are put together is so simple that you could probably get your child to actually do it, and then the attaching of them to the wall is easy enough also (but you may have to do this instead of trusting a kid with a drill). Get yourself over to Pinterest to see some great examples – they can also be painted really easily to fit your colour scheme.
Dishwasher
No longer are these confined to solely washing dishes – did you know that you can cook a whole salmon in there, too? Simply wrap it in foil and put it on a cycle. Don’t put anything else in with it, though – you don’t want dirty food flying around something that you are about to eat. You may want to get your dishwasher checked out beforehand to make sure it’s not releasing anything it shouldn’t, so check out a site like City Appliance Repair and see if someone is available to give it a once-over before you start getting cook happy. It’s probably something you’ll do once just to say you have, but at least the option is there!
Bottles
The use for a plastic bottle is endless. If you have children, they can very simply be made into something for them to play with – get some rice, pasta and any other dried food, pop into a bottle and voila … a homemade rattle. You could also get some glitter, glue and water and make it into a calm bottle, to use when the kids want to relax and take some time out. It’s a great thing to do as part of a crafting afternoon.
Tea bags
Don’t throw away your unused tea bags! Leave them to dry, and then use up any cardboard toilet rolls that you have lying around or ready to go into recycling by stuffing them full of the tea bags. Add in things like newspaper, tissue, anything that you were going to throw away – they make great fire starters. You can use them to get a wood burner going, a bonfire, a campfire, the list is endless. Theoretically, you should never have to shell out for kindling again, but it all depends on how many cups of tea you drink in a day and how willing you are to save them all. While waiting for them to dry out you can pop them into a room where odours are strong – they’ll absorb any unwanted smells, too.
