Two stupid-simple hacks guaranteed to bring you joy

Man, I love a great idea that’s easy and costs almost nothing, and I’ve got two of those for you today.

First up, do you lay a towel on the floor by your shower to sop up extra water when you or your kids get out? We do in our master bedroom. Yes, we have a rug by the shower, but I was looking for a way to prevent it from getting wet everyday, which would lead to stinky germy-ness. I mean, don’t we all bemoan carpet in a bathroom for that exact reason?

So we started putting an old towel on the floor, and it would sit there day after day junking up the place—until I remembered these old suction clamps I had in a drawer somewhere.

The suction cups are on the inside corner of the shower, on the other side of the wall from the towels you see in the photo at the top, so you can’t see this grungy towel at all.

I stuck those up in the shower, et voila—instant hiding spot for a damp towel to dry. And when it’s time to shower, we just take it down and put it on the floor. SO SIMPLE. And no one ever sees it.

Next up: If you’re a plant lover, you know one of the trickiest things is finding a good pot with drainage that doesn’t allow moisture to seep through and onto the table or shelf where it sits. I have an antique wood table in my living room with many plants atop it, and I always worried about excess moisture warping the tabletop.

So I figured out two solutions: First, elevate one of the plants with a wicker cake stand. Not only does this add height to the arrangement, but it also gets the damp pot off the table. And second, put a pot on a cute plate. Sure, I could have bought a terracotta base to collect excess water, but a) that wouldn’t match my pot and b) terracotta is porous, so water would likely make it to the tabletop anyway.

Even if I didn’t have a matching plate on hand, I could have picked up one at the thrift store for 50 cents.

What easy, inexpensive hacks are you loving lately? •