A Clean Commode Is A Happy Commode

(Image courtesy of Gustavsberg)

Even in the biggest bathrooms, space can be an issue. There always seems to be a wealth of half-empty shampoo bottles, toothbrushes, hair care products and other essentials hanging around-if you’re not careful things can get tight very quickly.

Though we each have our own particular essentials in every commode, that doesn’t mean that the space can’t be stylish, controlled and organized. These tips courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com will be sure to have your bathroom looking more spacious in no time!

1. Keep only the products you use daily in a small bathroom

What hair and makeup products do you actually need to get ready each morning? Which do you actually use when you shower? If you're lacking in lots of bathroom storage, remove everything you only use occasionally — special hair products, medicine, first aid — and consider finding another spot in your home to keep it. (Yes, if you have a small bathroom you probably have a small home, but maybe there's a titch more storage somewhere else!)

2. Create and disguise new storage

If you absolutely can't get rid of all of the items, assess your storage situation and see where additional or hidden storage can be installed. If you've got under counter storage, maximize it. These under sink storageideas can easily be applied for bathroom storage. Over the door solutions work, but use sparingly since they don't really hide the clutter well. Install small or narrow cabinets with doors in tight spots for a custom, hidden storage look.

3. Collect, corral & beautify

Trays are an old organizing trick that's always in style; use them to turn a pile of unsightly hair and make-up products into something resembling decent. Baskets and boxes work great on open shelves and tucked uniformly on ledges and in corners. In fact you could make your own today! Want to take it up a notch? Transfer beauty products into new or DIY (and labeled) bottles and containers that are all uniform and nicer to look at so your bathroom counter doesn't look like a drug store.

4. One in, two out rule

For every new lipstick you bring into your bathroom, toss or give to a friend two shades that don't work and you'll never wear. Same applies to shampoo, conditioner or whatever products are causing clutter piles in your bathroom.

5. Pick up and put away daily

This is more chore reminder than actual organizing tip, but some people still need to hear it! You can't let even one bottle stay where it's not supposed to be in a small bathroom — it'll look cluttered instantly. Figure out the decluttering and storage methods that work for you, and then stick with it daily until you create a habit.

Start Your Own Container Garden

(Image courtesy of SnickClunk)

Spring is here and we’re all given the great pleasure of watching flowers bloom! Though we boast gorgeous open apartments, it can be a little difficult to stretch your green thumb in the middle of San Francisco.

If you have your heart set on cultivating your own mini-garden we have a few ideas to help you reach your goals. This list, courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com, contains links to plenty of DIY home-gardening projects that will be sure to give you the green fix that you’re looking for. Keep reading to learn more.

1. How to Plant a Super Easy Tomato Container Garden - If you want to grow tomatoes this summer, now's the time to plant them. Rachel Wray at Re-Nest gives a super simple guide.

2. How to Plant a Terrarium in a Jar - Terrariums are hot right now. Here's how to make your own for pennies.

3. How to Grow a Salad Greens Windowbox Garden - Guest blogger Maria Finn wrote this how-to for an edible indoor garden.

4. How to Re-Pot Your House Plants - Helpful tips on how to move your plants into a bigger pot from Tanya in Boston.

5. How to Make Can Planters - Laure in Los Angeles made these beautiful tins from old tomato cans.

6. How to Make a One-Pot Indoor Herb Garden - This post went up on the Kitchn three years ago and it still keeps resurfacing. A great guide for cooks who want to grow their own herbs.

7. How to Start a Container Garden - Tips for growing lettuce, arugula, tomatoes, and herbs.

Are You Keeping Your Gadgets Safe?

(Image courtesy of Shane Pope)

We love our electronics and gadgets; from our computers to our keyboards to our phones and everything in between, our electronics help us run our lives in almost every way possible. That’s why we’d do anything to take care of them and make them last.

So you may want to keep something in mind if you want your electronics to last a little longer: dust is the enemy. While heat or liquids are usually cited as the #1 enemy for your gadgets, dust will do more damage much more slowly.

Just a few of the household items we should clear of dust - but forget to - are:

● Desktop Computers
● TVs
● Keyboards
● A Mouse with Rolling Balls on Top or Bottom

And once you clean those out, don’t forget to add an air purifier to filter the air in your apartment and reduce the overall amount of dust in it!

Get more cleaning tips and ideas for where to buy a solid air purifier at the original Apartmenttherapy.com article.

How To Keep The Cleanest Kitchen In Town

(Image courtesy of Nicole Vaughn)

There’s nothing better than a home-cooked meal. When you make dinner for yourself, you know exactly how to prepare your own dishes just the way you like. Though there are many plus sides to cooking for yourself, it can be an intimidating undertaking after a long day of work - who wants to commit to the work of cooking and then cleaning up the mess afterward?

