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Share with us your one (or more!) super-smart tip for cleaning or organizing your home and we might use it on a commercial on HGTV.

Post it in response to this thread and be sure to include a name and your home town if you'd like to.

Thanks so much!

Lili Zarghami
Managing Editor, HGTV.com

Utilize the back of your doors! From anything from coats and scarves to creating a wrapping center.

Cleaning music is a MUST in our house and here's a quick and easy way to amplify the music without speakers using something every house has: a drinking glass! Yep, plop your phone down in an empty glass and you have instant speakers! The concave shape of the glass amplifies the sound. You can carry your "DIY Speakers" room-to-room while you clean and make the time go by faster.

Here's our post about this tip: http://7thhouseontheleft.com/2...03/cool-drink-music/

Ashley & Greg Brown
Hanover, Virginia
www.7thhouseontheleft.com

This message has been edited. Last edited by: AshleyBrown,

My mom gave me a set of vintage Pyrex mixing bowls a while back, and I’ve been wanting to display them in our glass cabinets. The only problem is, being up on a high shelf, you can’t see all three bowls or the aqua blue retro-looking detailing very well. I went to the craft store and picked up two blocks of green Styrofoam - the kind you use for floral arrangements. Two micro-seconds later… Bada bing bada boom! I didn’t even bother unwrapping the Styrofoam because otherwise, it would eventually flake off and make a mess. By adding the Styrofoam blocks, not only do you get to see the retro detailing, but it also adds height and more visual weight to this section of the cabinet. It’s an easy fix, and it solves two problems at once! Holla.

Ashley & Greg Brown
Hanover, Virginia
www.7thhouseontheleft.com

For months, I’ve been keeping paint swatches of the colors we’ve used in our house in my wallet just in case I happen to come across fabric or wall art that might look good somewhere. The only problem was, the swatches were so small, it was hard to really get a good idea of how the combination would look. So I went to the office supply store and picked up a 6x6 chipboard book (you find it in the scrapbook section and it's basically five pieces of chipboard, on a metal ring). I then gathered all of the gallons of paint we used in the house and painted each chip board page a color. They’re small enough to fit in my purse, but large enough that I can get a real idea of what something might look like against our walls when I'm out shopping. The perfect solution to a small problem!

Ashley & Greg Brown
Hanover, Virginia
www.7thhouseontheleft.com

I promise this is our last tip to share! haha

At our house, we have a pretty hefty amount of magazine subscriptions - especially home decor magazines! I'm constantly tearing out pages of decorating ideas, recipes, and such. But all of those clippings were beginning to clutter my desk - so I needed a solution. So I put together what I call "The Magazine Notebook". Here's what I gathered to get started:

- 3-Ring Binder
- Dividers
- Page Protectors
- A Sticky-Note Wallet
- Thin Permanent Marker
- Scissors
- My massive stack of magazines & clippings
- Some good black & white movies

I started browsing through the magazines/clippings one by one. When I found something I wanted to hold on to, I simply tore it out and trimmed the edge (nasty, ripped edges are a no-no). After a few magazines, I realized the articles and clippings I was setting aside could easily be divided into eight categories: Home Decor (Yes, we have a notebook for home decor photos, but this section is for home decor articles such as picking the right paint color, curb appeal tips, etc.), entertaining, home life, recipes, beauty/health, gift ideas, general articles, and photography.

The sticky notes come in handy to make notes — especially in the gift idea section. If I come across something that will be perfect for my mom, I can just attach a note. And if for some reason she’s later browsing through my ultra-organized, nifty magazine notebook, and I don’t want her to see my gift idea, I can just snatch it off and put it inside the sheet protector between the pages.

I go through the notebook every couple of months and remove the things we don’t care for anymore, read one too many times, etc. That way, things don’t get too out of hand. The notebook will be ever-evolving and it’ll always stay fresh and new - kind of like my own personal magazine!

Happy organizing!

Ashley & Greg Brown
Hanover, Virginia
www.7thhouseontheleft.com

This message has been edited. Last edited by: AshleyBrown,

Our kitchen is very small (7' X 12') but that is wall to wall! Every square inch counts for storage and I have made a very functional kitchen by using all available wall space.

Cover refrigerator shelves with Glad Press N Seal. When it's time to clean the refrigerator, just peel it off and throw it away!

