Do you have pet peeves throughout your home? These could include a crooked picture, clothes not staying on their hangars, or bunched up duvets.Apartment Therapy has 11 easy fixes to get rid of your home pet peeves. These will only take a few minutes, and it will give you some time to focus on other household chores.
Every household has minor, but needling, annoyances that repeatedly drive you crazy. Picture frames that won't stay straight, bunching duvet covers, and wobbly furniture are first-world problems to be sure, but exasperating nonetheless. A few quick fixes and modifications can relieve your pain, and make your home enjoyable instead of endlessly frustrating. Here's how to fight back against some common pet peeves, in five minutes or less.
1. Crooked Art or Picture Frames: Solve this nagging issue by putting rubber feet on the back corners of each frame. They will provide enough friction to prevent them from sliding around on the wall.
2. Clothing Slips Off Closet Hangers: Wrap rubber bands around the ends of each hanger to prevent especially slippery materials from sliding right off and onto the floor.
3. Losing the Start of the Tape: After you tear off a piece, wrap the end in a toothpick or paper clip to mark the spot. You'll won't have to run your fingers around the roll, feeling for the start.
4. Stuck Drawers: Aim a heat lamp at the affected furniture to slowly rid the wood of its moisture, which is the usual cause for wood expanding. Or use a toilet plunger for extra traction needed to pull it open by force. Once you've coaxed the drawer out, apply soap, paraffin, or paste wax to the runners and sides.
5. Sticky Price Tags: Once again, put heat on the job! Hold a hair dryer up to the sticker for about a minute, then test a corner of the sticker and see if it peels away easily. If it doesn't, continue the hairdryer treatment until the residue loosens. Work in sections if you have larger stickers.
6. Sliding Dish Towels: A lot of people hang kitchen towels over stove and fridge handles. And then constantly have to pick them up when they slip off. To remedy this, attach strips of velcro on each end of the towel and loop it around the handle.
7. Bunched Up Duvets: When left to their own devices, duvets constantly creep and migrate to the middle of the duvet cover. Stitch two pieces of ribbon to each of the corners of the duvet cover. Tie the ribbons around the corners of the duvet to make it stay put.
8. Stubborn Trash Bags: This is a two-parter. If you have a suction issue that prevents you from removing the bag easily, drill holes in the bottom to relieve the pressure. To prevent liners from slipping into the can, attach the bag to the can with clips. Or, if you have a metal can, fold the bag over the top, then use magnets to hold it in place.
9. Errant Cushions: Try putting some rubbery non-slip drawer liner, or a cut up rug pad, underneath. We've also heard to stick strips of velcro on the sofa and the cushions helps prevent the slide.
10. Wobbly Table: Before you do anything, try rotating the table around and see if that helps. Sometimes uneven floors will cause furniture to wobble, and shifting the legs around can help you find the sweet spot where everything is level again.
11. Squeaky Door: Remove the hinge pins one at a time and lightly coat them with petroleum jelly, soap or wax. Reinsert the pins, wipe off any excess, and open and shut the door a few times to distribute the lubricant.
