Ottoline's Profile

Why puchase laundry soap and other household cleaners in packaging at all? We buy our laundry soap in bulk, bringing our own glass or cardboard containers to the store and re-filling them from the bulk bin (if your local store doesn't sell in bulk, agitate for it). Washing soda (baking soda) also works well and comes in a cardboard box (no plastic liner). Our only cleaners are a mixture of distilled vinegar and water in the re-used vinegar bottles, baking soda, and lemons (in their own natural 'packaging'). We keep our entire house sparkling using just these three items. Paper towels are another unnecessarily wasteful item - use rags made from old clothes (flannel works best). These can be washed and re-used for years. The flannel pajamas I wore 14 years ago live on as cloths for cleaning the floors, bathroom, and kitchen

I moved into a house with a similarly bland and dreary kitchen. Here is what I did: painted the kitchen cabinets cream (better yet, mullioned glass doors on the cabinets would look even lighter, and are very pretty, assuming you have nothing to hide); painted the walls a light grey-blue for contrast; removed the depressing linoleum and sanded and varnished the wood floors; removed the hideous dark formica and installed white subway tile on the counters, as well as on the backsplash; removed the old dishwasher (I wash dishes by hand); and hung a massive fern in a pretty pale blue and cream pot over the window. A white porcelain sink would also lighten things up, and would be much prettier than the stainless sink.