Kristin Koehler
Duncan, OK

quote:

Originally posted by kriskoeh:
Cover refrigerator shelves with Glad Press N Seal. When it's time to clean the refrigerator, just peel it off and throw it away!

Kristin Koehler
Duncan, OK

I think that's a great idea!!

This is not for cleaning but avoiding future cleaning--getting wasp nests out of outdoor lights. This tip keeps wasps from making nests in outdoor lamps. Cut lightweight screen (very inexpensive at a hardware store) the size of the opening. Take HandiTak and roll it into strips and place all around the edge. Push screen into place in opening. This keeps wasps out but still allows the heat from the bulbs to escape. I have 4 outdoor lights I did this with a month ago and none have fallen out.

When trying to curtain an arched palladian style window, don't put a rod across the top and hide the architecture of the window...use a hula hoop and some utility broom holders to create an inexpensive curtain rod! Cut the hula hoop open with a utility knife, and take the decorative plastic off as well. Position three metal broom holders on the wall: one at 12:00, 3:00 and 9:00. and run your curtain panels on the hula hoop. Secure the hula hoop onto the broom holders and cut off any excess hula hoop adding a decorative wooden ball to the end of the hoop with glue. Gather the curtains in the center and secure with fishing wire or rubber band and form a flower or knot. Now you can run a regular rod across the bottom and you'll be able to see the architecture of the window.

I have a few but here is one that takes a few minutes to do using a simple dollar store brush...

http://youtu.be/BgsEoYVd0DI

I also use this brush to dust out the little nooks and crannies of the more detailed pieces I have around the house. Works great and is very gentle.

Cat

Great Tips! Elite Custom Organizing

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Elite Custom Organizing,

Using brushes to dust things just scatters the dust--much better to use the little soft brush attachment on your vacuum and get rid of that dust.
IMHO
I have asthma so I'm extra sensative to dust (and it's one of my top allergies) SO I do not want it flying around and putting it air born!

Our 12 year old home has dark cherry wooden cabinetry throughout. A couple of years after we built this home, we noticed the dark stain on the cabinet doors in the childrens bathroom was bleaching away around each knob.

We believe the fading was caused by the bleaching effect of toothpaste containing whitening agents remaining on the childrens hands as well as, get this, acne creams which was applied to the face by hand. It turns out some acne Rx also have bleaching effects, and this may have been the culprit affecting the dark stain without damaging the surface finish of the cabinet doors. I finally put two and two together after several accusations of accidentally bleaching my teens favorite tee shirts. Each tee shirt had the same pattern of bleaching around the neckline, where the Rx was applied . . .as well as with spots where the hands pulled the tee shirt on.

The cabinet mfg. supplied a touch up kit, but the product supplied did not fix the problem since the surface finish wasn't damaged. Only the stain under the surface finsih was faded/bleached. The product supplied by the mfg simply floated on the cabinet door surface and would not absorb into the wood.

Prefering not to refinish each cabinet door, we left it alone. Then, one day I was changing the color of my hair with a store bought hair color and had a small amount of the hair color remaining in the bottle. I noticed if the dye dripped onto the counter, I had to wash it off immediately because it would leave a stain if I didn't react quickly. I decided to try dabbing the auburn haircolor onto the damaged cabinet doors with a q-tip. Surprisingly, the dye did penetrate the surface finish and the excess wiped off with a dry cloth after a few minutes. The auburn haircolor product was a very close match to the dark cherry wood stain. This simple application addressed an aesthetic nuisance easily and very inexpensively. All the prior bleached damage on each cabinet door was nearly invisible.

Rub a faucet with waxed paper to prevent water spots and finger prints.

Cleaning Tip to get scuffs out of porcelain kitchen sinks! It is so hard not to scratch the bottom of your porcelain kitchen sink. My tip is:

Take Dishwasher liquid (I use Palmolive Lemon) and spread a thin coat over the entire bottom of the sink. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes and rinse with water!! It takes the scratches out everytime!!!

I love the Swiffer type mops but think the throw away pads for sale are a waste of my money so. . I bought a multi-pack [12] of inexpensive washcloths. Then took 2 at a time and sewed them together on 3 sides leaving 1 side open so I can turn them inside out. I now have washable & re-useable pads with 4 sides as I clean my walls, ceilings and floors. The rough texture of the washcloths is a plus.