12 Very Useful Things I've Learned From Designers

At this point I’ve interviewed hundreds of designers and studied countless photos on Houzz. And I realized the other day just how many of these ideas I’ve since put to use around my own home. All of these tips are simple — so simple that you might decide I’m a dope for not figuring them out on my own. That’s OK: I’m not too proud to put my dopiness out there. Perhaps some of you have been dopey in the same ways, and my hope is that one or two of these will create an “aha” moment for you as well.

Kitchen

Make putting away those dishes as seamless as possible. This one seems like a major forehead-slapper and is kind of embarrassing to share, but if I can help just one person, I’ll fess up to how obtuse I can be. For some reason, I had the dishwasher set up in a way so that the door would be down, I’d unload the dishes onto the counter, then I’d have to shut the door to clear a path so I could carry the dishes over to where I had to put them all away.

Dumb stuff like this can go on for years before it hits you like a ton of bricks: “Why don’t I keep this everyday china in the cabinet right in front of where I stand when I’m unloading?” Since performing a cabinet switcheroo, I’ve added many hours to my life that I can spend on things more enjoyable than unloading the dishwasher.


Keep all the coffee accoutrements right next to the machine. Cue the “Doh!” again. I am not a morning person. So walking to the pantry to get my coffee, then pulling out the grinder from a lower cabinet, grinding the beans, then walking across the kitchen to put them in the coffeemaker was ridiculously inefficient. And dangerous — because bleary-eyed me tends to bump into things and stub toes.

Now I keep my beans, grinder, sugar and mugs in one cabinet right above the coffeemaker. I have even expanded this genius to the rest of breakfast: Oatmeal, cold cereal, tea, teacups, flax seeds for smoothies, smoothie-making blender and cereal bowls all live in one place so that I don’t have to think or move any more than necessary in the morning. I keep all of my smoothie ingredients together in the refrigerator as well.

Hot Ideas and Tips for Coffee and Tea Stations


Keep all the glassware right next to where you make the drinks. This photo shows a “wet pantry” where everything one would need to fix a drink is right next to the refrigerator. When I interviewed architect John Mattingly of Chalet and he explained this, I had another forehead-slapping moment.

When I’d moved into my house, I simply wanted to get the boxes unpacked, and my priority was styling the cabinets to make me smile when I opened them and saw their well-organized beauty. Of course, this was the antithesis of being truly organized, and this style-over-function thinking landed my drinking glasses across the room from the fridge, where I grab my ice and beverages. Hey, moving-unpacking is exhausting; we’re never thinking sharply by the time we get to the juice glasses.

These first three tips should be kept in mind during that dreadful kitchen-unpacking phase. Think of it as saving yourself from swapping everything around a few years down the road.


Freshen up that garbage disposal. My sink was giving off a stink, so I decided to reach out to the experts to find out how to make it smell better and then share the results with Houzzers. While the pros let me know about stink-erasing combinations of ice and lemons and vinegar and baking soda, the readers who chimed in in the Comments taught me the most valuable thing: The rubber gasket needs to be scrubbed to get rid of moldy, smelly food remnants on the underside. Now I attack that thing with a scrub brush on a regular basis.

More: How to Fix a Stinky Garbage Disposal


Laundry Room

Even the smallest, most utilitarian laundry room deserves jazzing up. My laundry room has just enough room for me, the machines and a hamper. But that didn’t mean it had to be the drab and depressing space it was. After seeing so many beautiful laundry rooms on Houzz, I was inspired to add cute bins and baskets to a shelf above the machines to corral laundry supplies and store linens, to bring in a sweet little wastepaper basket so I could pitch used dryer sheets and lint right there, to get a cute vintage wicker hamper and to hang some of my most cheerful folk art paintings in there. It makes doing laundry so much more enjoyable.

And watch our laundry room hero, Ronda Batchelor, show us how she spruced up her laundry room for just $400.

The Cure for Houzz Envy: Laundry Room Touches Anyone Can Do


Workspace

I’m a piler, not a filer. This was the most freeing information when it came to tackling my office organization. Thank you, Alison Hodgson, for letting us know it’s OK to pile.

Are you a piler or a filer?


Dining Room

A dining room can do double and triple duty. I can count on two hands the number of times per year I have friends and family gather at my dining table. I prefer the kitchen nook and the porch for entertaining. Thus, my formal dining room was almost a complete waste of space for me, and the room takes up prime sun-drenched real estate in my house. Inspired by those I’ve seen make dining room-libraries, dining room-craft rooms, dining room-playrooms and dining room-studies, I added a small desk and a comfy chair. I can work at the dining table and keep mail, interview notebooks and other paperwork handy in and neatly stacked in piles on the desk.


Everywhere

One or two striking leaves are enough. The shape and size of a spectacular leaf is enough to create a beautiful arrangement and bring life into a room. It works as a centerpiece, on a counter or even next to the bathtub. If you’re lucky to have some big, pretty leaves growing in your yard, you’ll also save a lot of money you would have spent on arrangements.


Rooms With Bookshelves

Hang paintings and framed photos in front of the shelves. This adds an extra layer of dimension. I tend to do it with small paintings tucked in front of the shelves full of books and other favorite objects, but as you can see here, a larger painting can anchor a big piece of furniture. I also learned about the magic of Command Hooks from a blogger I interviewed. They eliminate the fear of punching permanent holes into your beautiful built-ins that might be holding you back from hanging art this way.


Bedroom

Keep things under the bed feng-shui clear.
Now I know this is a luxury and may not be possible due to lack of storage space, and the jury may be out on feng shui for a lot of you, but this just works for me. I cleaned everything out from under my bed and found a box full of old journals and letters from a difficult time in my life. I have to believe that was a whole lot of bad energy breeding right below, making me toss and turn — that box was the anti-Ambien. I swear, I’ve slept better knowing it’s completely clear under there. Now the bad juju is in my attic; maybe someday I’ll do a 1990s sitcom burning-cleansing ceremony of it all.


Bathroom

Keep only the stuff you actually use in the shower stall. People complain about photos that look “too styled,” but I find them very inspirational. While I know the primary goal is function, it just makes me happy to have these useful things look pretty and uncluttered. Looking at the photos made me think about the jumble of products I had in my shower and pare them down to just the ones I truly use.

My new attitude: Yeah, that exfoliating scrub was pricey, but it makes me feel too greasy and makes the floor dangerously slippery. That loofah thingee is something I’ve never really embraced and seems to be a mold magnet — gross! I only use that face mask once a month. The list goes on. Now I have just shampoo, conditioner, the good daily face gel, a bar of soap and a razor in there, and it means my shower stall is clear, functional and relaxing.


Closet

Keep a donation bag in your closet. Closet designer Lisa Adams shared this tip with me and it has saved me so much time and valuable closet space. How many times do you try on a piece of clothing, determine it looks terrible on you, then hang it right back up? If you keep a bin, basket or canvas bag within reach, you can toss it in there instead. When the bin is full, I donate the clothes so they can make their way to someone who looks better in them than I do.

While we’re in the closet, another tip is switching to flat, velvet-covered hangers. They save space and make everything look much neater. As soon as I get my dry cleaning home, I take the hangers and bags off and put them in the reusable canvas bag I use for shopping, ready for return to the cleaners for reuse.

Tell us: Do you have a favorite tip you’ve put into practice? If so, please share it with us in the Comments. No tip will be judged on the “Doh!” factor, I promise.

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