How to make things last in your home?

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

If you host guests on a regular basis (or if you have a big family who pop around), the furniture, dishes, sheets, towels etc. have to withstand many uses. It can often be hard to know if it's better to buy cheap things that are easy to replace or pay a little more for things that will last longer. 

We recently touched upon this briefly in the All about linen and bedding topic, so I thought it would be good to expand it further to all kind of things in the home. 

What are your tips for making things last longer in the home? Maybe you have a cover to protect the sofa, or use particular mugs because they are less fragile.

For me, I always try to use plastic or wooden kitchen utensils when using non-stick pans. This way the protective cover will stay on the pans for longer and won't be scratched off through the use of mental utensils. 🙂

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

Thank you,

Lizzie 

[Connie94]

I agree about Costco; I buy all of my linens there. Their towels resist discoloration due to common cosmetic and acne products. Their sheet sets usually come with 4 pillow cases, so the extra pillows in the closet match.

[J-Renato0]

We look for things of good quality, but that at the same time are not very expensive. In summa, pay a little more is better. Too cheap things do not pay.

[J-Renato0]

In addtion, In terms of furniture quality also pay. From my point of view, if we want to save money when wanting to buy something, it is better to buy second-hand of good quality than dirt cheap new things.

[Lizzie]

This sounds like some good thinking @J-Renato0. If you buy something second hand, do you tend to do it up a bit? Would you say that you keep that item as long or perhaps longer than if you buying it first time around? 

[J-Renato0]

Hi @Lizzie, answering, Yes, Yes ! 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Lizzie

My places are a bit like a jumble sale, but as others have said, quality pays.  My crockery is a mixture of the porcelain from Ikea which is actually very durable for the price and the French Pillyvuit used by many restaurants. Been to the factory outlet twice to stock up. 

For wine, beer, snaps, cognac glasses I go for the nice ones from the hypermarket or the nice ones from Ikea. Easily replaceable without breaking the bank. Guest on holiday do break glasses. Cutlery is the nicest stainless steel ones from the hypermarket. For stainless steel pots and pans, I find the medium range from Ikea to be more than adequate. My non-stick are in the luxury range because I hate to throw away things afer a year of use. It is so wasteful.

To protect the mattresses and add comfort, I use memory foam mattress toppers with washable cover, protect with waterproof mattress protecter. So far, so good.

The TV is mounted to the wall.

Any lamps that are not mounted to the wall have unbreakable bases and I try to avoid floor lamps as they tend to topple over.

Solid wood furniture - they can take a sanding or be painted if necessary.

Tiled kitchen worktops and tiled floors.

Making appliances last is the biggest challenge as they are often programmed to die after a certain amount of time. I am on the third washing machine, second dishwasher, second drier and third fridge in 12 years.

It helps a lot if the host team can act as general handyman, seamstress, upholsterer, interior decorator and gardener as there is quite a bit of maintenance to keep a property in top condition at any time.

[Lizzie]

Wow @Marit-Anne0, it sounds like you have put a lot of thought into everything. 

Do you think that there are good ways to make everything you buy last longer, or do you think ultimately the quality of the product is the decider of how long it will last?

[Marit-Anne0]

@Lizzie

If you can find quality for less, that is the ultimate solution.  How we treat things and how the guests treat things are two very different issues.  Nothing lasts forever, but quality lasts longer. Making things last in a rental, they must be hardwearing.

[Lizzie]

It's a good point @Marit-Anne0. I find things like wine glasses very difficult. I had some lovely ones for personal use, but the rim of the glass were so thin that even delicately hand washing caused them to crack and gradually 4 went down to 3, to 2, to 1... 🙂 I have started buying cheaper ones. 

Are there anythings that you aren't really concerned about them lasting longer, in that you feel after a set amount of time they should be freshened up and replaced? 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Lizzie

Glasses, crockery, they do get a lot of wear and tear and need replacement from time to time. Same with bedlinen and towels.  Or glasses break and towels get ruined by hair dye. That is part of the game. I do not jump with joy when they wreck the sun loungers as they are not so cheap.

[Von3]

How we make things last:

For mattress and pillows - we use a good mattress protector and pillow protectors.

For linens - we look for stains right after guest check out and handwash the stain right away before throwing it in the wash.

For furniture - cleaning right away

For dishware/glassware - we use stoneware -- usually free from sidewalk giveways in our city or craigslist free section

So far, no damaged linens (we mostly have light neutral colors) or broken glassware.

Also, the less clutter, the less likely for damages in my opinion.

[Lizzie]

Nice to meet you @Von3. 

I completely agree with you, I think mattress and pillow protectors are really useful and ultimately can safe you a lot of time in the long run! 

Do you feel you have to replace things very often due to useage?

[Von3]

Hi @Lizzie, I think our rotation with linens really help keep their longevity so we haven't needed to replace any so far. We have 4 sheet sets - white cotton, greige cotton, cream flannel cotton, tan t-shirt cotton. Same number of duvets with assorted textiles. All natural fibers.

Also, the weather dictates which linens I use. If it's warmer, I'll use more airy/light sets. This is to prevent overheating and sweat stains.

[Lizzie]

Aw your linen rotation is great @Von3 and I like to hear you change your linen depending on the weather.

Here in the UK, I usually change from a dulvet in the Winter months to sheets in the Summer, but it really depends. Our whether temperature change isn't very extreme, but it is a really good point about changing this to prevent sweat stains and obviously it would be more pleasant for your guest too. @Michelle And Michael, shared a great bit of knowledge in another thread that fabric conditioner can actually help the sheets to absorb body oil, which I was really surprised to hear, but it makes a lot of sense. 

[Clara116]

@LizzieHello, this is a great conversation as each host has different taste, style, wallets, and ideas. I'd like to share a few of mine here. As guest like them alot and I'm a DIY kinda person. I have always been one for projects and often pride myself on follow through. Something that I saw early in childhood that one of my parents didn't have a clue about and the other my father could do and build anything and taught us we could as well. 

Our cottage was originally a funky garage (we bought the house infront because of the garage so I could do my therapy work there) and we converted it into a massage spa and for 15 yrs. it was perfect. I just retired massage therapy and converted it into a charming cottage for Airbnb rentals. 

I wanted to keep it simple and didn't want cooking done in the cottage -  so I personally built a kitchenette in the closet area. See photo..... I bought kitchen cabinet peices at a warehouse built a frame to stand them on - joined them together 3 peices - cut a peice of nice wood, sanded, stained it and attached it to the cabinets and its perfect for the space. 

also, I did some fun things in the bathroom- on the wall I made a peice with jars to hold cotton balls, q tips- toothbrushes, paste, and etc. also, I bought a metal planter (right corner of pic) that holds towels, accessories, hairdryer, etc. its different and sturdy. I buy for my taste but don't do cheap, I go for quality as I think they last longer. I'm big on the touch, feel of stuff so that forces me to buy better quality. I really dislike polyster, rayon, etc. and love, linen, silk, cotton and those tend to cost alittle more. Its all fun. Thanks for this link Lizzie. 

my link for those interested: airbnb.com/rooms/18711133