When you need first-aid supplies most, you're usually not in the best frame of mind to search for them. A well-stocked first-aid kit keeps the items you need easy to find. Bandages, adhesive tape, gauze, and scissors are useful. To clean wounds, keep hydrogen peroxide or isopropyl alcohol (and cotton balls or swabs to apply it) on hand as well as antibiotic ointment (check expiration date). A first-aid kit is also a good place to store pain relievers.

Here's a way to display a favorite quilt and provide your bed with a new headboard. Purchase a wooden drapery rod, two brackets, and hanging hardware from a home-supply store. Paint the drapery rod and brackets to match the bedroom walls, and let dry. Install the brackets above the bed, positioning them at the desired height, and put the rod in place. Drape the quilt over the rod, lining up the bottom edges so that it hangs evenly.

If you can peel and stick, you can bring a natural note to your home office with coordinated wood-grain accessories. All it takes to make a matched set of mouse pads, file boxes, and straight-sided glass jars is self-adhesive shelf liner.

Cut the paper just larger than the surface you want to cover, apply, and trim excess with a craft knife. 

Keep laundry supplies tidy and out of sight with built-in shelves and a curtain that can be pulled across them when the laundry is done. Mothballs and cedar chips are stored in canning jars, and little bars of soap are kept in airtight containers. Towels for drying hand-washables are stacked on one shelf. Special stain remedies are kept together in a galvanized metal box; detergent is in a large plastic container with a scoop for easy measuring.