Cleaning up after meal times doesn’t have to be the hassle you’re imagining. If you follow these quick tips courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com, you’ll be enjoying a home cooked meal -and relaxing afterward- in no time. Keep reading to learn more.

1. Make a plan before you start cooking.

Review your intended cooking project and refine — maybe you can reduce a complicated plan to one dish requiring a lot of work and two dishes that can be made ahead or are very simple. - abcornwell

Look for ways to combine ingredients without using more bowls or pans. For instance, in some recipes some vegetables have to be added before others because they need to cook longer. Instead of chopping everything and separating them into two bowls, I add the first batch of vegetables and let them cook while I chop the next batch. They go into the same bowl that had the first batch of vegetables and I don't need to pull out another one. - Pi.

For anything you have to hand-wash, pick tools that are easy to clean. My chef's knife is very easy to clean, but a garlic press is a PIA, so use the knife to prep garlic. My frying pan is easy to clean, but a Foreman grill, not so much. -Triptik

2. Start with a clean kitchen.

Tidy before you start. That means no clean dishes on the drying rack or dishwasher (gives the items you are going to "clean as you go" somewhere to be). No dirty dishes/cups in the sink. No snack foods hanging out on the counter. This can be an especially useful habit if you live with others who don't always return things to a put away state. - trish042

If you have a dishwasher, always put the clean dishes away before you start cooking! Rinsing and popping in the dishwasher-safe items takes even less time than washing them. - cuminafterall

I find it dispiriting to have to clean and then cook, so my motto is "leave the kitchen ready to cook". That means everything dried and put away, surfaces wiped, etc. Doesn't have to happen right at the end of cooking, but does need to happen well before the next round. - ellabee13

3. Prep your ingredients and tools before you start.

Mise en place. Measure out ingredients, peel and chop veggies (maybe not onions if you're not using them right away), crack eggs, etc. If they're going into the main dish at once, then put them in one big bowl. This seems like it would add dishes to clean but many of these bowls will need little more than a quick rinse off. -cloggiegirl

Mise en place does not necessarily refer to the arranging of ingredients into tiny bowls. It means being in a state of preparedness in the kitchen….In general, it's about cooking smart and in an organized manner. Preparing your ingredients and tools in advance can seriously mitigate your stress levels later on in the process.

- tara-christine

The best thing I did for improving my kitchen efficiency was investing in a large cutting board. I prep most ingredients on the same cutting board; every ingredient in its own section of the board. I leave the chopped veggies on the board until needed. - JessyJess

4. Clean as you go.

Anytime I'm waiting for a pot of water to boil (my electric cooktop takes FOREVER) or the oven to preheat, I'm prepping ingredients. Similarly, anytime I have something simmering on the stove or roasting in the oven, I'm cleaning the cutting boards, knives, graters, bowls etc. I used for food prep. -cuminafterall

Once I'm done chopping an ingredient I put the unused portion away. Same goes for a sauce, condiment, or other ingredient; measure/use and put away. -emcap

Take a large bowl or dish tub, fill it with hot, soapy water, and leave it in your sink (or on your counter, next to the sink, if you can afford the space). As you dirty smaller items, toss them into the water to soak. If you're putting things in the dishwasher later, you won't have to rinse each item first, and if you're hand-washing, you should have little to no scrubbing. - tonberryqueen

5. Use a garbage bowl to collect scraps.

For a garbage or compost bowl, I don't even use a bowl. I use whatever plastic bag I put the vegetables in from the grocery store and all the scraps go in there. Tie up the opening and drop it into the trash. - Pi.

Usually this is an extra tupperware container. As you accumulate compost scraps (or scraps + garbage if you don't compost), put them together and out of your way. Dumping the contents later on is much easier. - petworthy

6. Give the illusion of neatness.

Ten dirty dishes scattered everywhere looks terrible and overwhelming, but the same ten dishes stacked into a single stack is somehow immediately manageable and cope-with-able. - TeaTowelDame

No matter how crazed it is, no matter how stressed you are, rinse each dish/measuring spoon when you're done with it. It's so much easier to face a dirty kitchen if all the dirty dishes are rinsed and stacked in nice, neat piles. -try146

7. Make it fun!

Try to make cleaning fun — watch TV if you can, or listen to a podcast/audiobook/music. If you can create a set-up where cleaning actually gives you a little extra time to do something you enjoy, you will definitely mind it less.

- China Millman

I do the finishing-up while I listen to This American Life. My "dates with Ira" are always productive. - DD Lizzy

8. Ask for help.

This is the key to my system: I make my husband finish the clean up because he didn't do the cooking. Voila. Mess solved. - cmcinnyc

First of all, and I think most importantly — if I'm cooking for other people, I ask them to help with cleanup. Least they can do, especially if they live with you. Insist. Really. - mhays