‘What’s a cheap quality-of-life improvement you made in your house?’ – 21 simple things that will transform your living space

Houses. They’re difficult and expensive to buy or rent, and once you’re living in one, you’ve got to shell out a load more cash to decorate and furnish them.

However, there are some easy things you can buy or do to make your house a cosy home, which won’t break the bank. They’ve been chatting about this on the AskUK subreddit after Flupsy posted this:

What’s a cheap quality-of-life improvement you made in your house? I added soft-close things to all the kitchen cupboard doors (£3 each from eBay), and a really quiet pull-switch for the bathroom light (no ker-CLINK in the middle of the night). Just little things that make the house quieter and calmer.

And these handy little tips prompted lots of other people to chime in with ideas of their own, like these…

1.

‘Painting walls. After years of living in magnolia rental properties, when we bought a home I was staggered what a difference to my happiness and sense of home being able to put some colour on the walls made.’
–Otherwise_Koala4289

2.

‘A living room duvet – Enough of the lil blankets the wife uses for decoration, lovely, heavy, pillowy warmth whenever you wanna curl up on the sofa.

Storage containers for the kitchen cupboards – No more knocking over the rice and it going everywhere, nudging the flour and getting a puff of dust! All clean, labelled, and organised. Delightful!

Phone chargers and long cables in every room – I was so tired of chasing my charger around the house, and also not being able to pick the phone up from wherever I was sitting.’
–Happy_Chief

3.

‘Soft close toilet seats are also great. I now hate using other toilets that don’t have it.’
–CoffeeIgnoramus

4.

‘Highland cow draft excluder. Six quid, Home Bargains.’
–GeggingIn

5.

‘I bought a smart plug for the kettle. I have a routine on my phone so that when I switch my alarm off it switches the kettle on. So nice to come down to a freshly boiled kettle for coffee or tea instead of waiting for it, especially on cold mornings.’
–bonjourivresse

6.

‘I am convinced that electric blankets are one of life’s secret joys (if you live somewhere it’s chilly enough to use one). Such quiet cosy comfort, such luxury, enhances any concurrent activity. I give them to everyone I love so they too can share in this electric blanket induced happiness.’
–rambleonrose43

7.

‘Meat thermometer. Was great over Xmas for roasts and turkeys, or any large lump of meat you want to be sure is thoroughly cooked. Find a chart online for perfect temps for different meats and away you go.’
–clearbrian

8.

‘I have small rechargeable lights in the bathroom that are motion sensors. Our bathroom light also starts the extractor when switched on, and that is a noisy bastard. These little lights saved my sanity.’
–ScallyGirl

9.

‘Fly screen on the back door. I have a dog. One bowel motion attracts 793 flies in warm weather. None of them come into my house and I can have the back door open constantly. Life changing. £6.’
–chez2202

10.

‘Smart plugs for lamps, under £5. I’ve set them up to go on by themselves in the morning, so I’m not waking up to a dark room, and again in the evenings when it’s getting dark. They switch themselves off to stop them being left on all night.’
–worldworn

11.

‘As a migraine sufferer, dimmer lights everywhere. We went with a Phillips Hue system, but there’s probably cheaper options. Life-changing. I basically live in a warm amber glow.’
–_pierogii

12.

‘Putting up a pulley instead of using horrible clothes horses, my washing dries so fast, no space taken up with clothes horses and so easy to put up.’
–meiiamtheproblemitme